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San Diego Chargers vs New England Patriots
Gillette Field – Foxboro, Massachusetts - Sunday September 18 – 4:15PM on CBS
Spread (ATS): New England -7
Over/Under: 53.5
Odds courtesy of BetOnline.com
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers didn’t totally dominate in the opener but they got the win, getting a bit of a monkey off their backs after some recent slow starts (they hadn’t won their opener since 2007). Now it is off to New England for a marquee late afternoon tussle with the Patriots. The winner of this game can probably pronounce themselves the early favourite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. An honour the Chargers haven’t had in a while.
It took a little while for the Chargers to get going in the opener. The Vikings returned the opening kickoff for a TD and it wasn’t until there was 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter that they had their first lead at the final score of 24-17. Phillip Rivers led the offense with 335 yards through the air but he tossed the ball to the other team a couple of times. Against New England those mistakes will bury them – like they did in last year’s loss.
The Chargers are looking to change some history as they haven’t had much success against New England, losing 4 of their last 5 including a 3 point loss last year. San Diego has also struggled in it road openers having lost 3 of its last 4 including a loss at New England in 2007. With the spread as the equalized you can certainly make and argument for backing the Chargers come Sunday.
New England Patriots
New England’s offense made a pretty loud statement in the first part of the Monday night doubleheader. Led by a superlative performance by Tom Brady it was raining footballs all the way to the end zone. They weren’t really challenged much throughout the game but the final passing numbers made it seem like it was a much more dominant performance than it was in my opinion.
Don’t get me wrong New England is very good. I just don’t feel like bowing to the House of Belichick. No matter what he does it will be hard for Brady to top last week’s performance. Against Miami he was able to get whatever he wanted and the line did a great job giving him time even though they lost their starting centre (who is out indefinitely). San Diego should be a much stiffer challenge.
Lost in last week’s performance was a ho-hum game from the defense. The Dolphins were in catchup mode most of the game and Chad Henne threw for over 400 yards himself. They did bottle up the running game but sadly that has become the rule when Reggie Bush is your running back. The Chargers are a much better offensive team that outgained them by more than 180 yards last season. If they didn’t turn it over (-4) so many times they likely would have won.
ATS Pick: San Diego +7
Over/Under Pick: Over
Score Prediction: San Diego 33 – New England 30
Need more help making your picks winners? Check out our top handicappers.
San Diego Chargers Betting Trends:
- San Diego is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of San Diego’s last 6 games
- San Diego is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
- San Diego is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games on the road
New England Patriots Betting Trends:
- New England14-2-1 SU in its last 17 games
- The total has gone OVER in 11 of New England’s last 12 games
- New England is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games
- New England is 17-2 SU in its last 19 games at home
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