Jaguars vs. Chargers Pick
After both suffering tough losses in Week 1, will the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Diego Chargers be clicking on all cylinders when they meet up on Sunday?
According to the oddsmakers at BetDSI, the Chargers are listed as the favorite in this game, as they are getting odds of -3 points against the Jaguars for Sunday’s contest. The over/under total is currently listed at 47 points. The Chargers have won and covered in five straight against the Jaguars and the two are 6-1-1 with the over in their last eight meetings.
The Jaguars started the season with a 27-23 loss at home to the Packers. Even in defeat, Jacksonville showed signs of improvement, hanging with a good Green Bay team. The defense held the Packers to just 294 total yards, while the offense had 348 yards. The issue for Jacksonville came on third down, where it was just 4 of 15. Blake Bortles built off his strong 2015 by throwing for 320 yards and a touchdown. He spread the ball out nicely and had just one interception. The run game let Bortles down though, putting up only 48 yards on 26 attempts. The team is still without Chris Ivory, who is dealing with an unknown illness.
The Chargers had an opener to forget. After taking a 24-3 lead on the Chiefs in KC, San Diego ultimately lost 33-27 in overtime. To add to the misery, the team lost star receiver Keenan Allen for the season due to a knee injury during the game. Now the pressure is back on Philip Rivers to find a way to win with a limited roster. He threw for 243 yards last week, but 63 were to Allen. Once he was lost, the offense really suffered. One positive for San Diego was that its run game was quite productive against a good defense. San Diego had 155 yards on 32 carries with two scores. Last season, the Chargers had the second-worst rushing attack in the NFL. Defensively, San Diego couldn’t stop KC in the second half, giving up 363 yards to Alex Smith.
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With Allen out, Jacksonville should be able to defend the receivers that remain for the Chargers. The front should also do a better job of stopping the San Diego run than what KC did. The Chargers are likely to give up some yards to the Jags, but they can play the pass thanks to the Jaguars being without Ivory. On paper this seems like a game that should be a shootout, but I like the under here. There are still a lot of questions about both of these teams.
NFL WEEK 2 PICK: JAGUARS/CHARGERS UNDER 47