Despite playing in a small stadium with no home field advantage, the Los Angeles Chargers were one of the best teams in the NFL last season. The Chargers turned a lot of heads by finishing 12-4, finishing in the top eight in both scoring offense and scoring defense. If not for a Week 16 loss to Baltimore, the Chargers would have ended up with home field advantage throughout the postseason, which would have made for an interesting spectacle on television. The team is favored to make it back to the postseason per the NFL betting odds.
Will the Los Angeles Chargers Make the Playoffs in 2019?
Yes -231
No +180
Odds Analysis
The Chargers are an interesting team entering 2019. Anthony Lynn is the best coach no one knows about after turning things around quickly after the disastrous end to the Mike McCoy era, and Philip Rivers continues to get it done at the age of 37. There are some reasons to believe that the Chargers won’t make it back to the playoffs this time though.
Breaking Down the Chargers Offense
Rivers has been very consistent over his 15 seasons in the league. He has always been a good to great quarterback, and he isn’t afraid to be daring with his passes. Rivers has led the league in yards per attempt three times in his career.
Unlike most quarterbacks, his interception percentage declines when his yards per attempt numbers are high. Typically, you see the converse as quarterbacks that take big risks downfield are more likely to toss picks.
Keenan Allen is Rivers’ top receiver, and he has been able to stay healthy for two seasons now. Allen missed half of 2015 and nearly all of 2016 due to injuries, but he has remained on the field to give Rivers a solid target the last two years. He was a Pro Bowl selection in each of those seasons.
Allen is the top receiver, and Hunter Henry will look to become Rivers’ second big weapon in the passing game. There was a lot of buzz surrounding Henry before the 2018 season kicked off, but Henry missed the entire year after suffering an injury over the summer. If Henry doesn’t emerge, there are questions surrounding secondary targets as Mike Williams and Travis Benjamin have been little more than decent.
The big story on offense is the continued holdout of Melvin Gordon. The Chargers have always played hard ball with holdouts, and they didn’t flinch when Gordon announced he was holding out in search of a new deal. Gordon is expected to be back on the field for Week 1, but who knows what kind of shape he will be in following an extended absence.
Breaking Down the Chargers Defense
There is a ton of talent on this defense. The defensive line has two fantastic ends in Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. Bosa missed most of last season, but Ingram was able to take over and registered a team-high 16 quarterback hits.
As good as LA’s defensive ends are, the strength of the defense is the secondary. Derwin James immediately made an impact as a rookie, leading the team in tackles and showing his versatility en route to being named a First Team All-Pro. Adrian Phillips was also a First Team All-Pro alongside James in the secondary, and Casey Hayward is one of the best cornerbacks in the business.
Unfortunately, James will miss most of the season due to a stress fracture in his foot. That has thrown a wrench into the Chargers’ plans, and the team will have to hope either Rayshawn Jenkins, Desmond King, or Nasir Adderley can hold down the fort.
Prediction
I love the odds on the Chargers to miss the playoffs. A lot has already gone wrong for this team, and there’s potential for even more to go wrong during the season. Rivers is 37, Allen is injury prone, Gordon has been holding out, and James is the Chargers’ most talented defender. The middle of the defense is not great with concerns at defensive tackle and middle linebacker, and things could blow up in a big way.
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