2016 NFL San Diego at Kansas City Week 1 Expert Picks

The best way into the postseason is as a division winner, as that tends to rule out the need to look over your shoulder at what other teams are doing in the Wild Card race. It also offers up a good possibility that you will get a little rest week at the start of the playoffs, which can often be enough to get some of the beat up players on the squad back in shape. Winning the division means setting the tone early, and the San Diego Charger and the Kansas City Chiefs will have the opportunity to do that when they square off in an AFC West battle in Week 1 of the NFL season. There are a lot of people who have the Chiefs as the betting odds favorite to win the division, and they can back up that belief of they come out and lay a beating on their rivals. There has been a definite trend with these two over the past couple of seasons, but will that carry over to 2016? Let’s take a look.

Here’s a Closer Look At The 2016 NFL Chargers at Chiefs Week 1 Expert Picks

When: Sunday, September 11 at 1 PM EST Where: Arrowhead Stadium, KC TV: TBA Radio: TBA NFL Odds: TBA    

Why bet on the San Diego Chargers

Last season was a rough one for the San Diego Chargers in a number of different ways, most notably because the feeling was that it might be their last one in San Diego. They are still there for now, but those rumors are sure to be swirling again this season. That is not the sort of distraction that a team coming off a 4-12 season needs, and you get the sense that we might end up seeing more of the same this time around. The Chargers are losing ground in a division where the Broncos are Super Bowl Champions, and the Chiefs and Raiders are both on the upswing. I don’t really like their chances here.

Why bet on the Kansas City Chiefs

You need only look at the last 2 seasons to see why the Chiefs will be overwhelming favorites coming into this game. They have played the Chargers 4 times during that stretch, and have come away with a perfect 4-0 record. The Chiefs defense has held the Chargers offense to a combined 33 points in those 4 games, and while KC haven’t exactly lit things up offensively in those meetings, they certainly did more than enough to win. I really like the Chiefs as a dark horse this year, especially if Alex Smith can play to such a high level once again.

Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction

There are a couple of games in Week 1 of the NFL season that look like easy money for football bettors and this is one of them. I like the Chiefs to dominate this game from start to finish on the way to a comfortable win, and I also think they will limit what the Chargers can do on offense.

San Diego Chargers 7 Kansas City Chiefs 24