Betting Preview: Los Angeles Chargers vs Tennessee Titans

The Chargers and Titans match up in Week 7 with both teams spiraling in the wrong direction. With the teams fighting to keep their season relevant, the spread has it as a pick’em game, but can bettors expect some points on the scoreboard?

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

The spread opened with the home Titans as 2-point favorites. Just like the two teams playing, the spread has been unpredictable, going up to 2.5 points, before jumping all the way to EVEN, before settling back at Titans -1. Early action indicates bettors don’t expect much scoring, as the total started at 40.5 points but already has dropped down to 38 points.

Los Angeles News & Notes

After going 12-4 last year, the Chargers were considered a Super Bowl contender this year, but it’s rapidly becoming a lost season.

The icing on this sour cake came last week, when the Chargers hosted the 1-5 Steelers, who were starting a third-string rookie quarterback. Not only did they lose, but they were down 24 points at one point, and even the crowd seemed to be waving more “Terrible Towels” than sporting Charger blue.

The biggest culprit for the Chargers is their tendency to dig themselves deep holes; they’ve been outscored 38-0 in the first half over the last two games, both at home, including a 21-0 halftime deficit in Week 6. That’s forcing the Chargers to abandon any hope of a balanced offense, which has contributed to Melvin Gordon’s return being a huge disappointment so far.

The star running back, who held out for the first four weeks, has 20 carries for just 49 yards through two games since returning, failing to record a touchdown yet as the Chargers have been far too pass-happy.

Perhaps going on the road can right the ship for Gordon and Los Angeles, as they are 8-2 SU and ATS in their last 10 road games.

Tennessee News & Notes

Every year seems to have the same storyline for Tennessee quarterback Marcus Mariota: wildly inconsistent with the bad generally outweighing the good.

That bad really came to the forefront in Week 6, as Mariota was 7-for-18 for just 63 yards and two interceptions, getting benched for Ryan Tannehill in an ugly 16-0 loss to the Denver Broncos. Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel is going back to Tannehill to start against the Chargers, a decision that may just signal the end of the Mariota era in Tennessee.

Tennessee has the fifth-lowest points per game in the NFL and has failed to reach double digits in three of its last four games. The total has gone UNDER in each of the Titans’ last five games; making the switch to Tannehill under center for Week 7, the Titans need a drastic improvement in their quarterback play if they even want a chance to change that recent trend.

Betting Pick: UNDER 38

It’s been an inconsistent, wacky and unpredictable season for both teams. But one thing has stayed true: these teams playing a lot of UNDER games. I think this is another.