Monday nights will never be boring while the NFL Regular Season is underway. This week’s Monday Night Football matchup gives us two powerful offenses in the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers facing off in the gridiron. The Steelers, though, still have to get used to life without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger at least for another three weeks.
Read on for everything you need to know heading into this Week 5 Monday Night Football matchup. Catch all of this week’s primetime games; check out the complete preview for Thursday Night Football’s Colts vs. Texans and Sunday Night Football’s 49ers vs. Giants.
[sc:NCAAFArticles ]Pittsburgh Steelers vs. San Diego Chargers (Week 5)
Where: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
When: Monday, October 12, 8:30 PM ET
Line: Pittsburgh Steelers (+3) at San Diego Chargers (-3); total 45.0 – view all NFL lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Game Preview
The Chargers go where their quarterback takes them. Philip Rivers flexed his strong arm in a tight contest against the Cleveland Browns, a 30-27 win, on Sunday. He threw for 387 yards with three touchdowns and, more importantly, no interceptions.
[sc:NFL240banner ]Rivers spread out his passes to eight different receivers. Keenan Allen led the way for San Diego’s receiving corps finishing with 72 yards and a touchdown on four catches. This receiving corps figures to get even more dangerous with tight end Antonio Gates returning from his four-game suspension. Gates led the Chargers with 821 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns last season.
Lost in all the praise of the Chargers’ passing game is its rushing offense. The backfield duo of Danny Woodhead and first round draft pick Melvin Gordon may be able to churn out hard-fought yards on the ground against the Steelers. Pittsburgh showed plenty of holes in its front seven in Thursday night’s game against Baltimore by allowing 191 rushing yards and a score on 39 carries—a stiff 4.9 yards per carry.
While San Diego can get it going through the air, the Steelers seemed to struggle to put up big passing numbers with Ben Roethlisberger sidelined with a sprained knee. Michael Vick went 19 of 26 for just 124 yards and a touchdown in the Steelers’ 23-20 loss to the Ravens.
The veteran quarterback didn’t seem to mesh well with wide receiver Antonio Brown, who caught just 5 of 9 passes for 35 yards. That poor performance broke Brown’s 35-game streak of at least five catches and at least 50 receiving yards. But the Steelers may not need plenty of throws to beat the Chargers, as San Diego is allowing a whopping 126.8 rushing yards per game (29th in the league).
The Steelers have just the man to do the job in Le’Veon Bell. The prolific running back carried the team on his shoulders in Week 4, rushing for 129 yards and a score on 22 carries. Questionable play-calling didn’t make the best use of his abilities, though. He wasn’t handed the ball on fourth-and-short situations in overtime when the Steelers needed just one and two yards to keep their possible game-winning drives alive.
Where to Watch
It’s going to be difficult to miss this awesome Monday Night Football matchup. It will be broadcasted on ESPN, which is available in about 94 million paid television households in the United States.
Don’t have TV? Are you in a different continent? No problem: Monday Night Football is available through the world wide web via NFL Game Pass, which available all over the world. It allows you a handful of subscription options, with the best being the season pass (All NFL Games, including the playoffs and Super Bowl 50).
Betting Trends on the Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers have won four of their last five away from home, going 3-1-1 ATS.
The Steelers are 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 games as underdogs of four points or less.
The Steelers have won eight of their last 10 games against San Diego, going 7-3 ATS.
The total in three of the Steelers’ four games this season have gone under.
The Steelers are 1-4 ATS in their last five games against AFC West teams.
Betting Trends on the San Diego Chargers
The Chargers are 0-3 ATS in their last three games.
The Chargers are 1-6 ATS in their last seven games at Qualcomm Stadium.
The Chargers are 3-7 ATS as favorites of four points or less.
The Chargers have won three of their last four games against AFC North teams.
The Chargers have won five of their last seven games in October.
Hot Wager
The Steelers have had the upper hand of this matchup. But it’s going to be difficult to discount a San Diego squad getting one of its best weapons back. Don’t sleep on Antonio Gates; he’s a veteran tight end who won’t need plenty of time to get going. He’s played for the Chargers his entire career since 2003, taking snaps with Philip Rivers under center since 2006.
It’s going to be difficult for Michael Vick to form some chemistry with Antonio Brown the same way as with Big Ben. Expect the Steelers’ passing game to once again stall, while the Chargers’ will be soaring. The Chargers at -3 have plenty of value whereas the Steelers still need to take time to get Vick incorporated into their system.
Writer’s Prediction
As said above, the Chargers -3 is looking pretty sweet. Grab it while it lasts. Create a betting account now and win big on thrilling football action.
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