Chargers vs Chiefs odds and prediction for Thursday Night Football clash

Amazon Prime could not have asked for a better first Thursday Night Football game on their new deal with the NFL than having the Kansas City Chiefs host the LA Chargers. These are two of the best teams in the league that are also two of the most explosive teams as well.

Every Chargers-Chiefs matchup since Justin Herbert took over as the starting quarterback has been must-watch TV. Outside of Week 17 in 2020 when the Chiefs rested their starters, the Chargers and Chiefs have battled to one-score outcomes, with both of the Chiefs' wins over Herbert coming in overtime.

Fans can expect a doozy of a football game and betting on the game will make it even more entertaining to watch.

Chargers vs Chiefs odds for Thursday Night Football clash:

It is typically a rule of thumb that the home team gets three automatic points against the spread and then anything above that indicates that Vegas thinks the home team is better. Anything lower than that indicates that the team thinks the visiting team is better.

Vegas is favoring the Chiefs in this game as the Chargers are 4.5-point underdogs on FanDuel Sportsbook. This spread did start at 3.5 points but with there being question marks around the Chargers' receiving corps, it has moved to 4.5 points.

This makes the Chargers a +184 money line underdog, meaning that for every $100 you bet on the Chargers to win the game outright you win $184 in return. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are -220 money line favorites. You would have to bet $220 to win $100 in return.

The over/under for this game has been set at 54.5 points. So while the receiving corps issues have swung the spread in favor of the Chiefs, it has not seemed to impact the over/under much.

Chargers vs Chiefs betting prediction:

There is one part of this game that seems like an absolute lock and another part that is more speculative. If you are going to bet on just one aspect of this game I would advise betting on the under.

It takes a lot for two teams to score 55 points and the first matchup between these two teams went under 54.5 points last season. I think it will be close, but there are several factors that favor the under.

First is the potential receiving corps woes for the Chargers and how that might impact the offense. Based on how Joe Lombardi calls plays, I would expect the Chargers to be methodical with the ball and look to dominate the time of possession. They do not want to get in a shootout.

Meanwhile, the Chargers' defense is much better than it was last season and is exponentially better than Arizona's defense. After holding a good Raiders offense to 19 points in Week 1, the Chargers can definitely hold the Chiefs under 27, which would favor the under.

This is also a short week and is the first short week of the season. Thursday Night Football games from Week 2 to Week 16 went under 54.5 points 12 out of 17 times last season.

MUST-READ: Ranking Justin Herbert and all 32 starting quarterbacks

As far as the spread goes, I would lean Chargers +4.5 since these games are always close and it just makes more sense to take the points, but if you are going to target just one bet, target the under.