San Diego Chargers at Houston Texans
Sunday, 11/7/2010, 1:00 PM EST, TV: CBS
Opening Point Spread: San Diego -1.5
Current Betting Line: San Diego -3
Opening Total: 49.5
Current Total: 50.5
Current Moneyline: San Diego -165 / Houston +145
San Diego looks to capture back-to-back games for the first time this season in visiting the Houston Texans on Sunday. The Chargers have won five straight November games and are coming off a 33-25 home win over the Tennessee Titans. “All it did was get us to 3-5,” said quarterback Philip Rivers. “With the approach we had last week and the preparation, if we can duplicate that this week and try to go win another game, then we get to the bye.” He’s on pace to break Dan Marino’s all-time record for passing yards in a season if he averages 304.4 per game through Week 17 at Denver. The passing game is likely to be without wide receivers Malcom Floyd and Legedu Naanee for another week due to hamstring injuries. The team is 10-3 ATS as a road favorite of three points or less and bettors will be watching the NFL lines page intently.
The Chargers running game has been by committee this year with Mike Tolbert (79) and Ryan Mathews (78) splitting the carries evenly, as the team is running the ball as often as last season and is on pace for one more carry. “Mathews and Tolbert have shown unbelievable improvement in terms of their technique and understanding the importance of handling the football,” head coach Norv Turner stated. “Between them I think they had 25 carries against Tennessee and the ball wasn’t close to coming out.” San Diego needs to get pressure on the quarterback in this contest and that role may be reserved for linebacker Shaun Phillips to step up. He leads the team with seven sacks, but four of them came in one game, the win over the Cardinals.
Houston fell 30-17 in defeat to the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on Monday Night Football and will now look to rebound on a short week. The Texans were 0-for-6 on third downs in the opening half and went into the break trailing 17-3. “The first half we didn’t play the type of football we normally play,” said wide receiver Andre Johnson. “We never really got into a rhythm.” The Texans are hoping to turn the page and win their fourth-straight games against AFC opponents at home, with Johnson being a big part of the equation, considering he leads the NFL with 3,738 receiving yards since 2008. It’s a distinct possibility that both of these teams could combine for 1,000 yards of offense on Sunday. Houston is 1-3 ATS at home this season and 8-11 ATS over the last three years.
The Texans are trying to figure out why quarterback Matt Schaub is at his best when the team is behind and relying on him to bring them back. He was 5-of-15 for 37 yards in the first half, but finished 22-of-38 for 201 yards. Houston had no running game last year and finished 30th in the league in that category, while Schaub threw for more yards than any quarterback in the league. Defensively, the secondary will be challenged in this matchup by Sunday’s opponent, as it entered the Colts’ game allowing 306.2 yards and surrendered 268 to Peyton Manning on Monday night.
Bettors will be interested to find that the Chargers are 0-4 ATS in their last four road games, while the Texans are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games as a home underdog.
The NFL handicapping experts at Maddux Sports are getting ready for another action-packed weekend and there’s no better time than now to get in on the fun!
