NFL picks, Week 5: Chiefs expected to roll over Raiders

After another win from the Chiefs, they are widely regarded as the NFL’s best team. Now, in a matchup against the Raiders, no one is picking against them.

The Kansas City Chiefs have had a weird week.

After a positive COVID test from the New England Patriots and one from the Chiefs practice squad, the team’s Week 4 matchup was quickly pushed back to Monday. The Monday special on CBS went how Chiefs vs. Patriot matches generally go. Bill Belichick coached very well and kept the team in it for the first half and then Patrick Mahomes and company figured out what they had to do to move the ball downfield on their defense.

The final score of the game looked uglier than the game actually was. The Chiefs didn’t look as dominant as they have in previous games. While the defense forced turnovers and had multiple sacks, the offense sputtered out on multiple occasions.

That being said, the media is largely unafraid of the Chiefs dropping a game to the Las Vegas Raiders this weekend. Here is what they had to say about the Week 5 contest.

CBS:

On the eight-person panel at CBS, no one was willing to take a gamble on the Raiders upsetting the Chiefs this weekend. Although Jason La Canfora and Pete Prisco seem to be itching to say anything they can to upset Chiefs fans, they seemingly overlooked this matchup and made their picks without a second thought. Will Brinson, however, wrote his thoughts on the upcoming matchups as he does every week.

In Brinson’s piece, he did not shy away from strongly favoring Kansas City over Jon Gruden’s Raiders despite acknowledging that the game’s status may be up in the air. Here is what he said:

"Another game that’s absolutely a “maybe” on being played this week, thanks to COVID-19 concerns with both teams. The Raiders have had a positive test — and have been disciplined for attending a Darren Waller charity function without masks and while intermingling with fans — and the Chiefs just played the Patriots. The last time we saw Patrick Mahomes, he was getting an on-field hug from Stephon Gilmore, who has since tested positive for coronavirus. There’s plenty of reason to believe the NFL might postpone this game with all that’s going on. If it is played and everyone is healthy, I would expect the Chiefs to go wild here. Andy Reid dominates the Raiders against the spread, going 10-4 ATS since arriving in KC in 2013. The Chiefs are on a HEATER right now, going 11-1-1 in their last 13 games against the spread as well.Pick: Chiefs 42, Raiders 21"

Brinson has every right to believe that Kansas City will put a beatdown on the Raiders. Andy Reid has not only owned the AFC West, but Jon Gruden has yet to beat the Chiefs in his tenure. The last time the Raiders defeated the Chiefs was when Jack Del Rio was running the show.

ESPN:

Everyone is following suit. The panel at ESPN is unwilling to budge on their picks of Kansas City. The ten-person panel went 100% with the Chiefs for this week’s game. Jon Gruden was employed by ESPN for years and must not have inspired much hope for his return to the sideline.

While Gruden was undoubtedly entertaining in the booth, he has a long way to go before he can show that returning to the game was the right decision. Gruden has been owned by Reid and, if the last two games had their scores combined, the Chiefs would have defeated the Raiders 68-19. The former Monday Night Football analyst has not yet shown he can hang with an Andy Reid coached team.

NFL.com:

The Chiefs love doesn’t stop at CBS and ESPN. Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com went on to say that the Chiefs should win this game by double digits, surprisingly citing the defense as a key reason why. Here is what he had to say:

"Kansas City Chiefs 35, Las Vegas Raiders 20As if the Chiefs weren’t enough to deal with already, their defense ranks fifth in efficiency and could get back previously suspended starting cornerback Bashaud Breeland and injured pass rusher Chris Jones. That should be plenty against a Raiders team too often willing to trade long field goal drives for touchdowns, especially in this divisional mismatch. Kansas City’s passing attack isn’t producing like normal (Patrick Mahomes ranks eighth in yards and 18th in YPA!), but Las Vegas’ defense doesn’t do a single thing well, tackling included. This is a get-right game for the Chiefs’ offense, as if a 4-0 team needs to get right."

FiveThirtyEight:

FiveThirtyEight is extremely busy with the upcoming presidential election, but they must have at least one staffer working on NFL odds. When you look at the overall percentage of picks that “experts” are making at NFL Pick Watch, you see that 99% are picking Kansas City to win against the Raiders.

At FiveThirtyEight, they are hedging their bets a little more than that. They give Kansas City an 83% chance of winning, which is tied for the widest percentage with the Baltimore Ravens over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Overview:

Derek Carr probably has burner accounts that he uses to yell at critics. Jon Gruden does not know how to keep a mask on his face. Mark Davis has a bowl cut from Hell. This is a goofy team that is very easy to overlook.

The Raiders are a young team that is a bit better than in previous years. Darren Waller is an up-and-coming star, Josh Jacobs is a top 5 running back in the NFL, and Henry Ruggs III is incredibly fast. That being said, we are still talking about the Raiders.

The Raiders need to prove that they can beat Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes before an analyst can have an ounce of hope that they may do so. While we may be marching toward the end of the Derek Carr era, we are not going to see the end of Gruden any time soon. Either the Raiders will turn it around, or they won’t. Either way, it is hard to see them favored in a game against the Chiefs in the next few seasons.