NFL Monday Night Football Best Bets & Picks (Buccaneers vs. Chiefs)
On Monday Night Football in Week 9, the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Chiefs enter this game with a 7-0 record (4-2-1 against the spread), while the Buccaneers are 4-4 and 4-4 against the spread.
The Chiefs continue to find ways to win, coming off a 27-20 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 8. Conversely, the Buccaneers put up 26 against the Atlanta Falcons but allowed 31.
Check out my best bets for this matchup below.
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Best Week 9 Monday Night Football Picks
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)
Buccaneers +9 (-110)
While the Buccaneers are on the road and are without wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, getting them +9 is the way to go in this matchup.
The Buccaneers are third in the NFL in scoring, averaging 29.4 points per game. In Week 8, without Godwin or Evans, they scored 26. Tight end Cade Otton caught nine balls for 81 yards and two touchdowns.
In the passing game, quarterback Mayfield had another 300-plus passing yard day with 330 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Through eight games, Mayfield is completing 71.1% of his passes for 2,189 yards, 21 touchdowns, nine interceptions, and two rushing touchdowns.
Mayfield has now thrown for 300-plus yards in three straight games and four of the last five games.
I think the Chiefs are in a good position to have a good offensive game, but I think Mayfield can elevate this offense and keep the game within nine points.
Patrick Mahomes 2+ Passing TDs (-120)
The Chiefs are 7-0, despite Mahomes not having his best season thus far.
He has more interceptions (nine) than passing touchdowns (eight) through seven games.
He’s thrown multiple touchdown passes in three games and has thrown zero in two games.
However, I think he could be in for his best game statistically against the Buccaneers.
The Buccaneers have allowed nine passing touchdowns over the past two weeks, five of which came against them in Week 7 and four in Week 8.
In Week 5, they also allowed four.
If you look at the game logs, it’s intriguing-the Buccaneers have either allowed four passing touchdowns or more or one or less. They didn’t allow a single touchdown through the first three games.
For Mahomes, his options are a bit limited with Rashee Rice and Isiah Pacheco injured, but he has another game with DeAndre Hopkins in the offense; running back Kareem Hunt has taken over the bell-cow duties seamlessly, and they still have wide receiver Xavier Worthy’s speed to work with.
And oh yeah-there’s that guy, tight end Travis Kelce. The Buccaneers haven’t defended tight ends too well lately.
Mahomes will hit two passing touchdowns or more in this one.
Travis Kelce Any Time TD (-105)
Speaking of Kelce, yes, I think he finds the end zone for the second time this season in this one.
In Week 8, he caught 10 passes on 12 targets for 90 yards and scored against the Raiders.
Now, against the Buccaneers, he’ll take on a defense that’s allowed four touchdowns to the position over the last two weeks.
In Week 8, Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts caught four passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns.
In Week 7, Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews caught four passes for 41 yards and two touchdowns.
Adding Hopkins certainly opens the field up a bit more, and Kelce will benefit.
There’s also a bit of extra motivation after his brother, Jason Kelce, was involved in an incident with a fan at the Penn State and Ohio State game in which the fan referred to Travis as a gay slur.