TNF: Kansas City Chiefs vs Los Angeles Chargers 9/15/22 NFL Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers meet in week 2 Thursday Night Football action at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. The Los Angeles Chargers look for their first 2-0 start since the 2012 season. The Kansas City Chiefs look for their fifth 2-0 start in the last 6 years.

The Los Angeles Chargers have lost 4 of their last 6 road games. Justin Herbert is completing 76.5 percent of his passes for 279 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Keenan Allen and DeAndre Carter have combined for 130 receiving yards and 1 touchdown, while Gerald Everett has 3 receptions. The Los Angeles Chargers ground game is averaging 76 yards per contest, and Austin Ekeler leads the way with 36 yards on 14 carries. Defensively, Los Angeles is allowing 19 points and 320 yards per game. Khalil Mack leads the Los Angeles Chargers with 6 tackles, Joey Bosa has 1.5 sacks and Asante Samuel Jr. has 1 interception.

The Kansas City Chiefs have won their last 6 home games. Patrick Mahomes is completing 76.9 percent of his passes for 360 yards, 5 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Travis Kelce and JuJu Smith-Schuster have combined for 200 receiving yards and 1 touchdown, while Marquez Valdes-Scantling has 4 receptions. The Kansas City Chiefs ground game is averaging 128 yards per contest, and Isiah Pacheco leads the way with 62 yards and 1 touchdown. Defensively, Kansas City is allowing 21 points and 282 yards per game. Nick Bolton leads the Kansas City Chiefs with 10 tackles, L’Jarius Sneed has 1 sack and Juan Thornhill has 2 pass deflections.

The Chargers are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 vs. AFC and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 Thursday games. The Chiefs are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 home games and 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games overall. The over is 6-1 in Chargers last 7 games overall. The over is 8-1 in Chiefs last 9 games overall. The Chargers are 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 meetings in Kansas City and 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 meetings.

The road team has won 8 of the last 10 meetings between these teams, and both meetings last year were decided by a combined 12 points. It’s also overreaction week 2 where many are going to pound the Chiefs after what they did last week. There are cases to be made for the Chargers here. With that said, I need a couple more points to consider the road team. The Kansas City Chiefs looked so good last week and seem to be playing with a chip on their shoulder with the disrespect they heard all off season. Mahomes has thrown 7 more touchdowns since Sunday. As talented and balanced as the Chargers are, I’m just not trying to step in front of the Chiefs and how clean that offense looked. Give me KC by a touchdown.