By james art The NFL wraps up Week 7 with a Monday Night Football doubleheader! The latter of the two games is coming out west, as Los Angeles Chargers (3-2) assume Arizona Cardinals (2-4). The teams last met on November 27, 2022 and the Bolts won the game 25-24 in Arizona. Monday’s game starts at 9:00 ET from State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
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Chargers bounce back beat Broncos 23-16
The Jim Harbaugh era in Los Angeles is off to a solid start as his Chargers are 3-2 out of the gate in 2024. Los Angeles opened the season with wins against Las Vegas (22-10) and Carolina (26-3) before losing back-to-back games from Pittsburgh (20-10) and Kansas City (17-10). The Chargers regrouped with their bye week and topped the Broncos 23-16 in Denver last weekend. Heading into the weekend, the Bolts are priced at -185 to make the playoffs (+150 to miss). You can find them up to +5,000 to win the Super Bowl this year and +850 to win the AFC West. From a standings perspective, the entire AFC West looks up to the 5-0 Chiefs.
Justin Herbert returns as the center for the Bolts this season, and the fifth quarterback is having a decent season. He threw for 815 yards on a 64.0% completion rate while adding six touchdowns and one interception. His primary target is rookie Ladd McConkey, who has 19 catches for 219 yards and a touchdown. JK Dobbins led the rushing attack, picking up 438 yards and three touchdowns on 81 carries (5.4 YPC).
Defensively, the Chargers were one of the best teams in the league under Harbaugh and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. Their unit is allowing just 13.2 points per game, which is tied for first in the NFL. It’s worth noting that DE Joey Bosa (hip), CB Deana Leonard (hamstring), CB Ja’Sir Taylor (undisclosed) and the aforementioned McConkey (concussion) are listed as questionable. Here is a link to Los Angeles full injury report.
Cardinals just 2-4 in 2024
Expectations weren’t off the charts in Arizona this season, but with the addition of WR Marvin Harrison Jr. in the draft, some pundits said the Cardinals could be a dark team in the NFC. However, the Redbirds are just 2-4 from the field in coach Jonathan Gannon’s second year at the helm. They recorded wins against the Rams (41-10) and 49ers (24-23), while losing games against the Bills (34-28), Lions (20-13), Commanders (42-14) and Packers (34-14) , last. Interestingly, the Niners (3-3) and Seahawks (3-3) are the only teams above the Cardinals in the NFC West, so this division is still wide open. San Francisco (-180) and Seattle (+425) are ahead of Arizona (+500) in terms of odds to win the West.
Kyler Murray is Arizona’s leading man this season and is in the second season of his five-year, $230.5 million contract. The signal caller has thrown for 1,186 yards on a 68.2% completion rate while adding eight touchdowns and two picks. He has 261 rushing yards and a touchdown on 30 carries (8.7 YPC). James Conner handled most of the rushing load, picking up 403 yards and three touchdowns on 90 carries (4.5 YPC). Overall, the aforementioned Harrison Jr. led the way, hauling in 17 passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns.
Harrison (concussion) tops the injury list for the Cardinals, but he practiced fully on Friday. Other notable injuries include OT Kelvin Beachum (hamstring), OT Zay Jones (hamstring), C Evan Brown (ankle) and CB Sean Murphy-Bunting (neck).
Defense has been a major problem for the Cardinals this year as they are allowing 27.2 points per game (27th). In terms of yardage, they have been averaged 373.3 yards per contest (28th).
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A full game side bet
rating:
I thought the Chargers would be at least a 3.0 point favorite if not 3.5 to 4.0 points in this road game with the Cardinals. Even if the number was that high, I’d probably still consider putting the points with the Bolts. It feels like a steal to get the Chargers in what is essentially a pick. I’ll put 1.5 points with Los Angeles here.
The Chargers just feel like the better team overall. Sure, they don’t have the explosive players, but they stick to the fundamentals and are better than the Cardinals in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Meanwhile, while Arizona has shown some signs of life offensively this year, they are still averaging just 16.0 points per game during their recent 1-3 streak. Now they are tasked with moving the ball on literally the best defense in the league. I don’t see Arizona’s offense having much success in this game, so I don’t think it will take many goals from Los Angeles to stretch that lead and cover it. Give me the chargers.
Prediction: Los Angeles Chargers -1.5 (-110)
Complete selection of the entire game
rating:
Let’s pick up where we left off, and that’s the Los Angeles defense. They are the best in the NFL this year, allowing just 13.2 points per game. In terms of yardage, the Chargers are giving up just 289.2 yards per contest, which is sixth overall. Arizona is battered on its offensive line, and that Los Angeles front seven is not a unit you want to face when you’re depleted. I think Kyler Murray will be running for his life in this game, and the Cardinals should find themselves in a lot of third and long situations.
On the other hand, the game plan is very clear with the Chargers as they look to establish a run and outplay their opponent physically. Los Angeles ran the football on 52.4 percent of its plays, third most in the NFL. Their games are averaging just 31.4 combined points per contest, and all five of their previous games have come under that total. That number of 44.5 points seems too high to me, so I’ll be down in the Valley of the Sun on Monday.
Prediction: Under 44.5 (-118)