ANYONE HAVE JEFF BENTON.?? HE IS ABSOLUTELY ON FIRE IN THE NFL.......THANKS A LOT
Jeff Benton
Monday Night Football winner ...
15 Dime: CHARGERS (minus the points vs. Broncos)
Chargers
First off, allow me to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays. Hope you all enjoy quality time with your families in the coming days!
So here?s the deal with this game: Either the oddsmakers are giving us one helluva Christmas gift, or this is a big ol? freaking trap. I?m banking on the former. Just look at the direction these two teams are heading:
San Diego has won eight of its last 10 both straight-up and against the spread, including the last four in a row SU and ATS, and last week clinched the AFC West with a 51-14 rout of the Lions at home. And the Chargers? 8-2 run began with a 41-3 rout of the Broncos in Denver (more on that in second).
Meanwhile, the Broncos are 5-9 SU and 4-10 ATS on the season, and since starting the season 2-0, they have lost eight of 11. Last week, Denver got whacked at Houston 31-13 as a 2?-point road chalk, officially putting a fork in its playoff dreams. Considering that many experts had predicted big things out of Jay Cutler and the Broncos coming into this season, that?s a pretty big underachievement.
Now back to that Chargers blowout win in Denver back in Week 5. San Diego entered that contest on a three-game slide and the many ? myself included ? had begun to bury the Chargers and take deserved potshots at coach Norv Turner. Well, the Chargers went out that day, jumped out to a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter and never looked back, finishing with a 484-296 edge in total offense, including 214-72 on the ground.
That latter stat has been Denver?s problem all season long: an inability to stop the run. The Broncos are allowing 140 rushing yards per game (4.5 per carry). Well, today, they face a Chargers? squad that has averaged 204.3 rushing yards in its last three wins, including an astounding 5.3 yards per attempt. Can?t see any reason why those trends won?t continue tonight.
Speaking of trends, check this out: Including the 41-3 win in Denver, the Chargers have won and covered three straight against the Broncos, all easy victories. San Diego is also 16-5-3 ATS in its last 24 games against AFC West rivals (3-1 ATS this year), 7-1 ATS against the AFC and 6-1 SU and ATS at home this year ? and all but one of those six home victories have come by double digits! Now for the Broncos: They?re 1-6 ATS on the road this year, 7-19 ATS in their last 26 overall, 4-12 ATS in their last 16 against the AFC and 2-9 ATS in their last 11 divisional games.
One more thing: The straight-up winner has covered the pointspread in every single one of San Diego?s games this year, and the winner is also 7-0-3 ATS in the last 10 Chargers-Broncos battles. What that means is, you pick the winner of the game, you got the pointspread winner, too.
Well, I can?t see any reason in the world that the Chargers don?t win tonight. They?re playing for the #3 seed in the AFC, they?re at home and they?re facing an archrival that has nothing to play for and would rather be home for Christmas than playing this game.
Chargers minus the points are the only logical play here.
Matt Rivers
50,000* WEST COAST LOCK
Your winner here is on the Chargers!
Denver definitely has talent with Brandon Marshall, Jay Cutler, Champ Bailey and a few others but let's face it, this team has been a huge disappointment this season. The Broncos have played two, maybe three quality games all season long. They were able to beat Pittsburgh earlier at home and buried the Chiefs a few times but that's about all they have done. Mike Shanahan's squad is no longer a team that can run at will with that zone blocking scheme and they are the worst team in the entire NFL in defending the run. Good luck here against the league's best in LT as we may see 200 yards and three scores from the former TCU Horned Frog and future Hall of Famer.
The Chargers have really been turning things around after the tough 0-2 and 1-3 start to the season. Obviously Norv Turner learned what needed to be done and the players have turned things up in a major way in winning 9 of their last 12 games.
This is a lot to lay and especially so in a division rivalry type of a game but I just cannot back the Broncos on the road here as the Chargers are too good and just have too much going for them. I do not see San Diego losing this game and if they win and don't cover then so be it but the home boys are just too good and have too much to play for in terms of playoff positioning and avoiding New England in the second round.
I'm not looking for a total romp but in the end a double digit win!
