{"id":6274,"date":"2019-09-04T15:22:03","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T15:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/?p=6274"},"modified":"2019-09-04T15:22:10","modified_gmt":"2019-09-04T15:22:10","slug":"nfl-football-betting-indianapolis-colts-at-los-angeles-chargers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/nfl\/nfl-football-betting-indianapolis-colts-at-los-angeles-chargers\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Football Betting: Indianapolis Colts at Los Angeles Chargers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When the 2019 NFL schedule was released back in April, fans and media alike both circled this Week 1 matchup as must-see TV. Two of the AFC\u2019s top Super Bowl contenders<\/a> led by top-tier quarterbacks going mano-a-mano. What\u2019s not to like? Then training camps opened and everything changed. First, Chargers\u2019 star running back Melvin Gordon was a no-show threatening to sit out regular season games unless a new contract was negotiated. Next, Colts\u2019 star quarterback Andrew Luck was immediately sidelined with a mysterious calf\/ankle injury. Ahh, no big deal. It\u2019s only August. Nothing to see here, right? Wrong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS AT LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
LINE: CHARGERS -6.5
TOTAL: 45<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday, August 24th during the Colts third preseason game, news broke that Luck was abruptly retiring, citing a desire to no longer play due to constant pain caused by a series of injuries throughout his seven-year career. Needless to say, the announcement sent shockwaves across NFL front offices, as well as the BetOnline.ag<\/a> offices. While Luck was trotting off into the sunset to a chorus of boos, BetOnline.ag was adjusting Indianapolis\u2019s Super Bowl odds, win totals, and point spreads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, this leaves Jacoby Brissett under center on Sunday <\/a>as the Colts march into Los Angeles to face the Chargers. Now, Brissett isn\u2019t some no-talent clown, but to suggest he\u2019s in the same quarterbacking stratosphere as Luck would be insane. He\u2019s got a big arm, good athleticism, and 17 starts under his belt. He also has a solid set of pass catchers to throw to, including T.Y. Hilton, Jack Doyle, Eric Ebron, Devin Funchess, and promising rookie Parris Campbell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brissett also has the benefit of one of the league\u2019s top offensive lines to keep him upright, and block for workhorse running back Marlon Mack. And he\u2019ll need that line on Sunday with Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram bringing the heat. If Jacoby has time to settle in and make throws, Indy should be able to move the ball against a ferocious Chargers defense. However, sustaining drives and finishing with touchdowns will be the key to an upset.
The Colts defense is no slouch either. All-Pro Linebacker Darius Leonard and former Chiefs pass rusher Justin Houston lead the charge on a unit that finished 10th in points allowed and forced 26 turnovers in 2018. They will have their hands full stopping a talented Chargers attack, but are a disciplined group that rarely suffers mental breakdowns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While not as massive as Luck\u2019s retirement, the Bolts have their own set of problems to navigate entering 2019<\/a>. The aforementioned Melvin Gordon holdout is still ongoing, meaning he won\u2019t be in uniform Week 1, barring a miracle. That leaves backfield duties to third-down specialist Austin Ekeler and 2018 7th-rounder Justin Jackson. Making matters worse, starting left tackle Russell Okung will be sidelined a minimum of six games, which is bad news for an already weak o-line. Perimeter speed could also be lacking following the departure of Tyrell Williams to division rival Oakland. In better news, talented tight end Hunter Henry returns after missing 2018 with a torn ACL. Oh, and they still have Philip Rivers throwing to Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chargers defense was dealt a serious blow when stud safety Derwin James was shipped to Injured Reserve with a fractured foot. Replacing his unique skillset for at least half of the season will be extremely difficult. He would have been especially useful in baiting Brissett to commit critical errors. That said, the secondary still boasts quality cover corners in Casey Hayward and Desmond King. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will be interesting to see how Colts head coach Frank Reich approaches the offensive game plan on Sunday, making this game one of the more intriguing matchups BetOnline.ag<\/a> has to offer. Will he throw caution to the wind and be aggressive, or play small ball like he did early in 2018 when Luck was still recovering from shoulder surgery? He\u2019ll likely lean on the ground game and count on his defense to keep things close. Asking Brissett to outduel Rivers in a shootout on the road is a recipe for disaster. As for the Chargers, with or without Gordon, they will run their offense as usual. Expect a patient, balanced attack backed by a hungry defense eager to feast on mistakes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chargers are 7-3 ATS in their last ten meetings with the Colts, and 1-5 ATS in their last six September games<\/a>. Indy went 6-4 ATS on the road in 2018, and is 1- 4 ATS in their last five tilts with an AFC West opponent. In addition, the total has gone Under in four of the last five in the series. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

BET INDIANAPOLIS COLTS +6.5 OVER LOS ANGELES CHARGERS<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

BET INDIANAPOLIS COLTS\/LOS ANGELES CHARGERS UNDER 44.5<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Get the latest NFL football odds and information–follow BetOnline.ag on Twitter<\/a>!
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When the 2019 NFL schedule was released back in April, fans and media alike both circled this Week 1 matchup…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":6275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6274"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6278,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6274\/revisions\/6278"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}