The Los Angeles Chargers suffered their worst loss in franchise history in an NFL Week 13 matchup against the New England Patriots, losing 45-0 at home. At least there were no fans to boo them off of the field. LA will look to improve its performance as it hosts the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Atlanta gave the 10-2 New Orleans Saints a good fight but lost 21-16. Both of these teams are effectively eliminated from playoff contention, but our Falcons vs Chargers betting analysis shows this still an interesting sports betting opportunity.
Game: Atlanta (4-8) at LA Chargers (3-9)
Location: SoFi Stadium
Time: 4:25 PM ET
Television: FOX
Both teams have flashed signs of potential this season but it hasn’t translated into winning football. Our NFL odds list the Falcons as 2½-point road favorites in Week 14. We’ll analyze this matchup and preview some of the major NFL betting lines from the game.
Falcons vs Chargers Betting Analysis: Betting Lines
| Team | Point Spread | Moneyline | Over/Under | Team Total |
| Falcons | -2½ | -145 | 49½ | 27 |
| Chargers | +2½ | +125 | 49½ | 23½ |
Atlanta Falcons
Betting Record
| Team | Record | ATS | Home ATS | Away ATS | Fave ATS | Dog ATS | O/U |
| Falcons | 4-8 | 5-7 | 2-5 | 3-2 | 1-4 | 4-3 | 5-7 |
Next game: vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Last Game
The Falcons gave the Saints a fourth-quarter scare, but ultimately fell 21-16. Matt Ryan completed less than half of his passes and the Falcons running game struggled. Ryan completed 19 of 39 passes for 273 and a touchdown. On 21 rushing attempts, the Falcons picked up only 70 yards.
Meanwhile, the Saints bullied their way to 207 rushing yards on 36 rushing attempts. Saints QB Taysom Hill, who started and won a third straight game for an injured Drew Brees, had 83 rushing yards on 14 carries. Hill also completed 27 of 37 passes for 232 yards with two touchdowns. Alvin Kamara led the Saints with 88 rushing yards on 15 carries. The Saints won their ninth straight game and their second against Atlanta in three weeks.
Stats Pack
Despite their struggles on offense against the Saints, the Falcons have a dangerous offense filled with weapons. In their win in an NFL Week 12 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Falcons scored 43 points and they’ve averaged 25.9 points per game this season.
While the Falcons have given up the sixth most yards in the NFL this season, their defense has played pretty well recently. On the season, they’ve given up 25.2 points per game but have only allowed 19 points per game in their last five games.
Trends
In his last six games Todd Gurley has only picked up 251 total rushing yards on 96 attempts. He started the season pretty well but has only averaged 2.6 yards per carry in his last six. But, in his first five games of the season he picked up 375 yards on 79 attempts for an average of 4.7 yards per carry. He missed the Week 13 game against the Raiders with a knee injury and may be feeling lingering effects of that. But, his recent play is concerning nonetheless.
Los Angeles Chargers
Betting Record
| Team | Record | ATS | Home ATS | Away ATS | Fave ATS | Dog ATS | O/U |
| Chargers | 3-9 | 4-7-1 | 2-4 | 2-3-1 | 1-4-1 | 3-3 | 7-5 |
Next game: at Las Vegas Raiders
Last Game
The Chargers were favored to win against the New England Patriots but ended up getting demolished, 45-0. LA’s biggest loss in franchise history has raised questions about head coach Anthony Lynn’s job security. The Chargers held the Patriots to 291 total yards but turnovers and special teams miscues gave the Pats easy points. Two of New England’s six touchdowns came off of a punt return and a blocked field goal return.
Chargers rookie QB Justin Herbert has been excellent this season but struggled against the Patriots. He completed only 26 of 53 passes for 209 yards and two interceptions. The Chargers did get RB Austin Ekeler back from injury and he picked up 36 yards on eight carries. Seemingly nothing went right for the Chargers on Sunday. In addition to getting a field goal blocked, K Michael Badgley missed his only other attempt. It was the first time the Chargers were shut out since Week 9 of the 2014 season.
Stats Pack
The Chargers have been one of the unluckiest teams in the NFL. They rank seventh in the NFL in yards but it hasn’t translated to points. LA has only scored 23.1 points per game, which is 22nd in the league. Staggeringly, in three of their nine losses, the Chargers have blown leads of 17 points or more. They’re also an abysmal 1-4-1 ATS as favorites this season.
Trends
After giving up a punt return touchdown against the Patriots, the Chargers are now last in the NFL in net punt yards. 6.1 percent of their punts have also been blocked this season, which is the worst mark in the NFL. The Chargers special teams unit has been disappointing all season. They’re second to last in FG conversion percentage and 24th in extra point conversion percentage. Their special teams woes partially explain the disparity between their offensive numbers and their poor record.
Falcons vs Chargers Betting Analysis: Betting on the Game
Point Spread: Falcons -2½
The Falcons are favorites in the BetUS sportsbook this Sunday. As favorites this season, they have gone 1-4 ATS and 5-7 ATS overall. The Chargers are 3-3 ATS as underdogs but only 4-7-1 ATS overall.
The Chargers have been highly disappointing lately and have lost six straight games against the spread. LA has only won one of its last five games against the spread at home. The Falcons have won three of their last five game ATS and are 7-2 ATS in their last nine road games.
Moneyline: Falcons -145 | Chargers +125
Since starting the season 0-5 and firing former head coach Dan Quinn, Atlanta has won four of its seven games. Two of those losses have come to the Saints and the Falcons have picked up impressive wins against the Vikings and Raiders. Interim head coach Raheem Morris has regrouped this Falcons squad and made them a competitive football team.
The Chargers have dealt with injuries to their top two running backs in Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson. They’ve also blown a bunch of big leads and have played inconsistent football. They’ve only won two of their last ten games with their wins coming over the 0-12 New York Jets and the 1-11 Jacksonville Jaguars. It’ll be interesting to see whether their blowout loss motivates them this weekend.
Over/Under: 49½ Points
The Falcons are scoring 25.9 points per game and allowing 25.2 points per game. In their last five games they’ve scored 25.4 points per game and allowed 19 PPG. The Chargers have averaged 23.1 points per game and allowed 28.8 PPG. In their last five, LA has scored only 19.6 points per game and allowed 32 points per game. Neither their offense nor defense can be trusted on a consistent basis.
The point total has gone under in the Chargers last two games but has gone over in seven of their last ten. In Atlanta’s last three games, the point total has gone under and has done so in seven of their last ten.
