Raiders bettors hard to find for Christmas clash with Chiefs

Forget the time it takes sports cars to accelerate from zero to 60.

They’ve got nothing on the Raiders. They zoomed from zero to 63 points their last two games.

Despite the Raiders setting a franchise record for points scored in their 63-21 win against the Chargers on Dec. 14, oddsmakers and the betting public aren’t expecting much from them in their Christmas Day game at Kansas City on Monday.

The Chiefs climbed to consensus 10½-point favorites Saturday after the line sat at the key number of 10 all week.

“The public is on the Chiefs,” South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews said. “We’ve gone from -10 to -10½ with public action.”

The consensus total has also moved, plummeting from 43 to 40½. It was still at 41 on Saturday at the South Point.

“It’s really come down significantly. I’m kind of surprised, personally, that it dropped that much,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “The Chiefs just don’t score a lot. It’s a much different Chiefs team now. They win with defense.

“It’s a product of both teams. The Raiders have only gone over 20 points three times. They had an offensive explosion against the Chargers but they’re not buying an offensive juggernaut.”

The Raiders are tied for the NFL’s worst over-under record at 4-10. The Chiefs aren’t much better at 5-9.

“It never surprises me that they’re betting the Chiefs’ total under,” Westgate SuperBook vice president of risk Jeff Sherman said. “The defensive side has been their better side of the ball this season. They’ve cashed more unders.”

Kansas City is tied for 10th in the league in scoring with 22.8 points per game. The Raiders rank 24th, scoring only 18.9 points per game.

Each team has a top-10 scoring defense. The Chiefs rank third in the NFL, allowing only 17.5 points per game. The Raiders are tied for ninth. They give up only 20 points per game.

Despite all that, the two teams did go over the total of 42½ their first meeting of the season. Kansas City won 31-17 on Nov. 26 at Allegiant Stadium.

The last eight meetings between the teams have all produced 44 points or more. They’ve averaged 56.2.

The Chiefs (9-5, 7-6-1 against the spread) covered the last meeting as 9-point favorites after overcoming a 14-0 deficit. Kansas City has won six straight games against the Raiders (6-8, 7-6-1 ATS) by an average of 17.1 points. The Chiefs have won 11 of the last 12 meetings and 16 of 18.

Kansas City beat the Patriots 27-17 last week to snap a rare two-game losing streak. The Raiders snapped a three-game losing streak with the victory over the Chargers.

The Chiefs lead the ticket count at BetMGM by a 2-1 margin and the money by an 8-1 margin.

“It’s the Chiefs,” Esposito said. “We’re going to be Raiders fans and Giants fans big time. We’re going to need one of those two dogs to come through.”

New York is a 13½-point underdog at Philadelphia on Monday.

The Raiders are +425 on the money line to pull off their first outright upset of the Chiefs since 2020.

“The Chiefs will be tied up in money-line parlays and teasers,” Sherman said. “If that could be knocked down, that will be the most beneficial aspect for the books.”

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