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2012 San Diego Chargers Sportsbook Gambling Odds | Preview | Picks

San Diego Chargers 2012-2013 NFL Futures Lines & Predictions

The San Diego Chargers were a tale of two teams a year ago, and unlike in recent years, actually won four of their first five games. That lead to three separate streaks during their season, and after a six game mid season slide, the Bolts ended the season with a 3-1 run.

2012 San Diego Chargers Team Preview/Predictions
2011 Record: 8-8
ATS Record: 6-10
2012 Chargers Futures
Super Bowl Odds: 25/1
Conference Odds: 10/1
AFC West Odds: 9/5

The one shred of optimism to be found from that, is how they lost those games. Just one of them was by double digits, which means if they can get off to another strong start and keep up their momentum, they could easily return to the top of the AFC West.

It all starts with in San Diego with one of the better signal callers in all of the NFL with Phillip Rivers. The Chargers sported the sixth best passing offense a year ago behind Rivers’ 4,500-plus yards and 27 touchdowns.

But can Rivers match those numbers since the team traded away former pro-bowler Vincent Jackson?

The ideal candidate for Jackson’s replacement would be Antonio Gates, but it remains to be seen whether he can stay healthy.

The team did make some additions however, and Rivers will have some decent tools to work with in Malcolm Floyd, Robert Meachem, Roscoe Parrish, and Eddie Royal. But it’s going to be a challenge.

That’s why having a sold rushing attack will make or break the Chargers in 2012.

And the team has once again put all of their eggs in the Ryan Matthews’ basket. He was in large part a disappointment in his first year in the league, but then he bounced back when getting the bulk of the carries in 2011.

Putting up over 1,000 yards with six scores last season, Matthews also averaged nearly five yards per carry. The good news is, the team did bring in Ronnie Brown and Le’Ron McClain to help supplant this role in the event that Matthews cannot get the job done. [soliloquy id=”82219″]

Once again, the Chargers weakness lies on the defensive side of the ball. You can get away with the 13th ranked passing defense and win if your run defense is able to do their job. When you sport the 20th ranked run defense in addition to that, it can be difficult to put together any kind of extended success.

They did bring back one of the better defensive backs around in Eric Weddle, who piled up 88 tackles, 11 deflected passes, and seven interceptions a year ago.

The Chargers did bolster their defense with their top three picks in the draft, taking South Carolina LB Melvin Ingram at No. 18 overall, UConn DE Kendall Reyes at No. 49 and LSU safety Brandon Taylor at No. 73. All three have a good chance to contribute immediately.

This division featured three teams that finished at 8-8 a year ago. This one will come down to who made the better moves in the off-season. While I’m not really convinced that the Chargers are that team. They do have Rivers, and if Gates is any kind of healthy for most of the year, he will have a big season.

While it make not be the break out year the we have all been waiting for, the Chargers should finish near the top in the division.

2012 Chargers Predictions

Place they’ll finish in AFC West: 2nd
Place they’ll finish in AFC Conference: 6th

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