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Los Angeles Chargers at New England Patriots (Sunday 8:00pm ET)
The Chargers will have to travel to the east coast for a night game in which we could see some snow/sleet/rain-type of conditions. That’s not very friendly for a west coast dome team. Plenty will be made of the Patriots schedule, and we’re about to find out a lot about this team. The Chargers will be the best defense that New England has seen this season.
That said, this is still a tough road test for the Chargers. The most difficult road game that Los Angeles played this season was going to Jacksonville, and while Justin Herbert was injured during that game, the Jags were out to a 28-6 lead when he went down (an eventual 35-6 loss). The Chargers’ weakness is on the offensive line, and a key to the game will be if the Patriots will be able to generate a pass rush — which they ranked near the bottom of the league at during the regular season.
Omarion Hampton’s status is in doubt for this game, so if the Chargers are having difficulty running the ball, it might help the Patriots keep the Chargers one dimensional and give a boost to the pass rush. New England has gotten off to tremendous starts this season — 15-1-1 to the first half moneyline and 13-4 to the first half ATS. The Chargers trailed at halftime on the road this season to the Giants, Dolphins, Chiefs and Jags. I’ll back the Pats to continue their strong starts.
NFL Pick: Patriots 1H -2.5 (-115)
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