The Los Angeles Chargers remain in the comforts of Dignity Health Sports Park in Week 6 when they’ll attempt to get back on track against the current NFL odds versus the injury riddled Pittsburgh Steelers under the bright lights of NBC’s Week 6 installment of Sunday Night Football. Both squads enter this matchup off losses, so determined efforts are to be expected from both squads. However, the Bolts get the advantage of having a veteran QB under center in the form of Philip Rivers while Mike Tomlin is forced to go with third stringer Devlin Hodges after Mason Rudolph was knocked out of last week’s game against the Ravens with a concussion.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Pittsburgh+7
Los Angeles -7
Over/Under 41
Pittsburgh vs. Los Angeles Analysis
Even with Rudolph expected to run the Steelers offense, LA was installed 5.5-point favorites on the Week 6 lookahead lines before Baltimore’s Earl Thomas knocked him out of last week’s game. With him no longer in the mix, the Chargers are now a 7-point home favorite with a game total of 41. With the Steelers forced to go with the backup’s backup and LA coming off a home defeat to the Denver Broncos, the betting markets have aligned themselves with the Bolts at a 60 percent clip. To little surprise, the O/U has been bet down to 41 from the 43.5-point total on the lookahead lines with 58 percent of the bet count in favor of the line move.
Pittsburgh Steelers Odds
It’s been a rough go of it for the Steelers through the first five weeks of the season. Many teams would be hard-pressed to bounce back from losing a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback like Ben Roethlisberger, and that’s exactly what Mike Tomlin’s troops have battled since Week 2. Because of it, Pittsburgh has amassed a grand total of one win and pointspread cover against the likes of the Patriots, Seahawks, 49ers, Bengals and Ravens. The fact that four of those teams are currently in the playoff hunt paints an even clearer picture as to why the team has gotten out to its worst start in decades. That said, the Steelers gave San Francisco all it could ask for and more the last time they hit the road in falling 24-20 as 6-point dogs in a game that likely should’ve been won.
Los Angeles Chargers Odds
Not many envisioned the Chargers would be looking up at the Raiders at this point of the season, but that’s the harsh reality Anthony Lynn’s squad faces heading into this critical home bout with the Steelers. Last week’s effort against the Denver Broncos was so bad that Lynn began his postgame presser with an apology to those that were forced to take the 60 minutes in. Since kicking the season off with a hard fought overtime win against the Indianapolis Colts, LA has gone on to lose three of its last four games with the lone triumph coming against the woeful Miami Dolphins. The offense was nothing short of wretched in Melvin Gordon’s return to the backfield last week in gaining a grand total of 246 yards. It will need to be much better this week against a rejuvenated Pittsburgh defense to have any shot of covering the chalky impost.
Key Trends
These non-divisional AFC rivals have crossed paths three times dating back to 2012, and it’s the Chargers that stand 2-1 SU and ATS with the over cashing in twice. One of the main reasons why Pittsburgh saw its playoff streak snapped last season was because of its inability to compete against the AFC West. Shockingly, the Steelers lost all four matchups against the division and failed to cover the closing NFL odds in each and every one of those contests. Just as ugly is the Chargers record for NFL bettors at home when favored by at least seven points. While they did go on to win three of the four instances last season, they only went 1-3 ATS with the average margin of defeat coming by just 3.5 points per game when you take the 45-10 thumping of Arizona out of the equation.
Last Meeting
Pittsburgh looked well on its way towards locking up a second straight win over Los Angeles after taking a 23-7 lead with it into halftime of last year’s skirmish at Heinz Field. However, a completely different Chargers team took the field for the second half that went on to outscore the black and yellow 26-7 and log the 33-30 outright win and cover as field goal underdogs. Down a touchdown with just over eight minutes remaining, Los Angeles went on to score its final 10 points in the final four minutes with Mike Badgley’s game winning 29-yard field goal successfully booted through the uprights at the gun.
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