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Bengals at Chargers NFL Odds

Written December 18, 2009 by Kyle Hunter

This Sunday afternoon’s game between the San Diego Chargers and the Cincinnati Bengals is a huge one, but the Bengals will be playing with very heavy hearts after the loss of their teammate Chris Henry. Henry passed away on Thursday morning after a reported domestic dispute where he fell off the back of a truck and sustained fatal head injuries. As an NFL fan I must say I was very saddened to hear of this news and I certainly hope the league and the Bengals pay their respects to a life lost far too soon.

The game itself is a match up of two teams that are battling each other for the second seed in the AFC. The Chargers are on fire of late and the Bengals have looked a little below par lately, but this will be a huge one for both teams. Get $100 free to bet the NFL when you sign up for a new account at SportsInteraction.com.

The San Diego Chargers have won eight games in a row, and some believe they are playing the best football of anyone in the NFL right now. Phillip Rivers is having a tremendous year and the passing offense ranks fifth in the NFL in yards per game. Rivers has thrown 22 touchdowns and just 7 interceptions on the season so far. Antonio Gates is the best tight end in football and he gives the team a mismatch against the defense on almost every play. Vincent Jackson has stepped up and become a major play maker on the outside as well. The Chargers running game hasn’t been very good at all. In fact, LT is having maybe his worst year yet and the Chargers rank 31st in rushing yards. Amazingly, even with very little running game the Chargers are averaging 28 points per game, fourth best in the NFL. The defense has been middle of the road, but they have been much better in the last four games.

The Bengals come into this game at 9-4, but they haven’t looked quite as impressive of late. Listless wins over the Browns and Lions were followed by a 30-10 loss at Minnesota last weekend. Cincinnati’s passing game has had a really hard time getting things going of late. Carson Palmer has done very well in leading the team to comeback victories this year, but his overall numbers are down and the team is averaging just 189.8 yards per game passing, 23rd best in the NFL. The rushing attack led by Cedric Benson, Larry Johnson, Bernard Scott, and a strong offensive line has been very good this season. The Bengals are sixth in the NFL in rushing yards per game. The real strength of the Bengals team this year has been the defense. The defense is fifth in total yards allowed per game and second in points allowed per game, giving up just 16.7 per game.

The NFL betting lines for the week show the Chargers as 6.5 point favorites in this big match up. The posted total is set at 43.5. Those who are making football picks on this game will want to remember that the over is 5-0-2 in the last 7 meetings between these two teams.

Quite honestly it is very hard to say how ready the Bengals will be for this game. They could come out very motivated and play great or they could be very flat. The Bengals will have to score touchdowns and get their passing game going if they are going to win this one.

I’m going to stay away from this game, but I will have plenty of NFL picks for this weekend for premium subscribers. I have been hitting more than 60% in the last 3 weeks and my premium packages available this weekend are a great value!