The NFL is serving up a top matchup for Sunday Night Football, as a Kansas City Chiefs team that keeps finding a way to win against a Los Angeles Chargers team that is a feel-good story this year.
The Chargers started off 3-3, which was about what was expected, but now have won five of six games and are in position to be the top-seeded wild card.
The one constant in Chiefs games is that they have been entertaining. Nine of their 11 wins have been by one score, and they’ve now had back-to-back last-play wins to get to 11-1.
Kansas City rates as a 4-point home favorite, which is slightly more than home field.
The NFL Week 14 Sunday Night Football game features the Los Angeles Chargers taking on the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. The game starts at 6:20 p.m. Mountain Time.
The Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs game will be televised nationally on NBC and streamed on Peacock.
The Chiefs are a 4-point home favorite over the Chargers in NFL Week 14 odds for the game, courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. The Chiefs are -200 on the money line while the Chargers are +165. The over/under is 43 points.
With a line of 4 points and an over-under of 43, the expected result is a Chiefs victory of 23-19 or 24-20.
Los Angeles Chargers injury report
Linebacker Denzel Perryman and cornerback Cam Hart are questionable, as is receiver Ladd McConkey.
Kansas City Chiefs injury report
Receiver Hollywood Brown and tight end Peyton Hendershot are on injury reserve and out. Backup kicker Spencer Shrader is out so the Chiefs are looking to use third-team kicker Matthew Wright.
The El Paso Times: Chiefs 24, Chargers 23
Bret Bloomquist writes: “When the Chiefs win these days, and they usually do, it comes on the last play. This doesn’t seem like the week to be against that, the Chargers are a year away from winning a game like this.”
Matt Johnson writes: “The Kansas City Chiefs can’t consistently generate pressure on opposing quarterbacks and they’ve had a bottom-10 defense since losing cornerback Jaylen Watson to a season-ending injury. It’s also evident that the Chiefs’ run game isn’t as effective as of late and the offensive tackle situation puts them in an even bigger hole against a top-five Los Angeles Chargers defense. Losing on Sunday Night Football will be the moment alarm bells really start going off regarding the Chiefs’ Super Bowl hopes.”
The site’s formula predicts that the Chiefs will win the NFL Week 14 game against the Chargers.
The site gives the Chargers a 38.4% shot at winning the NFL Week 14 game, with the remaining percentage accounting for a tie.
It writes: “After extensive simulations, our model gives the Chargers a win probability of 29%, while the Chiefs have a win probability of 71%.”
Bill Speros writes: “The Chargers (8-7) got no help from the schedule-maker in the final half of the NFL season. The Bolts visit Kansas City (11-1) just 2 weeks after losing to Baltimore at home and scoring an impressive road win at Atlanta. If Jim Harbaugh wanted a soft schedule, he could have stayed in the Big Ten at Michigan and played Ohio State a dozen times per season. The Chargers have the top scoring defense in the NFL, giving up just 15.7 points per game. Despite holding the best record in the AFC, the Chiefs are just 5-7 on the line this season. KC has won 14 straight one-score games but has not covered the spread since October 20, six straight games. The Chargers have covered in 5 of 6. This number is finally in line as to what one might expect given the circumstances. Sadly for the Chiefs, and Roger Goodell, Taylor Swift will be playing the final stop of her Eras Tour in Vancouver Sunday night. Oddsmakers are hanging their hopes on the hook here at 3.5 points. Weather will not be a factor in this one. Hold on tight.”
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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