San Diego Chargers Will Dismantle the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football

The San Diego Chargers host the Denver Broncos on ESPN for Monday Night Football and look to make a late season push for the division title. BetMania has posted the latest NFL betting line for this game and they have the Chargers listed as 9.5 point favorites with the total set at 50 points.

The Chargers have a bad habit of starting the season off slow by posting a losing record in the first half of the season for the fourth consecutive season. The good news is the Chargers have won four straight AFC West titles so they know how to turn it around and excel in the second half of the season.

The Chargers are led by quarterback Philip Rivers, who is having one of the best seasons of his young career. Rivers is on pace to break Dan Marino’s single-season passing record of 5,084 yards set in 1984.

It might be a surprise to learn that Denver’s quarterback, Kyle Orton is also on pace to break the record. Rivers is No. 1 in passing yards with 2,944 on the season and Orton is right behind him at No. 2 with 2,806 passing yards. With two successful signal-callers under center for each team, the difference in this game may be on defense.

If that is the case, the Chargers have the edge in this contest. They rank second overall in total defense in the league just behind the New York Giants. They rank third against the pass allowing 185.2 yards per game and fourth against the run with 89.4 yards per game.

The Broncos struggle to cover the pass and rank 19^th overall against the pass allowing 229 yards per game. The only good news for the Broncos defense is they may not have to worry about some of the Chargers deadliest weapons on offense.

Chargers tight end Antonio Gates and running back Ryan Mathews were both held out of practice during the week. Gates is still hobbled by a foot injury and Mathews with a sprained ankle and it is unlikely that either will suit up for the game on Monday night.

The Broncos are 6-19-1 against the spread (ATS) when they face a team with a losing record and they are a miserable 6-20-1 ATS in their last 27 games after scoring more than 30 points in their previous game.

Meanwhile, the Chargers are 20-6 ATS in their last 26 games as a home favorite of 3.5-10.0 and 6-1-1 ATS in the last six meetings.

In short, the Chargers own the Broncos and although Rivers will be without some main weapons, he will still get it done and put up plenty of points against the weak secondary of Denver.

Denver’s predictable offense will be easy to stop for the top ranked defense of the Chargers.

Chargers -9.5

Matt Regaw is a B/R Featured Columnist and the founder of BookieBlitz.com, your one-stop shop for sports articles, previews and predictions. Feel free to contact Matt at [e-mail].

Other Articles:

NFL Picks Against the Spread For Week 11

Five Upsets In the NFL

Thanksgiving Football Contest