With three games left to play the San Diego Chargers are a game back in the AFC West after knocking off the first place Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday. With the Chiefs having their share of issues, San Diego has a chance to make their usual late season run and their usual playoff appearance. Phillip Rivers is having another big year completing 66.1 percent of his passes for 3,868 yards with 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions as the Chargers have the second best passing offense in the NFL. Ryan Mathews is healthy again and ready for the stretch drive and Mike Tolbert has shown the ability to carry the load as they split time each getting 16 carries last week against KC. Antonio Gates is still ailing with a hurt foot but he could give it a go here as crunch time has arrived and Vincent Jackson has worked his way back into game shape. Kevin Burnett leads the San Diego defense with 75 tackles and five sacks and Eric Weddle has 69 tackles. Shaun Phillips has been unstoppable with 10 sacks and San Diego has 28 as a team. Antoine Cason has four interceptions and the Chargers have 13 as a team. For the season San Diego is averaging 27.2 points and 399.6 yards per game while defensively they are allowing 19.5 points and 264.9 yards.
The San Francisco 49ers are three games below .500 but just a game out of first place in the NFC West. The Niners sent a message to the rest of the division last week pounding the Seahawks and putting the game out of reach well before it even made ti to halftime. Alex Smith has been in and out of the lineup and for now he is in as he's healthy as he threw for three touchdowns and 255 yards. Anthony Dixon and Brian Westbrook are splitting time in the backfield to fill in for the injured Frank Gore and both of them are capable of getting it done. Josh Morgan is emerging as a force at receiver and with Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree give Smith a formidable group of targets. Patrick Willis is simply one of the best defenders in the NFL as his 108 tackles leads the team and he also has five sacks. Justin Smith has five and a half a sacks as San Francisco has 28 as a team. Nate Clements, Takeo Spikes, and Shawntae Spencer have three interceptions each as the 49ers have 13 as a team. San Francisco is averaging 18.7 points and 317.5 yards per game and the defense is allowing 21.5 points and 327.4 yards.
San Diego is 5-1 against the spread in their last six games overall, 5-2 against the spread in their last seven home games, and 1-4-1 against the spread when playing a team with a losing record. San Francisco is 9-2-2 against the spread as an underdog, 0-5 against the spread following a straight up win, and 1-4-1 against the spread in their last six road games against a team with a winning home record.
While these teams don't play in the same division and not even the same conference, this one is very much like a playoff game as both of them need the win to keep pace in their divisions. While these teams can move the ball, they both have strong defenses and some of the best defensive stars int he game with Willis, Phillips, and Weddle. With the total set at 44.5 I think this one stays under with both teams running the ball and playing defense.
UNDER 44.5
SD 27
SF 13
Hot Forum Topics
