Betting: Will Chiefs cover -3 vs. Chargers?
Minty Bets, Jared Quay and Pamela Maldonado break down their betting picks for the Thursday Night Football matchup between the Chiefs and Chargers.
Video Transcript
MINTY BETS: It's Thursday Night Football week 15, my friends. I'm Minty Bets here with Pam Maldonado and Jared Quay, and we have got an AFC West match-up between the Chiefs and the Chargers. The Chiefs are 3-point road favorites, and the total is 51 and 1/2.
I think I'm going to start things off with Jared. What's your best bet for this game?
JARED QUAY: I like the Chargers, but I'm not going to go with them here. I actually love the under 51 and 1/2 for this game. It's a short week, which means defenses usually get an advantage because teams can't really prepare much. And you add that to the fact that the Chiefs defense has been on fire. Everyone [INAUDIBLE] seeing those first four weeks of the Chiefs defense sucks. No. They've gone their last six games, and the highest-scoring team only scored 17 points. Four of those teams didn't even get 10 points.
So if I think the Chiefs can put together a good defense, Andy Reid is going to try to run the ball out in a short week. So 51 and 1/2 seems like a good number if it's on a Sunday, but on a Thursday night, I'm going under.
MINTY BETS: Ooh, all right. Pam, what do you have for us?
PAMELA MALDONADO: Jared, yes, I am agreeing with some of your points, but I am using those points to take the Chargers team total over 23 and 1/2. The Chiefs defense definitely looks like it has improved. The last six opponents, holding them to 17 points or less, but look at who those teams were. You had the Giants. You had the Packers without Aaron Rodgers. You had the Raiders in the midst of that off-field field situation; and the Cowboys without Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb, who was injured midgame; the Broncos; and then the Raiders again. That's not a really convincing resume to say that this defense is legitimate. And the Chargers the fifth best in passing offense, and the Chiefs playing this soft of a schedule, 26th against the pass.
Looking at the Chargers, they are getting back Keenan Allen, which is going to help in the passing game, and they are [? 67th ?] in red-zone scoring percentage in the last three games. Against a similar defense in the Bengals, the Chargers were able to put up 41 points, and Herbert threw for over 320 yards and three passing scores. I think the Chargers are going to be able to put up some points. Give me the over team total 23 and 1/2.
MINTY BETS: Ooh. OK, I like that one too. My pick is going to be the Chargers plus 3, and yeah, I've made it a point to say the Chiefs all season long. Like, it's a narrative that I've repeated over and over weekly. And I have to admit that the Chiefs have won and covered in their last four games straight, but that still doesn't change my mind because Justin Herbert holds up pretty well against the Chiefs. He's actually 3 and 0 against the spread versus Kansas City in his last three match-ups against him.
And I have to give the defensive edge to the Chargers here. Not that I'm thinking that it's going to be a strong game of defense. I actually think it's going to be a shootout, and I actually like the team total over, but got to go with the Chargers plus the points. Love betting on them as underdogs, and I'll throw on some money on the moneyline as well.
To recap our Thursday night picks, Jared has the under 51 and 1/2, Pam has the Chargers team total over 23 and 1/2, and I'm on the Chargers plus 3 and the moneyline.
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