The sports gambling online spread favors the Los Angeles Chargers by a field goal over the Indianapolis Colts. The Bolts finished the 2018 season with a 12-4 and returned to the postseason for the first time since 2013. The Chargers also went 10-8 ATS, including playoffs, according to the best online sportsbooks. Meanwhile, the Colts finished 12-4 for their first winning season since 2014. Not coincidentally, starting QB Andrew Luck played his first full season since that same year. Luck registered career-highs in attempts, completions, completion percentage and passer rating. His 4593-passing yard, 39-TD season earned Luck NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors.
Philip Rivers, Luck’s Chargers counterpart, experienced a pretty good season himself. The Octodad threw for 4308 yards with 32 touchdowns. In addition, Rivers tied his best passer rating (105.5). I would say this one is going to be a shootout. Were it not that both teams have standout defenses as well.
Indianapolis Colts vs. Los Angeles Chargers NFL Week 1 Betting Information
- Date: Sunday September 8
- Time: 1:05 pm PT
- Venue: Dignity Health Sports Park
Odds from MyBookie.ag:
Team | SP/RL | TOTAL | ML | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Colts | +3 (-119) | 47½ (-110) | – | |
Chargers | -3 (-101) | 47½ (-110) | – | |
Betting Indianapolis Colts
The Colts have a very nice balance between youth and experience. Among the more seasoned on the roster are Adam Vinatieri, Andrew Luck, and T.Y. Hilton. Luck and Hilton alone combine for 31,768 regular season passing/receiving yards. And Vinatieri is already a legend in his own time. Indy’s youth movement includes linebacker Darius Leonard, guard Quenton Nelson, safety Malik Hooker, running back Marlon Mack, and cornerback Kenny Moore. Leonard logged 163 tackles, seven sacks, 12 tackles for loss, two interceptions and four forced fumbles in 2018. Nelson took part in all Colts offensive snaps last season. And Mack averaged about 80 yards per game and 4.7 yards per carry. The Colts finished 9-8-1 against the sports gambling online spread last season, playoffs included.
Betting LA Chargers
Great things are expected from the best version of the Chargers we have seen in a long time. Or are they? “Heading into his contract year, Gordon has his eyes on his best and most healthy season yet with a potential extension on the line,” Gavino Borquez wrote on June 2. A day later, he writes: “despite it being voluntary, many have been questioning running back Melvin Gordon and defensive end Melvin Ingram’s absence from organized team activities.” Voluntary or no, you gotta put in the work. Come game day, a few more or less reps could be what makes the difference between two teams.
Borquez also wrote that wide receiver Mike Williams “was dominate when targeted in the intermediate parts of the field.” Dominate? Are you trying to tell me Williams was a period in the late Roman Empire? Unless you meant dominant, in which case I totally agree. Williams posted 664 receiving yards and scored 10 touchdowns in 2018. Which was 10 more TDs than he scored the previous season.
NFL Week 1 Expert Prediction: Indianapolis Colts vs. Los Angeles Chargers
Both Colts and Chargers are equally talented on both sides of the football. Their offensives ranked in the top 10 in points, total yards, and passing yards per game. However, while Indy had a pretty damn good defense, the Bolts’ was even better. The two rosters remain largely unchanged so, barring regression, both should remain among the NFL elite. Conversely, the Colts’ offensive line allowed a league-best 18 sacks, compared to the Chargers’ 34. All things considered, this one is too close to call. I wouldn’t touch that three-point sports gambling online spread with a ten-foot pole. And as for the total, I would take the under. But only if you put a gun to my head.