Online Sports Betting. The San Diego Chargers don’t even need to be healthy to win and cover spreads during the preseason. While that probably won’t carry over to the regular season, the Chargers did improve to 3-0 SU and ATS this year with a 12-10 victory at Minnesota last Friday. The spread for that matchup opened as a PK but closed at -4.5 in favor of the Vikings because of the myriad inactives for San Diego.
Norv Turner decided to sit Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates. His decision was likely aided by the fact that a trio of starting offensive linemen (LT Jared Gaither, LG Tyronne Green, C Nick Hardwick) were out with injuries. As the news of Rivers’ absence made its way around the betting forums the spread grew.
The Chargers offense did nothing but kick four field goals to get the win. Charlie Whitehurst started under center and completed 8 of 18 passes for 82 yards. Jarrett Lee played in the second half and wasn’t much better. San Diego compiled just 202 total yards on the night. Start your Online Sports Betting action on the San Diego Chargers vs. San Francisco 49ers Game.
Defensively, this team added a lot of new pieces during the offseason. John Pagano is the new coordinator on that side and the Chargers haven’t allowed more than 20 points during the preseason. The defense came away with five sacks and four turnovers versus the Vikings. Two of the takeaways came in the red zone and prevented Minnesota from scoring points.
Rivers won’t be playing in the finale either but it bodes well that Whitehurst and Lee have already gotten “warmed up” for Week 4.
Don’t expect the 49ers’ starters to be on the field either. Even though Alex Smith and the first-teamers sputtered in the Week 3 win at Denver with just 93 total yards (45 on one play) we’d be shocked if Jim Harbaugh sent his regulars out here.
That is a good thing for San Francisco bettors because Harbaugh has been more inclined to let Colin Kaepernick chuck it around in his backup role. “The Capper,” as Harbs likes to call him, has shown impressive arm strength and mobility during the preseason. Check the Sports Betting Lines on the San Diego Chargers vs. San Francisco 49ers Game.
Kaepernick will probably play a quarter here, or two at the most. Scott Tolzien and Josh Johnson will take snaps in the second half.
Brandon Jacobs and LaMichael James were both held out of last Sunday’s game because of injuries. We certainly don’t expect the veteran Frank Gore or Kendall Hunter to suit up in this finale. That means Rock Cartwright and Anthony Dixon should be getting most of the carries. Dixon is fighting for a roster spot so he’s got incentive to play well.
First-round draft pick A.J. Jenkins has been a major disappointment thus far and he’ll certainly get some running time here. The other wideouts likely to see action are Joe Hastings, Chris Owusu, Bryan Tyms, Nathan Palmer and Brett Swain.
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