Free NFL betting tips: Preview of Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders in Thursday Night Football

Kansas City at Oakland (Friday, 0125 BST, Sky Sports Main Event & Action)

We can look forward to a potentially excellent start to week seven on the west coast but both the Raiders and the Chiefs have some questions to answer on current form.

There are fewer it seems for Kansas City with a 5-1 record at the top of the AFC West but they suffered a first defeat at the hands of Pittsburgh last weekend in a rather sluggish display at a packed Arrowhead Stadium.

It was a fairly dismal all-round team effort too as previously flawless quarterback Alex Smith missed open targets and made some poor decisions, while rookie running back Kareem Hunt was limited to just 21 yards from nine carries on the ground.

The latter’s opposite number Le’Veon Bell had a huge day, in contrast, while under-fire quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was allowed to rediscover some consistency, although his pivotal late touchdown pass to Antonio Brown down the left sideline had more than its fair share of good fortune.

Kansas City head coach Andy Reid was responsible for a couple of dubious play-calls as the Chiefs rallied in the closing stages but their effort came up short and the league’s last unbeaten record was sunk 19-13.

It was unfortunate to bump into a Pittsburgh team galvanised after a poor defeat to Jacksonville the previous week so perhaps it is the turn of the Chiefs to take over that role as they head to the Bay Area looking for compensation.

They board the plane as well-punted favourites by a field goal to face a divisional rival they have beaten on five straight occasions and a team that has slumped to four successive losses having opened the campaign 2-0.

Hopes were high that Oakland would be a leading Super Bowl candidate once more but it has not quite happened for them up to this point as they seek both momentum and an identity.

They have already lost as many games as they did in all of the 2016 regular season and four consecutive outings scoring under 20 points is an unexpectedly poor return from a quarterback on the rise in Derek Carr, veteran running back Marshawn Lynch and one of the game’s most dominant offensive lines.

Last season’s ability to edge the close encounters has seemingly deserted them, a point illustrated as recently as last weekend after the LA Chargers kicked a last-gasp field goal to prevail 17-16.

"We are mad because we know we are better," said offensive tackle Donald Penn. "We are very close but close ain’t getting us anywhere!"

The likeable, strong-armed Carr has accepted a good portion of the blame but has been restricted by some pretty conservative tactics and although loathe to admit it, a back injury which forced him to sit out one game recently will likely hamper him further in the short to medium term as he managed just one pass of more than 15 yards in that loss to the Chargers.

Until his season was ended last Christmas Eve by injury, Carr was able to paper over most of the shortcomings Oakland had on the other side of the ball as well and although they have not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 2017, the defense still looks vulnerable (ranked 23rd overall in the NFL) with the recent signing of physically-fragile linebacker NaVorro Bowman representing a real roll of the dice.

The more pessimistic among the Kansas City fans will say last weekend's defeat sums up their team in a nutshell and will more than likely see them come up short when it comes to delivering a first championship since the heady days of the 1960s under Hank Stram and Len Dawson.

However, they look a far more cohesive unit at the moment than their hosts on Thursday and I am willing to take a chance on them regaining the winning thread in some style by posting a convincing victory at a hostile Alameda Coliseum.

Prediction: Kansas City 33-14 Oakland

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Posted at 1045 BST on 18/10/17.