Football Betting – San Diego Aims For First Road Win

The last time the San Diego Chargers went on the road, they were a big road favorite on the football betting odds and they got ambushed. They’ll try to get things right when they head north to play Seattle. 

San Diego Chargers @ Seattle Seahawks 

Sunday, September 26th – 4:15 PM ET 
Qwest Field, Seattle 
Broadcast: CBS 

Football Betting Odds: Chargers -5.5, Seahawks +5.5
Total: 44 

On the first night of Monday Night Football in 2010, the San Diego Chargers laid an egg in Kansas City. As this talented team prepares for its second road game of the young season, head coach Norv Turner is surely hoping that his players have expunged bad football from their systems. San Diego might be the best December team in professional football over the past five years, but the Chargers can’t struggle too much in September… not if they want to get a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the AFC postseason. An important “attitude-adjustment” game arrives this week for the Bolts, who take on the very beatable Seattle Seahawks in the Pacific Northwest. 

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Football Betting: What The Chargers Have To Do To Win 

One thing to watch in this game is the fact that San Diego’s starting running back and recent first-round draft pick, Ryan Matthews, will not play due to an injury. This means that super scat-back Darren Sproles will figure even more prominently in the Chargers’ offense. On third down situations involving moderate or short yardage, Sproles will be a main go-to guy along with tight end Antonio Gates. It will be important for Turner to develop a framework in which Sproles gets lots of touches, but in different ways and at different points on the field. Sproles can’t just be the guy who catches passes out of the backfield, though that’s definitely his biggest asset as a player. Seattle and head coach Pete Carroll – a defensive guru – can’t be able to pinpoint where Sproles is going to get the ball on each and every snap. Turner needs to change his packages and personnel groupings so that it will be hard for the Seahawks to spy on Sproles and single him out on a regular basis. Using Sproles as a decoy on a number of plays would probably help in that regard. The Chargers shouldn’t have too much trouble containing Seattle’s offense; the key for the visitors is to score enough points on Sunday afternoon. 

Football Betting: What The Seahawks Have To Do To Win 

Last week in Denver, Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck threw two interceptions inside the Broncos’ 10-yard line. Safe to say, mistakes of that magnitude are bad enough when committed one time; two red-zone interceptions in the same game represent a virtual death sentence in the high-parity world of professional football. The Seahawks need to figure out how to score against a very solid San Diego defense guided by coordinator Ron Rivera. Hasselbeck needs to find answers in the red zone, and his still-suspect offensive line – which did nothing to generate a running game against Denver – must open some holes for a committee of running backs that generated just 88 yards versus the Broncos. Without 20 points at minimum, it’s going to be very hard to turn back Philip Rivers and the Chargers on Sunday.

Football Betting: Outlook & Pick 

There’s little reason to think that a team from the woeful NFC West can bump off a Super Bowl contender. Yes, San Diego was considered a near-lock at Kansas City in week one, but can lightning strike the Bolts in two consecutive road games? It’s doubtful. Take San Diego on the road.

Football Betting Pick: Chargers -5.5