In Week 10, the San Diego Chargers suffered yet another heartbreaking loss by way of a 31-24 defeat to the Miami Dolphins. It was the sixth time in as many losses this season that they’ve been beaten by a single possession (eight points or less).
Thankfully, Philip Rivers had a bye week to forget and move on from his turnover-filled afternoon. He was picked off four times, including the game-winning pick-six by Miami’s kiko Alonso with about one minute left in Week 10’s game.
Still, Rivers finished with 326 passing yards and three touchdowns, which is typical of San Diego’s high-powered offensive attack that’s second-best in the NFL with 29 points scored per game. He’ll have the benefit of getting the team’s top wide receiver back from injury in Travis Benjamin (knee) too, so it’s highly unlikely that he’ll commit as many mistakes as he did a couple of weeks back.
The Chargers will need more out of Melvin Gordon as well. He was literally the only guy who ran the ball against Miami, and yet he finished with just 70 rushing yards on 24 carries. Gordon’s a top-five running back in terms of rushing yardage and TDs scored this season, and his talent must be maximized against the Texans’ rather solid defense this coming Sunday.
If there’s one thing to take away from the Chargers’ numerous close calls, though, it would be that they’re actually doing their betting backers a favor. They’ve lost eight of their last 10 road games, but strangely enough, they have the complete opposite record of 8-2 against the spread. So that means you need not count on a Chargers win after all this coming Sunday since most of their losses actually result to victories for us bettors.
Like the Chargers, the Houston Texans are coming off a tough loss entering Week 12. They lost a close one to the Oakland Raiders on Monday Night, 27-20, in an away game that was held in Mexico.
Such a shame that the Texans couldn’t hold off their opponents in crunch time, as they limited the Raiders to just 120 offensive yards after three quarters and just 35 rushing yards on 16 carries the entire contest. Emerging cornerback A.J. Bouye even managed to pick off Oakland’s Derek Carr, who has only thrown three interceptions this season entering Monday night’s game.
Houston’s defense has to face another prolific offense this coming weekend, and they need more plays like Bouye’s to shift the tides. The team, mind you, only has five interceptions this entire season despite being middle-of-the-pack in total defense.
Then again, the team’s offense is still the biggest worry. Brock Osweiler still looked half-baked under center despite having to face a porous Oakland defense, as he finished with 243 yards, one touchdown and one interception on 26-of-39 passing. It didn’t help that someone from the Raiders-heavy crowd south of the border directed a green laser pointer at his face early on in the game.
At least running back Lamar Miller had a good outing, as he finished with 104 rushing yards and a TD that evening. Plus, the Texans would gladly welcome a climb up and through that invisible wall on the border and head back to the friendly confines of NRG Stadium, where they’ve won all five of their games this season (4-0-1 ATS).
Writer’s Prediction
The Chargers (-1) finally catch a break and win a close bout on the road, 30-27.
