New England Patriots at San Diego Chargers NFL Picks, Predictions & Odds

Written October 12, 2008 by Brad Marchetti

Editor’s Note: Jack Jones has his Game of the Year going on who is going to win this game!

Two preseason Superbowl contenders will meet in NFL week 6 when the New England Patriots vs San Diego Chargers game kick off at 8:15 PM ET. New England learned that there is life after Tom Brady with QB Matt Cassel. Cassel linked up with his new best friend Randy Moss last week on a 66 yard bomb. The Chargers have been a disappointment on both sides of the ball. Last week the underachieving Chargers dropped a 10-17 road loss to Miami as -6.5 chalk. The San Diego Chargers are banged up, but the inconsistent tackling and offense is glaring. The NFL betting odds for the New England Patriots vs San Diego Chargers game is San Diego -5 on the SPREAD.

New England QB Matt Cassel (84.1 passer rating) is a good deep passer that will challenge the Chargers 30th ranked defense. New England head coach Bill Bellichick will try an get the ball into the hands of premier wideout Randy Moss (17 Rec. 274 Yds 2 TD) as much as possible. Moss had this to say about last week’s progress: “Being able to connect on that deep ball, I think it was good, That’s something that we’ve been missing in our repertoire the past couple of weeks.” The Chargers leaky run defense allowing 4.4 yards per carry will need a big effort from 350 Lb. NT Jamal Williams. New England RB’s Lamont Jordan (4.4 YPC), Sammy Morris (2 TD), Laurence Maroney (4.45 40-speed) and Kevin Faulk (2 TD) are all solid. The Pats have some of the best run blockers in the NFL to open holes for the rushing attack. The Chargers have done a decent job creating pressure with 12.0 sacks and will look to stuff the run and get Cassel into passing downs. The NFL betting odds OVERUNDER for the New England Patriots vs San Diego Chargers game is at 44 points.

The Chargers offense is reeling, but this week they hope to take advantage of a banged up New England defense traveling cross-country in consecutive weeks. San Diego star RB LaDainian Tomlinson had this to say “Make no mistake about it, this is a critical time for our football team, these next (three games) before the bye are very critical for us. To me, this is going to determine what type of team we’re going to be this year.” New England will be banged up in the secondary and Chargers QB Phillip Rivers (103.0) will look to take advantage with his big wideouts. San Diego will need Rivers to get respect through the air to open up the run game for Tomlinson (3.7 YPC) and Darren Sproles (5.0 YPC). Tomlinson, (4.50 40-speed) has been nursing a toe injury that has slowed him considerably. Chargers star TE Antonio Gates has also been slowed by injury. The Patriots have the 4th ranked pass defense but have only 7.0 sacks from the pass-rush. The Chargers will likely be without deep-threat WR Chris Chambers for a second game in a row. 6′5″ 241 LB. WR Vincent Jackson (4.65 40-speed) is a nice wideout, but he lacks the downfield speed of Chambers (4.40 40-speed). The Chargers have not done a good job blocking this season which is a weakness that could be exploited in this game.

This is somewhat of a rivalry with the Patriots last beating the Chargers in the 2007 AFC Championship game. The Chargers are desperate and the 3-1 Patriots are still learning to win without Tom Brady. Will Tomlinson have a big day with the Chargers back to the wall? Can New England repeat last week success with the passing game? The NFL betting odds for the New England Patriots vs San Diego Chargers game is San Diego -225 on the MONEYLINE.

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