It took over a season to come together, but the St. Louis Rams seem to finally be playing to their true potential. Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos just witnessed that firsthand. While a playoff run may be too far beyond them, they can still throw a monkey wrench in other teams’ postseason plans, beginning this week with the San Diego Chargers.
Philip Rivers and the Chargers snapped their three-game skid on Sunday against the Raiders, but it wasn’t entirely convincing. They don’t have much need for style points against the Rams, though; just a win will do.
Read up on our breakdown of this game below, or check out previews of the Bengals vs. Texans and Ravens vs. Saints for more teams in desperate need of a win.
[sc:Football ]St. Louis Rams vs. San Diego Chargers Betting Preview and Prediction
Where: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
When: Sunday, November 23, 1:00 PM ET
Line: St. Louis Rams (+6) at San Diego Chargers (-6); total 44.0 – see all NFL lines
Betting on the St. Louis Rams
Since opening up against the Vikings and Buccaneers in Weeks 1 and 2, the St. Louis Rams have faced eight straight teams with winning records and have gone just 3-5 in those games. However, two of those wins have now come against last year’s Super Bowl participants, as they swept aside the Denver Broncos, 22-7, on Sunday.
[sc:NFL240banner ]The Rams got a little lucky with injuries to two of the Broncos’ top receivers, but don’t take anything away from the Rams defense. Save for a blown coverage in the first-half which resulted in an Emmanuel Sanders touchdown, the Rams nearly shut out an offense led by the great Peyton Manning. They sacked the five-time MVP twice, hit him four times and picked him off twice.
This is more of the dominant Rams defense many had envisaged at the start of the season, and one that should be able to contain a Chargers offense that has not been firing on all cylinders over the past month. The Rams have garnered 13 sacks over the last three games, which isn’t exactly good news for Philip Rivers and his injured ribs.
But while the defense has deservedly received many of the plaudits, it’s the offense that holds the key to the team’s success.
That offense played one of its best games of the season against the Broncos. Rookie Tre Mason ran for a career-high 113 yards on 29 carries against a Broncos defense that had been the best in stopping the run this season, while quarterback Shaun Hill was pretty efficient (69 percent completion for 220 yards) and most importantly, turnover-free in his first start back.
Mason will have another chance to shine when he goes up against a Chargers defense that had given up over 130 rushing yards in its last three games prior to last Sunday’s win against the 0-10 Raiders.
Create a betting account now and win big by jumping on some potentially undervalued NFL underdogs this week.
Betting on the San Diego Chargers
Although the San Diego Chargers mercifully ended their three-game slump by completing the season sweep on the Oakland Raiders, things are still not quite right. For one, they only managed to beat the winless Raiders 13-6 at home with Philip Rivers still looking like a shell of the quarterback who was a legitimate MVP candidate a month ago.
Rivers has been hampered by rib and knee injuries, which have severely limited his productivity. He completed 65 percent of his passes against the Raiders, but threw for just 193 yards, one touchdown and a season-low 5.68 yards per attempt. After getting shut out by the Dolphins, the Chargers have just one touchdown over the last two games.
Rivers struggled mightily with the defenses of the Chiefs, Broncos and Dolphins. All three have a terrific pass rush that can create pressure without blitzing, which allowed them to put more men in coverage, taking away the Chargers’ many receiving weapons.
It wasn’t too much of a surprise, then, to see Rivers throw six interceptions in those games. He could have a similarly tough time coping with a Rams defense that is suddenly getting to the quarterback at will.
With Rivers ailing, the Chargers could lean more heavily on their running game, which received a big boost with the return of Ryan Mathews. Mathews led the way with 70 of the team’s 120 yards on 16 carries.
Speaking of boosts, a Chargers defense once decimated by injuries also received a major boost with the return of linebackers Manti Te’o, Jeremiah Attaochu and Melvin Ingram against the Raiders. With that trio back, the Chargers held Oakland’s offense to just 71 rushing yards and 3-of-15 on third-down conversions, and should be much better against the run than in previous weeks.
Writer’s Prediction
The Rams defense contains Rivers and the slumping Chargers offense enough to cover (+6) on the road.
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