Monday Night Football Betting Picks: San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders

Added on Sep 10, 2012 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

Week 1 of the NFL betting season wraps up with a Monday Night Fooball doubleheader. In the late game one of the better ‘under the radar’ rivalries in the league is renewed as the San Diego Chargers travel north to take on the Oakland Raiders. This rivalry may not be as well known nationally as the Bears/Packers or Cowboys/Redskins but these teams flat out hate each other. Both the Raiders and Chargers enter the 2012 campaign looking to improve on last year’s 8-8 record.

San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders
September 10, 2012 7:15 PM Pacific

Coaching changes dominated the news for both teams during the offseason. The Raiders surprised some by firing Tom Cable who coached the team to back-to-back 8-8 seasons following the unceremonious dismissal of current USC head coach Lane Kiffin (Kiffin went 5-11 in his only full season as Raiders’ head coach). Oakland brought in former Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen as their new head coach with the hopes that he can revive the team’s one famous toughness and intimidation.

For the Chargers, the story was about the coaching move they *didn’t* make. After failing to miss the playoffs in each of the past two seasons most expected that head coach Norv Turner would be sent packing after five seasons with the team. Instead, he’s back for what certainly has to be a ‘make or break’ year. The good news is that the Chargers’ defense looks to be significantly improved via the college draft–San Diego acquired three top level defenders with draft picks most notably former University of South Carolina linebacker Melvin Ingram. The bad news–the offense is a year older and not necessarily a year better. A bigger problem could be protecting quarterback Phillip Rivers. He’s not the most mobile QB in the best of circumstances and the Chargers enter this season missing three starters from their offensive line.

Historically this has been a series dominated by the road team, at least from a pointspread perspective. San Diego has taken the money in eight of the last ten meetings in Oakland. Recent form, however, favors the home team. The Raiders have covered five of the last six head to head meetings overall. At one point it was pretty safe to say that the Chargers were the superior team but that’s no longer the case. We’ll side with the Raiders–at this price they just need to win the game for us to get the money.

Bet Oakland Raiders -1 over San Diego Chargers