Philip Rivers and the Los Angeles Chargers displayed how to properly bounce back from a terrible defeat. Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers will look to follow suit when the AFC heavyweights meet in the Week 13 Sunday Night Football matchup. Rivers set a NFL record for completion percentage in a win over Arizona, one week after the Bolts were doused by Denver. The Steelers took one on the chin against the same Broncos team and are hoping to respond the way the Chargers did, though the Bolts have a pretty good idea of what’s coming.
Watch this Week 13 regular season matchup live on Sunday, December 2, 2018, at 8:20 p.m. ET at Heinz Field.
Opening NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Los Angeles Chargers +3.5
Pittsburgh Steelers -3.5
Over/Under 51
If Rivers is just close to being as good as he was last week, the Chargers should be in good shape for their tussle with the Steelers. Rivers tied a NFL mark by completing his first 25 pass attempts and established a record for completion percentage at 96.6 by misfiring on just one of his 29 tosses. Three of his throws went for touchdowns and he totaled 259 yards as the Bolts overcame an early 10-0 deficit to beat the Cards 45-10, covering the 14-point spread.
Just the week before, the Bolts looked hapless in a frustrating loss to the Broncos that ended their six-game winning streak. They were clearly the better team and had a 12-point lead at one point. But taking their foot off the gas and overall sloppy play led to the defeat. Missed tackles led to big Denver plays, the Bolts were flagged 14 times, and special teams were a disaster by allowing a fake punt to work for the second straight week and kicker Michael Badgley missing an extra point in a game they lost by a point. And Rivers didn’t help by tossing a pair of picks.
Maybe that was the type of game the Chargers needed to prove that they aren’t as good as they thought they were. They were much crisper in beating the Cardinals. The defense was solid, penalties weren’t a factor, and they committed only one turnover on a strip sack of Rivers. Not all was rosy, however. The Bolts took a hit when Melvin Gordon left with a knee injury and it looks like he’ll miss a few games at least.
Gordon has evolved into the threat the team was looking for when drafting him in the first round a few years ago. He’s amassed 802 rushing yards averaging 5.2 per carry, and he also has 44 catches for 453 yards with 13 total touchdowns. That kind of production will be difficult to replace from the likes of Austin Ekeler, Justin Jackson and Detrez Newsome. Because the ground game will likely suffer, the Bolts will turn to an extension of the run with screens and short passes. That will inflate Rivers’ numbers making him a smart play on the live betting lines at BookMaker.eu.
Ekeler will get a bulk of the snaps in Gordon’s place and he’s proven to be a reliable pass catcher. He caught 10 balls on 11 targets for 68 yards last week while adding 35 yards on seven rush attempts. Look for the second-year player to get an increased number of touches and that should allow him to reach the over on his receiving yards and yards from scrimmage total on a prop bet at BookMaker.eu.
Even with James Connor having a big year, the Steelers like to throw the football and Roethlisberger is pretty damn good at doing that. Big Ben has thrown the most passes of anyone in the NFL and he’s second in completions and yards. And his 12 interceptions aren’t going to dissuade him from continuing to chuck the ball around the yard. He threw for 462 yards against the Broncos and the team compiled 527 yards, but four turnovers, including a pair of Roethlisberger interceptions thwarted drives that may have led to a different outcome. It’s not a stretch to play Big Ben and the over on his passing yards on a prop bet.
Chargers at Steelers Live Betting
Offense will shine, however the teams are strong defensively. And with Joey Bosa back on the line for the Bolts, there is a good chance Big Ben gets taken down a few times. Bosa had a pair of sacks last week and he opens up the pass rush for Melvin Ingram on the other side. Look for one or both of those guys to have a sack considering how much the Steelers are going to throw the football.
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