The Los Angeles Chargers still have a chance to win the playoffs, but they need some help. Los Angeles is sitting at 5-6 in conference and that means it is currently behind both Buffalo and Tennessee for the tiebreaker. All the Chargers can do is take care of business against the Oakland Raiders in Week 17 and then hope for the best at this point.
Kickoff for this regular season Week 17 game is set for Sunday, December 31, 2017, at 4:25 p.m. ET at the StubHub Center.
NFL Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Oakland Raiders +8
Los Angeles Chargers -8
Over/Under 42
Odds Analysis
An 0-4 start doomed the Chargers this season. Los Angeles has gone 8-3 since that point, with its only three losses coming on the road to division winners New England, Jacksonville, and Kansas City. Those conference losses added up quickly to put this team in an unenviable spot.
The defense has been very good lately for LA. That has led to the under cashing in each of the Chargers’ last five games.
It’s been a very disappointing year for Oakland. The Raiders were supposed to be a contender in the AFC, but have had consistency issues instead. They are 5-9-1 ATS this year with only two outright wins as an underdog.
Home Field Advantage
There might not be much of a home field advantage for the Chargers in this one. Even though this team has been decent this season, they do not have the support that the Rams do and have to play in a soccer stadium in Carson.
We have already seen opposing fans take over this venue a few times this season. When the Chargers hosted Philadelphia earlier in the year it was a virtual home game for the Eagles, and a significant number of Chiefs and Broncos fans traveled out here as well.
Although this has been a disappointing year for the Silver and Black, there are still an awful lot of fans who are going to show up to this one. There are still a whole lot of Raiders fans in Los Angeles that never stopped cheering for the team after their move to Oakland. Quite a few of them will make the journey here.
Matchup to Watch
It’s been a disappointing year for Derek Carr. He has been unable to capitalize on his breakout season in 2016 and has looked dreadful in each of Oakland’s last three games. Carr has completed just 56 percent of his passes and is averaging under five yards per attempt over his last three outings. Additionally, he has tossed four interceptions in that span and just hasn’t looked right.
Don’t be surprised if Jack Del Rio decides to start E.J. Manuel over Carr in this game. There’s no good reason to throw Carr out there for a meaningless game and at this point the most important thing is to stay healthy and start analyzing what went wrong this year. The Chargers have one of the top ten pass defenses in the NFL and this team should be able to nullify Oakland’s passing attack.
Free ATS Pick
The way to beat Los Angeles is with a power running game. That’s something the Raiders just don’t have. Marshawn Lynch just hasn’t looked like the Beast Mode we saw in Seattle and he won’t be able to exploit the league’s worst run defense.
With the NFL moving all the games with playoff ramifications to late kickoffs, there is no real danger of Los Angeles not being motivated for this one. The Chargers will be playing at the same time as the Bills and Titans, so there will be no worry of this team sitting players or losing motivation after being eliminated earlier in the day. For that reason, lay the points with LA here.
NFL Odds: Chargers 34, Raiders 17
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