Nearing the halfway point of the regular season and the final weekend of October football, the Las Vegas Raiders (2-5) are struggling as they face the AFC West-leading Kansas City Chiefs (6-0) on Sunday. But Raiders rookie tight end Brock Bowers provides elite play and stats at the position.

“(He) has been a bright spot for us every week,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said during this week’s preparations for the Chiefs.

Raiders-Rams winners and losers

Last Sunday, in a Week 7 game against the Los Angeles Rams, Coach Pierce once again hurt his team’s chances, making his second major mistake of the season through mismanagement when he failed to score a touchdown on 4th-and-goal to score, and lost 8 points with less than 3 minutes to play. The Raiders had completed a 14-play drive to the Rams’ 4-yard line in 7 minutes. Gardner Minshew hit Brock Bowers with a short pass for no gain on 3rd down. The Raiders lined up to score a touchdown on 4th down, but a false start penalty brought the ball back to the Rams’ 9-yard line. Pierce elected to kick a field goal after all three timeouts expired, and the Raiders lost 20-15. Bowers’ performance and stats against the Rams were a career high with 10 receptions for 93 yards.

The Raiders (+7) bettors may have been pleased, but Bowers and his teammates weren’t coming off another turnover-filled loss. The Raiders have a league-worst minus-13 turnover differential this season, after four more against the Rams.

Brock Bowers super season

Bowers was the Raiders’ first-round draft pick this season, taken 13th overall. He has been a “baller” since arriving at Raiders training camp and is now excelling in his first pro football season after dominating Georgia as a two-time Mackey Award winner as the best tight end in the country.

“From the day he got here, he was calm, confident, just a baller,” said Raiders star DE Maxx Crosby. He’s a stud and already one of the better tight ends in the league. He catches everything, runs through tackles, creates. People miss him. I love that he is on our team.

Not only does Bowers’ 47 catches lead all NFL tight ends in last Sunday’s games, he also has the most catches any Tight end in first seven career games since 2000.

• 47 receptions – third-most by any player in his first seven games in NFL history (WR Puka Nacua, 58 and RB Saquon Barkley, 49).
• 477 receiving yards – League high for all NFL tight ends through Week 7, followed by the 49ers George Kittle (42/375 yards) and the Falcons Kyle Pitts (37/328). Additionally, Bowers is the third-most receiving yards by a tight end in his first seven games in NFL history with 477 yards. Only Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka (505 in 1961) and Kyle Pitts (484 in 2021) have had more.

Bowers recorded 10 more receptions against seven different Rams defenders last week. His versatility and ability to create after the catch remain the Raiders’ greatest strengths on offense.

Raiders-Chiefs matchups and advanced stats

Respected sports handicapper and advanced model statistics guru, Dr. Bob Sports, provided additional stats and notes on the Chiefs-Raiders matchup, as well as additional information you can bet on from Pro Football Focus (PFF).

• With Aidan O’Connell expected to miss four to six weeks with a broken thumb, Gardner Minshew will be back in the starting lineup on Sunday. Minshew is a slight improvement over O’Connell.
• Las Vegas WR Jakobi Meyers should start this week and is averaging 0.43 EPA/target (14th). However, Meyers could be dealing with an ankle injury in his first game opposite Kansas City cornerback Trent McDuffie, who had just one reception for 15 yards on four scores in man coverage last week. The Chiefs defense will be without CB Jaylen Watson, who suffered a broken ankle in Sunday’s win.
• Kansas City’s defense is allowing opposing tight ends a 60% success rate (26th) and will be tested by TE Brock Bowers, whose 27 receptions in the last three games are the most for a rookie tight end in the history of the NFL are.
• Raiders RG Dylan Parham ranks 11th in pass blocking efficiency but could be sidelined for another game. That would leave backup Jordan Meredith and rookie right tackle DJ Glaze facing edge rusher George Karlaftis and inside linebacker Chris Jones. Karlaftis has 24 pressures (18th) and Jones ranks 3rd in pass rushing efficiency. Update: NFL injury report shows Parham is out and will not play.
• Patrick Mahomes is averaging a career-low 0.09 EPA/game and it would be even worse if he failed to get a first down on a league-high 63% of his scrambles.
• The Chiefs traded for WR DeAndre Hopkins, but it seems unlikely he will get more than 15 routes in his first game.
• Kansas City right tackle Jawaan Taylor ranks 15th in pass blocking efficiency and will battle with edge rusher Maxx Crosby, who has recorded 33.5 sacks since the start of the 2022 season (2nd).
• Our model favors the Chiefs by 9.4 points, with a predicted total of 41.3 points, and Kansas City is 1-10-1 ATS in their last 12 games as the road favorite with 4 or more points following a win. And that appears to be a lull after last week’s Super Bowl rematch with the 49ers.

Brock Bowers props

Professional football Opportunities by FanDuel Sportsbook is regularly updated and Bet types and odds Subject to change, including on props and live betting.

Bowers has 1 TD reception this season, and unfortunately that’s tied for the team lead as the Raiders’ QBs have only thrown 6 TD passes. This week, Bowers will face nine-time Chiefs Pro Bowler and future Hall of Fame TE Travis Kelce, who has a team-high 28 receptions for 245 yards and zero touchdowns this season.

• TE Brock Bowers receiving yards vs. Chiefs – O/U 61.5
• TE Travis Kelce receiving yards vs. Raiders – O/U 54.5
• TE Bowers Receptions: O/U 6.5
• TE Kelce Receptions: O/U 5.5
• TE Bowers any time TD: +250
• TE Kelce any time TD: +110
• TE Bowers 80+ receiving yards (+200)

While the Chiefs’ defense was dominant thanks to a No. 1-rated defensive line (Raiders’ No. 11), 49ers tight end George Kittle had six receptions for 92 yards against the Chiefs last week. Bowers will once again be the focal point of the Raiders’ offensive attack, and at least six receptions seems likely.

The Power Plays newsletter predicts the Raiders (236) will have the fewest offensive yards of any NFL team in Week 8. But Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has underperformed this season. Mahomes’ 6-8 touchdowns-to-interceptions are the worst among the NFL’s 24 quarterbacks who have started all of their team’s games this season. He will welcome the signing of WR DeAndre Hopkins in a trade from the Tennessee Titans this week. The betting line (Chiefs -9.5) has not changed since this trade.

Raiders QB Gardner Minshew has 4 TDs and 8 INTs in five starts this season. He’ll likely return to more passes against the Chiefs, although matchups suggest limited success in the running game.

Follow more NFL teams, matchups, storylines and betting updates, including Week 8, as the Raiders look to bounce back against the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, who are on their way to their ninth straight title in the AFC West Division are.

“It’s Raider week, so this week definitely brings a little more energy.”

You can bet on it.

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