The San Diego Chargers are masters at giving away games this season, but they may have a difficult time coughing one up to the Cleveland Browns in their Week 16 confrontation. San Diego let another fourth quarter lead slip away in a loss to the Raiders, eliminating them from postseason contention. With a contest against Pittsburgh in the finale, this is Cleveland’s last shot at getting a victory to avoid becoming the second team in NFL history to go 0-16.
This matchup in Week 16 of the regular season will take place on Saturday, December 24, 2016, at 1 p.m. ET at FirstEnergy Stadium.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
San Diego Chargers -6
Cleveland Browns +6
Over/Under 44
Odds Analysis
The Chargers are getting plenty of action on this one with three-quarters of the spread wagers for the visitors. Some sharp action however, moved the line down from its opening of San Diego -6.5. I expect to see more movement on the line before kickoff with the number increasing in favor of San Diego. It’s just hard to imagine the Browns winning a game the way they’ve looked and the Chargers are pleased to be on the road after last week’s debacle where visiting fans outnumbered San Diego backers by plenty. The total was wagered down from its opening 45.5 with 76 percent siding on the under. This is a bonus for over bettors with teams that’ll likely produce points.
Injury Report
Melvin Gordon – San Diego’s running back will miss another game with a hip injury. The run game suffered against Oakland with Gordon out of the lineup. The Chargers managed just 73 yard on the ground on 22 attempts with Gordon’s replacement Kenneth Farrow leading the club with 39 yards.
Terrelle Pryor – The Browns’ only major offensive weapon tore a ligament in his finger during the Bengals game and will require surgery after the season. But Pryor said he plans on playing the final two games. It will be difficult for a receiver to make catches with a finger that doesn’t function properly.
Matchup to Watch
It sure is easy to blame the quarterback when things don’t go well. Just ask the Houston Texans about that. But the Browns haven’t given their signal-callers much of a chance this season with one of, if not the worst offensive line in the NFL. We’ve seen four quarterbacks knocked out of games due to injuries and the line has surrendered a league-high 53 sacks and it isn’t even close. Even the elusive Robert Griffin III has been unable to escape the clutches of defenders.
Since taking over as starter two games ago, Griffin has completed just over 50 percent of his passes for 300 yards and his 15 rush attempts have mostly come on scrambles to avoid getting sacked. Still, he’s been taken down eight times in the past two games and the Browns line has surrendered 23 sacks in the last four games. The Chargers rank near the bottom of the league in sacks, but so did the Steelers before accumulating eight sacks in their Week 12 matchup with the Browns.
Free ATS Pick
There’s plenty wrong with the Browns and their inability to stop the run has hurt the defense. Cleveland surrendered 280 yards on the ground to the Bills last week, the second straight game an opponent has rushed for more than 200 yards and the third time overall this season. The Chargers will be without Gordon, who is three rushing yards short of 1,000 for the season, and the ground game has suffered without him. But expect San Diego to pound the ball against the weak defensive front.
The Chargers have been so close so many times this season they are due for a breakthrough. And like so many other teams, it comes at the expense of the Browns. Rivers has tossed an uncharacteristically high number of interceptions this season and as long as the Chargers can move the ball on the ground, he won’t have to throw. San Diego is better offensively when Rivers wants to throw as opposed to having to throw.
NFL Odds: Chargers 31, Browns 20
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