Las Vegas Raiders vs Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles will make the playoffs no matter what happens here. After playing at New England last week, this is a problematic situational spot for the Chargers. In five of their last seven road games, Los Angeles has won by seven and four while losing at Pittsburgh (20-10), Arizona (17-15), and Kansas City (19-17). For the season, the Chargers are averaging 21.8 points on the road. Las Vegas QB Aidan O'Connell has put together three strong performances in his last four games, including 340 yards passing at Kansas City. The defense allowed 17.2 points in the previous five contests, and the team was on a 5-4-1 ATS run. Play Las Vegas.

Las Vegas has a good balance of talent, outscoring opponents last year. The offensive line is very good behind QB Gardner Minshew II and RB Zamir White led the NFL in rushing over the last four games of 2023. Defensively, the Raiders ranked 15th in total defense, 12th in passing, and ninth in points allowed (19.5 per game). Los Angeles is favored but off a 5-12 campaign. There's a new playbook with new head coach Jim Harbaugh and the team lost veteran WRs Mike Williams and Keenan Allen. The defense was bad, ranked 28th in total yards allowed, 30th against the pass, and 24th in points allowed (23.4 per game. The Chargers are on a 12-3 run UNDER the total, plus on a 1-3 SU/ATS run as a favorite. The Raiders won the last meeting, 63-21, in December of last year, and the UNDER is 7-1 when these rivals clash at the Chargers. Play Las Vegas + UNDER the total.

Easton Stick will start at quarterback for Los Angeles, and the Raiders' QB appears to be a game-time decision. That about tells us all we need to know about the offensive performances we'll see tonight. Stick completed 13 of 24 passes for 179 yards as the Chargers lost to Denver on Sunday. Stick had thrown one career pass in the regular season before replacing Herbert. The Raiders played in one of the worst games in recent history, losing 3-0 to Minnesota, and they managed only 202 total yards of offense. Aidan O'Connell was 21 of 32 for 171 yards and an interception, and the Raiders rushed for only 56 yards. Both teams are 10-3 UNDER this season and the Chargers are 6-0 UNDER versus AFC teams, and 6-0 UNDER their past six December games. Las Vegas has gone UNDER seven of eight home games and six of eight overall against teams with losing records. The Chargers are 13-3 UNDER after losing by more than 14 points. Take the UNDER.

The Los Vegas Chargers will make the short trip to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers. The Chargers coach Brandon Staley is getting a lot of pushback on decisions he makes. Last game he went for it on 4th and 1 from his own 24 and was stopped. The Chargers led by only 4, and it was late in the game. Fortunately, he was bailed out by an interception in the endzone to preserve the win. It's hard to trust the Chargers coaching staff that seems to make a lot of mistakes. Both these teams are now 1-1 on the season. Las Vegas has struggled to get the running game going, but the passing attack at least has been able to move the chains somewhat. The Chargers offense has been pretty good, but the pass defense has been pretty poor and that is how Las Vegas has been moving the ball. The loser goes to 1-3 after this game and is in trouble, so both teams should be heavily engaged for this one. This is a division game which means it will be a battle anyway, and I don't trust the Chargers coaching staff to call a good game. Make the play on Las Vegas.

Los Angeles had a huge win on Sunday coming from behind to beat Arizona 25-24 with a winning 2-point conversion and Justin Herbert led his 10th fourth-quarter comeback in his three seasons. This will be a springboard after two tough losses against San Francisco and Kansas City and the Chargers have won and covered three of the past four meetings with Las Vegas, including 24-19 in the season opener. The Raiders have won two straight and both were in overtime, including 40-34 over Seattle as Josh Jacobs totaled 229 rushing yards and Derek Carr threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions. Still, the Chargers are nearly equal to the Raiders statistically on defense and they are 5-1 ATS on the road while the Raiders are just 2-2 ATS at home. The Chargers have covered nine of 13 versus AFC West teams and the Raiders are 3-12 ATS after allowing at least 30 points their previous game and they are 2-6 ATS their past eight December games. Los Angeles only had 65 yards rushing against the Cardinals, but the Chargers usually adjust the following week and they are 9-2 ATS their past 11 games after rushing for fewer than 90 yards their previous game. Take the Chargers.