Kansas City Chiefs(8-4 SU, 6-5 ATS)at San Diego Chargers (6-6 SU, 6-6 ATS), 4:15PM ET, NFL Week 14, Sunday, December 12th, 2010, Qualcomm Stadium (Natural Grass), San Diego, California
By Jeff Hochman of JHSportsline.com
Betting Odds:KC +7/SD -7
Over/Under Total: 46.5
The surging Kansas City Chiefs travel to San Diego forthis key AFC West division game against the up-and-down Chargers. The Chiefs have a two-game lead with just four games remaining. The Chargers need to win and than hope for a miracle.
Last Sunday, the Chargers lost to the Oakland Raiders 28-13 as 13.5-point favorites. They were out-gained by 82 yards and could only muster 11 First-downs. San Diegohad gotten two straight 100-yard games from Mike Tolbert, but he struggled all day against the aggressive front sevenby the Raiders.The Chargersrushed forjust 21 yards which istied for the seventh-lowest in team history. Tolbert had only 16 yards on seven carries. Rookie sensationRyan Mathews did notplay, apparently still bothered by a high ankle sprain. The Chargers sure could of have used him!
The Kansas Chiefs won its third straight game, with a 10-6 victory over Denver as 9-point home favorites. Jamaal Charles ran for 116 yards and Matt Cassel threw a 3-yard pass to Leonard Pope for the only touchdown as the Chiefs improved to 6-0 at home and remained in first place. Matt Cassel continues his impressive season as his QB rating is up to 98.4. He has 24 touchdowns and onlyfour interceptions. The Chiefs don’t ask him to a lot and that makes him a better quarterback. He has been very impressive to me this season. The Chiefs are 5-2 ITS (in the stats) in their last seven games and it should come to no surprise they are 5-2 SU in those seven games.
Philip Rivers is having a ginormous season for the Chargers. He has thrown for 3,642 yards, with 24/10 TD/INT ratio. His QB rating is thru the roof at 102.5 after 13 weeks. He should have success against a Kansas City team that is allowing 256 passing yards when playing on the road. The Chargers are ranked in the Top10 at defending the pass and run. Despite their .500 record, they have looked solidthis season. The one area were they do not look solid ison Special Teams. They are ranked No. 28 in Special Teams play. If you watched any of their games you can see whySDis ranked this low. They have been slowly getting better in terms of tackling and technique. I hope their special teams plays better because the Chiefs’ are ranked No.14 in this overlooked stat.
These teams last played each otherin week one of the regular season. Of course, the Chiefs won 21-14 as 4-point home underdogs. The Chargers out-gained KC 389-197 and held the ball for about 15 more minutes, but it was their special teams that cost them the victory. Dexter McClusterhad a 94-yard punt return for a touchdown, which seemed to take the”bolt” outof the Chargers.
It’s been four years since the Chiefs have defeated the Chargers in back-to-back games. San Diego is 6-1 SU and 5-2 ATS as home favorites of 3.5 to 7 points over the last three seasons. SD is 8-0 SU in the last four weeks of the regular season over the last two seasons.
Jeff’sPick to Cover the Point Spread: San Diego Chargers -7.
San Diego has to be pissed off about the way they played last Sunday. They acted as if just by showing up it would be an easy victory. You have to expect the Chargers to come out and play a much better game against a division rival. Playing at home off an embarrassing loss will make even the worst teams play much better in the next home game. The Chargers are “nicked up” but the line reflects that. Take SD!
