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Los Angeles Chargers at Jacksonville Jaguars Odds & Game Pick

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The Los Angeles Chargers continue to lose heartbreakers. Fresh off another demoralizing, last-second defeat, they’ll try to pick up the pieces as they visit the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. For the Jags, losing by close margins is merely a dream after being blown out in four straight games. They’ve lost their last four by a combined score of 129-47. As they switch back to Gardner Minshew II under center, can they find a way to be competitive again?

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Details

  • Opening Line: Chargers -1
  • Current Line: Chargers -3
  • Over/Under: 43
  • Location: TIAA Bank Field, Jacksonville, Florida
  • Start Time: 4:05 PM ET
  • Last Meeting: Jaguars 20 vs. Chargers 17 – November 12, 2017

View consensus picks from 100+ experts for Chargers at Jaguars >>

Overview

The Chargers continue to find new ways to lose close games. The latest comes from Denver where the Chargers tied the game at 20-20 with 14 seconds left. After the kickoff, the Broncos somehow still got in field goal position and won the game.

This is nothing new for the Chargers, who continue to play tight games. They’ve played close games against the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs, both of which are quality teams, and they’ve played close games against mediocre teams like the Denver Broncos and the Chicago Bears. The issue is they rarely win. When you look up at the board, the Chargers have lost six of their last eight and they’re simply not a very good team. Quarterback Philip Rivers has fallen off (24th in QBR) along with running back Melvin Gordon and the defense, which is still good, but not great.

This week, they’ll visit a Jaguars team that’s really been lifeless. They’ve lost four in a row and haven’t been close in any of those contests. Last week was a low-point as they were down 28-0 at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Minshew is back in the starting lineup, but it’s unclear what type of impact he’ll have. The key to this team is getting running back Leonard Fournette going, but he’s done nothing over the last five games. Fournette is averaging just 54.8 rushing yards per game over the last five contests. He has 498 rushing yards in the team’s four wins and 491 rushing yards in the team’s eight losses. Unless he finds room to run, the passing game and offense will struggle – regardless of who is under center.

Trends

  • The Chargers have won seven of the last 10 meetings, covering the spread eight times
  • The Chargers are 30-6 ATS in their last 36 versus AFC South teams
  • The Jaguars have lost four in a row, failing to cover each time
  • The Jaguars are 3-1 SU and ATS against teams with a losing record this season

Bottom Line

This is one of the ugly games in Week 14 as we’ve got a Jaguars team that’s quite possibly quit on head coach Doug Marrone and we’ve got a Chargers team that continuously underachieves and struggles to execute late in games.

This looks like one spot where the Chargers might do alright since they’ve been fighting in their games, while the Jaguars have been mailing in their recent efforts. I can’t see Fournette going off in this game, which means the Jaguars will labor to score. Meanwhile, the Chargers’ offense hasn’t been crisp at all this season, averaging 19.3 points per game over their last eight. The under might be the best bet here.

Prediction: Chargers 22, Jaguars 20

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Dave Golokhov is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Dave, check out his archive and follow him @davegolokhov.