Pro sports bettor makes best bet on Raiders-Chiefs game

The Chiefs have dominated the Raiders in recent years, winning eight of the past nine meetings and 13 of 15.

But the Raiders have given Kansas City fits at Arrowhead Stadium, where they have covered the past three meetings and four of five with two outright wins.

Professional sports bettor Jeff Whitelaw is banking on the Raiders to hang tough with the Chiefs again Sunday at Kansas City. He bet on them as 13-point underdogs and still recommends a play on the Raiders at the current consensus line of +12.

“The Raiders typically play the Chiefs very tough. They get up for this game,” Whitelaw said. “I don’t know why, but every year it looks like a blowout and every year they seem to play them very, very tough.”

Kansas City opened as a 10½-point favorite before the line shot up after the Chiefs beat the Lions 30-17 on “Sunday Night Football” in their third win and cover in four games.

“The public is backing the Chiefs,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “As of now, we’re rooting for the Raiders.”

The total on the AFC West matchup is 45½, and the Raiders are 6-1 on the money line at the Westgate SuperBook.

“It’s hard to see them winning, but (12) is a big number for this series,” SuperBook vice president of risk Ed Salmons said. “The Raiders always seem like they play well in Kansas City for some reason. If they don’t turn the ball over, they ought to at least be in the game with a chance to cover.”

The Chiefs beat the Raiders 27-20 at Allegiant Stadium last season on Oct. 27 and 19-17 at Arrowhead on Nov. 29.

The Raiders (2-4, 2-4 against the spread) beat the Titans 20-10 last week for their first win and cover since their season-opening 20-13 victory at New England.

Kansas City (3-3, 3-3 ATS) has rounded into form after starting the season 0-2 following February’s 40-22 loss to the Eagles in the Super Bowl.

The Chiefs have averaged 31.7 points in their past three games after averaging 20 points in their first three. Their offense will be bolstered by the return of wide receiver Rashee Rice, who suffered a season-ending right knee injury last season in Week 4 and served a six-game suspension to start this season.

“Each week now, they’re looking more and more like the Chiefs team that can score points, and this is the first week they’ll have their whole team together,” Salmons said. “It may take some time for everything to come together, but the Chiefs have looked so much better this year than they did last year, even though last year they were winning every close game.”

Props

The Chiefs are the +650 co-favorites with the Bills at Caesars Sportsbook to win the Super Bowl, and Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the 2-1 favorite to win the NFL MVP award. Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen and Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield are tied for the 3-1 second choice.

Rice is the +675 favorite at Caesars to be the first touchdown scorer in Sunday’s game, and he’s +125 to score an anytime touchdown.

Raiders rookie running back Ashton Jeanty is +105 to score a touchdown and 7-1 to score the first touchdown.

The passing yards prop for Raiders quarterback Geno Smith is 203½ (over-121), and it’s 257½ (under-117) for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.