The first game of Week 18 has the Kansas City Chiefs traveling to Las Vegas to take on the Raiders. The Chiefs can clinch the #1 overall seed in the AFC with a victory and Patrick Mahomes has the chance to break Peyton Manning's single season passing record with 430 yards on the day. Travis Kelce needs only 117 yards to pass his own record for most receiving yards in a season by a TE. For the Raiders, they looking to finish the season on a high note. After battling the 49ers last week in an OT loss, Jarrett St idham looks to leave a positive impression on the coaching staff to bring him back for next season with the opportunity to compete for a starting role. In the Week 5 matchup between these two AFC West teams, the Chiefs squeaked out a 30-29 victory at home. Let's take a look at the best player props for this matchup.
Darren Waller (LVR) over 33.5 receiving yards (-115)
It's no secret, Jarrett Stidham looked impressive against the 49ers last week. He's been in this offense for 3 years under McDaniel and was finally given the opportunity to start after the season withered away. Word on the street is that McDaniel wanted to turn the offense over to him earlier in the season, but he felt Carr had enough time earned with the organization to not do that to him. However, McDaniel believed the scheme would benefit from Stidham under center. That scheme has a clear focus on getting the TEs involved in the offense if you remember from the Brady/Gronkowski days of old. Last week against the #5 overall pass defense in the league according to Football Outsiders, Waller had his best performance since Week 1. He finished with 5 targets 3 receptions and 72 yards.
The Chiefs rank 21st overall in DVOA and allow 7.1 targets for 51.9 yards per game to opposing TEs. Waller had his highest % of snaps in the slot all season last week vs SF. His snap count was the highest its been since Week 4 and I expect that to take another leap Saturday afternoon. The Raiders should be playing from behind most of this game as Mahomes chases Peyton's record, so the game script sets up well for Waller. 1.5U and an alt line candidate if you can find it.