Michael Vick was really put into an unfair situation in Week 4. He was asked to start on a Thursday night just four days after Ben Roethlisberger was injured. Now, the new Pittsburgh Steelers' starter will get the benefit of a long week of prep to get ready for a crucial tilt with the San Diego Chargers.
WHEN THE SAN DIEGO CHARGERS HAVE THE BALL
Down by the goal line, we don't expect San Diego to have any issues for live bettors. If that situation comes up, there are a lot of options for Philip Rivers to use.
Danny Woodhead has proven to be a great addition to this team again after he missed basically the entire season with a torn ACL in 2014, and he is a really effective goal line runner, knowing that he is just too darn small to try to tackle.
Meanwhile, Melvin Gordon admits that he feels some pressure about getting his first NFL touchdown, something that we suspect will happen sometime soon.
The real play here though, is Antonio Gates. Gates is back from his four-game suspension to kick off the season, and you can bet that he is going to be full of sound and fury. He had 12 touchdowns last year, many of which came in goal-to-go situations, and he should once again end up at least posing as a threat to score for live bettors against a defense which allowed Rob Gronkowski to find pay dirt three times the opening night of the season.
The issues we have with the Bolts though, involve getting down inside the 20 in the first place. The ground game is going to have to be relied upon, knowing that Keenan Allen is really the team's only healthy legitimate wide receiver of note with both Stevie Johnson and Malcom Floyd likely on the shelf injured.
WHEN THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS HAVE THE BALL
Even though Vick was under duress much of that game against Baltimore, for our money, he got better as that game went on even though Josh Scobee did everything he could to cost Pittsburgh the game.
The deep ball to Antonio Brown in the corner of the end zone in the fourth quarter was the perfect example. That's a ball that Brown catches 99 times out of 100 when Big Ben throws it in that exact spot. The spin on the ball from a lefty is just different than when it is coming from a righty, and Brown and Vick hadn't really had the chance to get on the same page in practice.
Now, the Steelers have had all that practice that they need with a week and a half to get ready for this trip out to the West Coast, and we suspect that their offense will look more Steeler-like in this one.
That's bad news for a San Diego defense which had no answers for Josh McCown and Gary Barnidge last weekend. If the Chargers are having a hard time slowing down the Browns, they're surely going to have issues with the Steelers as well, something that live bettors can't forget about. Big plays with Vick involved are clearly just one snap away from happening.
TREND TO TRACK
You probably don't realize this, but the Steelers are 7-0-1 ATS in their last eight regular season games overall. Monday marks the one-year anniversary of the last time they lost against the spread as an underdog, going 5-0-1 ATS in that span.
The NFL odds for this Monday contest were first released by BookMaker, and the San Diego Chargers were positioned as 3.5-point favorites with a total of 44.5. Now you can wager in-game while the action unfolds with BookMaker's live betting option.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The game between the San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers is set for Monday, October 12, 2015, at 8:30 p.m. ET at Qualcomm Stadium. The matchup will be televised live on ESPN.
