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NFL Free Pick: Raiders vs. Chargers

The Raiders will pay a visit to an old rival this Thursday when Oakland clashes with the San Diego Chargers on the NFL Network. We preview and provide a free NFL pick…

NFL Thursday Night Betting Primer – San Diego has Nothing Left to Lose

The Raiders will pay a visit to an old rival this Thursday when Oakland clashes with the San Diego Chargers on the NFL Network. The Raiders, while being as miserable as always, are getting near-double-digits against a Chargers team that is losing respect from both their NFL betting faithful and the league in general.

What in God’s name has happened to LaDanian Tomlinson? The person who is supposed to be the penultimate rusher is ranked fourteenth with 794 rushing yards on the season and only 6 touchdown. Anybody who banked on him carrying their fantasy football team is kicking themselves right now. We all know that running-backs decay faster than most players, but who knew that LDT would turn in to Shaun Alexander so damn quickly?

While LaDanian tumbles, so do his Chargers. Philip Rivers is marching towards being one of the elite quarterbacks, but without a serious rushing threat, the star-studded offense of the Chargers has tripped over its own ineptitude.. San Diego is 12th in scoring this season with 24.2 points per game, which isn’t how you want to get it done when your defense allows 22.8 per contest.

NFL Betting Trends

-Oakland is 2-4 ATS in their last 6 games
-Oakland is 1-10 ATS in their last 11 games against San Diego
-Oakland is 0-5 SU in their last 5 games against San Diego
-San Diego is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games
-San Diego is 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games at home
-total has gone OVER in 7-of-8 when San Diego plays Oakland

Speaking of defense, without Shawn Merrimen pumping life in to this defense, the front-seven of the Chargers has turned flat. The rushing defense allows 107.0 yards against per game, and has failed to cause turnovers at the rampant rate we are used to. This defense notches just 0.2 turnovers per game.

Does that mean that the Oakland rushing attack, matching 123.8 yards per game, can pierce the amour on the road. Not necessarily, but it does mean that they have the chance to control the game a bit more than you’d expect. I wrote earlier in the ENDZONE that Oakland didn’t stand a chance against San Diego. And maybe they don’t. But Oakland hasn’t lost by 10+ points in over their last three games, and that has to stand for something when you’re laying down large on the NFL.

Oakland Raiders (3-9) vs. San Diego Chargers (4-8)
Thursday, December 4th — Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego — 8:15pm EST
NFL Betting Line: San Diego -9.5 (42.5)

What I like in this matchup is the ability of an over-zealous Raiders secondary to pinch the hopes of Rivers in the air. Asomugha, who is in my opinion the best corner in the game now, will have his way with Chris Chambers while Antonio Gates, who has underachieved at enormous levels, will be a non-factor yet again.

As always when it’s a division rivalry in the lame-ass AFC West, I like the OVER bet, and I think Oakland gives San Diego more trouble than you might imagine just looking at these two teams. This is a giant line for San Diego to cover, especially when they’re averaging a point differential of 1.3 and haven’t beaten anyone by double digits in over a month.

NFL Free Pick: Oakland +9.5 (OVER)

By Cappers Picks

Articles on CappersPicks.com are written by Q (the Head Honcho) at Cappers Picks or by our resident "in house" handicapper Razor Ray Monohan! Enjoy the free picks folks! "Pad that bankroll one day at a time!"