Broncos vs. Chargers Pick
Two AFC West rivals are set to meet on Thursday Night Football as the San Diego Chargers host the Denver Broncos. Will it be a high-scoring affair?
According to the oddsmakers at BetDSI, the Broncos are favored on the road, as they are getting odds of -3 points against the Chargers. The over/under total for the contest has been set at 45.5 points. The Broncos have won five straight meetings with the Chargers while the two have hit the under in five of their last seven encounters.
Denver is coming off a 23-16 loss at home to the Falcons for their first loss of the season. Denver is now 4-1 on the year and 3-2 with the over following the loss. The big issue for Denver came with the injury to Trevor Siemian, who was unable to play last week because of a shoulder problem. He is expected to play this week against San Diego. The Denver offense hasn’t been that great even with him, but seems better than the 267 yards it put up against Atlanta last week. For the season, Denver is averaging 25.4 points and 344.8 yards per game. Defensively, Denver is still one of the best units in the league. They gave up 372 yards to the Falcons last week but are allowing just 17.4 points and 324 yards per game this season. The unit has 19 sacks and nine turnovers created in 2016.
The Chargers are coming off a 34-31 loss at Oakland last week, with a bad snap on a game-tying FG attempt being the reason they lost. San Diego is now 1-4 on the season with all four losses coming by 6 points or less. They have hit the over in four of five games this season due to a good offense and shaky defense. The Chargers are putting up 30.4 points and 384.2 yards per game in 2016. Philip Rivers continues to produce despite plenty of injuries to the offense. He has thrown for 1,469 yards and 11 touchdowns this season, but has been sacked 11 times. The San Diego defense also has a lot of injuries to deal with and it is giving up 28.4 points and 392.8 yards per game. They have particularly struggled against the pass, giving up 309.4 yards per game in the air. The unit did get a bit of a lift last week when Joey Bosa made his NFL debut and had two sacks.
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Thursday games are typically pretty ugly when it comes to execution on offense. While the Chargers have been able to move the ball, I anticipate a lot of struggles this week against the Denver pass rush and defense. While San Diego isn’t a good defensive team, I think Siemian will still have some lingering impact from his injury and struggle to move the ball at times. This has all the making of another grind-it-out game for Denver.
NFL WEEK 6 PICK: BRONCOS/CHARGERS UNDER 45.5