Opening Line: Chiefs -5.5
Over/Under: 44.5

Time: 4:25 PM EST Sunday January 1, 2017 on CBS

Kansas City Chiefs (11-4) vs. San Diego Chargers (5-10)

The Chiefs have already qualified for the playoffs, but they still have a los to play for. If they beat the Chargers and the Raiders, who are without QB Derek Carr, lose to the Broncos Kansas City will win the AFC West and get a first round bye. They have won four of their last five games and their defense shut down the Broncos last week holding them to 10 points. They don’t have great starts in terms of pass or run defense, but overall they rank 5th in the league in opponents’ points per game.

The Chargers are in a tailspin, as they have lost four in a row and in their last game they lost to the Browns, who notched their first win of the season. QB Phillip Rivers has had a solid season and ranks 5th in the league in passing yards, but San Diego only ranks 27th in rushing yards per game and 28th in opponents’ points per game.

These teams met in the season opener in Kansas City where the Chiefs beat the Chargers 33-27.

In their last games the Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos 33-10 and the Chargers lost to the Cleveland Browns 20-17.

On the season the Chiefs are 8-7 ATS with an O/U record of 5-10 and the Chargers are 7-8 ATS with an O/U record of 8-6-1.

In the win over the Broncos the Chiefs were solid on both sides of the ball with 484 yards while holding Denver to 246 yards. Alex Smith had another solid yet unspectacular game with 244 yards with 1 TD and an INT and one of the main reasons the Chiefs had a blowout is that they rushed for 238 yards.

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The Chiefs’ offense will face a Chargers’ defense that ranks 19th in the league against the pass and 10th against the run.

In their loss to the Browns the Chargers had more than 100 total yards, but they had a turnovers and they committed nine penalties for 92 yards. Rivers had a big game with 322 yards with two TD and an INT, but he got very little help from the rushing game, as they only had a grand total of 34 yards on the ground.

Kansas City ranks 17th in the league in pass defense, which will be key for them in this division game, and 26th in run defense.

Kansas City at San Diego Betting Trends

• The Chiefs are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 road games, 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall, and they have an Under record of 8-3 in their last 11 games.
• The Chargers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall, 5-15 ATS in their last 20 home games, and they have an Under record of 4-0-1 in their last 5 games.
• The Chiefs are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against the Chargers in San Diego.
• In the last 5 games between these teams the Under record is 4-1.

Kansas City Chiefs at San Diego Chargers Prediction

San Diego jumped out to a 21-3 lead at halftime and were moving up and down the field with little resistance by the Kansas City defense amassing 219 yards in the first half. Then a season ending injury to Chargers WR Keenan Allen appeared to deflate the team and the Chiefs stormed back to win in OT. The injury to Keenan was just the beginning to their injury filled campaign. San Diego has now lost four straight games and with their top RB iffy to play and a banged-up offensive line it doesn’t set up well for them this week against a motivated opponent. Keep an eye on the status for Chargers RB M. Gordon and if he’s out look for the visitor to get the point spread cover.

Take Kansas City -5.5

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