Hello all, Jason again, from **************** with a free winner for your enjoyment. The mercurial Oakland Raiders travel to San Diego to take on the enigmatic Chargers in a mostly meaningless game. I’m going to stay away from picking a side on the game because both of the teams have been nearly impossible to handicap this season, but, perhaps one of my colleagues will take on that task. I’m all over the under in this game and here is why:
Let’s start with some recent results for Oakland: Nov. 2 — Under 41.5 vs Atlanta
Nov. 9 — Under 37.5 vs Carolina
Nov. 16 — Under 37.5 at Miami
Nov. 23 — Under 42.5 at Denver
Nov. 30 — Under 41.5 vs Kansas City
You get the picture. In the last 5 weeks the Oakland Raiders have been under margins that have not once surpassed 42.5 and have even been as low as 37.5. Granted, the offenses faced haven’t necessarily been potent, but playing at Denver against that offensive machine is no easy task. Not to mention, the Chiefs, Dolphins, Falcons, and Panthers have all been in plenty of shootouts this year. Oakland, even without DeAngelo Hall has a top teir secondary and they hold teams to small margins on a consistent basis, couple that with their less than stellar offense and you have a recipe for unders.
On, the flip side you have the Chargers who have played in games that went under in 4 of the last 5 weeks; with totals of (48, 49, 40.5, 47.5) against the likes of Atlanta, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City. The only over they have played lately came five weeks ago at New Orleans where there was a surprisingly low total set at 45.5 (that game reached 69 total points). So, what you have is a team that has quit on it’s coach (though he was inexplicably assured he would be brought back next season), has fell short of every expectation, and has almost nothing to play for, considering the Broncos have essentially played their way out of the Chargers reach. You could argue they are in a must-win game, but they’ve had must-win games for a while now and continue to come up empty.
Take the under (42.5) — 8 Units
Let’s start with some recent results for Oakland: Nov. 2 — Under 41.5 vs Atlanta
Nov. 9 — Under 37.5 vs Carolina
Nov. 16 — Under 37.5 at Miami
Nov. 23 — Under 42.5 at Denver
Nov. 30 — Under 41.5 vs Kansas City
You get the picture. In the last 5 weeks the Oakland Raiders have been under margins that have not once surpassed 42.5 and have even been as low as 37.5. Granted, the offenses faced haven’t necessarily been potent, but playing at Denver against that offensive machine is no easy task. Not to mention, the Chiefs, Dolphins, Falcons, and Panthers have all been in plenty of shootouts this year. Oakland, even without DeAngelo Hall has a top teir secondary and they hold teams to small margins on a consistent basis, couple that with their less than stellar offense and you have a recipe for unders.
On, the flip side you have the Chargers who have played in games that went under in 4 of the last 5 weeks; with totals of (48, 49, 40.5, 47.5) against the likes of Atlanta, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City. The only over they have played lately came five weeks ago at New Orleans where there was a surprisingly low total set at 45.5 (that game reached 69 total points). So, what you have is a team that has quit on it’s coach (though he was inexplicably assured he would be brought back next season), has fell short of every expectation, and has almost nothing to play for, considering the Broncos have essentially played their way out of the Chargers reach. You could argue they are in a must-win game, but they’ve had must-win games for a while now and continue to come up empty.
Take the under (42.5) — 8 Units
hno:
