Sportsbooks big Raiders fans vs. Chiefs on ‘Silver and Black Friday’

Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year, but sportsbooks have struggled to sell any bets on the Raiders in their game Friday at Kansas City.

“We’re not looking it as the Black Friday game but as the Silver and Black Friday game,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “We’re clearly going to be Raiders fans.”

The Chiefs are consensus 13-point favorites over the Raiders after the line was as high as 13½.

“So there’s been a little bit of sharp play on the Raiders, although the ticket count is still 75 percent in favor of the Chiefs,” Esposito said.

The line also has bounced around a bit at the Westgate, where vice president of risk Jeff Sherman said a sharp group initially took the Raiders +13, causing the line to dip to 12. Then another sharp group played the Chiefs -12, causing the line to creep back up to 13.

Kansas City is 10-1 straight-up but only 5-6 against the spread, and it has failed to cover its last five games.

“The Chiefs have been so dominant winning games, but they have not been dominant against the number,” Esposito said. “That’s probably the one thing we’re hanging our hat on.”

The Chiefs’ 0-5 spread slide started with their 27-20 win over the Raiders on Oct. 27 as 8½-point favorites.

Kansas City went ahead 27-13 on Patrick Mahomes’ 9-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Worthy with 4:59 left. But the Raiders rallied for a backdoor cover when Gardner Minshew threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to DJ Turner with 2:03 left.

The Chiefs have won 17 of the past 20 meetings with their AFC West rivals, but the Raiders have covered the past two meetings and three of the past four at Arrowhead Stadium, where they dealt Kansas City a 20-14 upset loss last year on Christmas Day.

“They have just seemed to play this team fairly well over the last couple of years, and the Chiefs have not been overly impressive point spreadwise this season,” Esposito said. “Yet they’re the biggest favorite on the board.”

The two-time defending Super Bowl champions have only two double-digit wins this season: 26-13 over the Saints and 28-18 over the 49ers.

The reeling Raiders (2-9, 4-7 ATS) are mired in an NFL-high seven-game losing streak and have failed to cover their past three games in double-digit losses to the Broncos (29-19), Dolphins (34-19) and Bengals (41-24).

The consensus total is 42½. The Raiders have gone over in four straight games and are second in the NFL with an 8-3 over-under record. The Chiefs are on a 4-1 over run.

Aidan O’Connell, who has been on injured reserve since Oct. 22 with a broken thumb on his right (throwing) hand, will start at quarterback for the Raiders over Desmond Ridder, who replaced Gardner Minshew after Minshew suffered a season-ending broken collarbone in Sunday’s home defeat to Denver.

“I think he’s a better choice than Ridder,” Esposito said. “He’s playing for an opportunity to at least be in the conversation next year, although based on their record, I’m guessing (Miami QB) Cam Ward and (Colorado QB) Shedeur Sanders are both high on the Raiders’ wish list.”

Best bet

Three-time Review-Journal NFL Challenge champion Doug Fitz, who is 34-26 ATS in the contest this season, took the Raiders +12 over the Chiefs.

“Simply because Kansas City consistently plays down to the level of their opponents and they win very few games by large scores,” said Fitz (Systemplays.com). “Add to that being a division game. Spread is too high.”

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