Ravens Chargers Line

Written by Steve Janus

The San Diego Chargers are set to host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football. The Chargers beat the Bills 37-10 this past week, giving them back-to-back wins for the first time since they won three straight from Sept. 25- Oct. 9. Getting a third straight win won’t be easy. Baltimore won 24-10 at Indianapolis for their fourth consecutive win, keeping them tied with Pittsburgh, Houston, and New England with an AFC-best record of 10-3.

Taking a look at the week 15 NFL lines, oddsmakers currently have the Ravens favored by 2.5-points over the Chargers with the total set at 44 points.

Baltimore Ravens:

While the Ravens have already locked up a spot in the playoffs, they still have a lot of work to do over the final three weeks. The Ravens are not only trying to earn the No. 1 seed, but they still have to worry about winning their own division. The Ravens hold the tie-breaker over the Steelers, but one loss could end up costing them AFC North.

Baltimore continued it’s impressive play behind another solid defensive effort on Sunday. The Ravens have allowed a total of 26-points in their last three games, which has resulted in three straight double-digit wins.

In their last game against the Colts, the Ravens outgained Indianapolis 358 to 167 in total yards, and the final score would have been even worse if it wasn’t for a last second touchdown by Indianapolis. Joe Flacco went 23 of 31 for 227 yards and two touchdowns, while Ray Rice added 103 yards and score on the ground.

The Ravens will likely need a big game out of Rice and their defense if they are going to go on the road and knock off the Chargers. Flacco figures to have his hands full against a San Diego defense that is 7th against the pass (201.5 ypg), but Rice should be able to have some success against a Chargers run defense that is allowing 128.9 ypg. San Diego has allowed an average of just 168 passing yards over their last three games.

San Diego Chargers:

Once again the Chargers are playing their best football down the stretch. They are still in the hunt for the AFC West title, but it appears more likely that their surge won’t be enough to get them in the playoffs. San Diego not only has to pass the division-leading Broncos (8-5), they also have to get past the Raiders (7-6).

Either way this team has looked like a completely different team the past couple of weeks, and I see no reason why they can’t win this game. Philip Rivers threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Buffalo, and has now gone three straight games without an interception after throwing 17 in the first 10 games.

San Diego is also having a lot of success running the ball with Ryan Mathews, who carried it 20 times for 114 yards against the Bills. San Diego’s ground attack is a big reason why this team is turning it around. The Chargers are averaging 158 rushing yards over their last three games.

The offense will be put to the test this week, as they get ready to face a Ravens defense that has been playing lights out all season. Baltimore comes in to this game with the 5th ranked pass defense (192.3 ypg) and 2nd ranked run defense (85.8 ypg). If San Diego can find a way to keep scoring touchdowns and not settle for field goals, they have an excellent shot at winning this game.

Betting Trends:

Baltimore is 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games after allowing less than 15 points in their previous game.

San Diego is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games as a home underdog.

Be sure to stop back and check out who Steve Janus has picked to win this week in the NFL.

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