Chargers Back to Having Second-Best Odds to Win AFC West; Is There Any Value?
- Following Sunday’s 17-16 win at Chicago, the LA Chargers are the second-favorites to win the AFC West once more
- They’re at average odds of +670 to win the division
- The 3-5 Chargers have already lost more games this season than they did last season (12-4)
Are the Los Angeles Chargers back in the AFC West race?
Yes and no.
Following Sunday’s 17-16 win at Soldier Field over the Chicago Bears, the 3-5 Chargers regained the spot as the second betting choice to win the division. LA is listed at +670 odds, on average, across the leading sportsbooks in the NFL divisional odds.
The Kansas City Chiefs remain the odds-on -480 favorites to wear the AFC West crown. Sportsbooks put the Chargers at odds of +600 to win the division.
2019 AFC West Odds
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Kansas City Chiefs | -400 |
| Los Angeles Chargers | +600 |
| Oakland Raiders | +800 |
| Denver Broncos | +2000 |
*Odds taken on October 28, 2019.
Last season, the Chargers and Kansas City both finished 12-4 but the Chiefs won the division via a tiebreaker.
Follow The Bouncing Bolts
Listed in early April at solid +290 odds to win the AFC West, the Chargers have since made a living of going up and down in the betting lines.
By August, on the cusp of the season opener, the Bolts bolted all the way to +175. A 1-2 start saw them immediately soar back up to +290.
I swear the Chargers have found more agonizing ways to lose than any other team in NFL history.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 20, 2019
Three consecutive losses – home setbacks to the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers and a road defeat against the Tennessee Titans – dropped LA to 2-5 on the season. Not even at the midway point of the season, the Chargers had already lost more games than during the entire 2018 regular season.
Melvin Gordon was not happy about Steelers anthem "Renegade" being played at the Chargers' home game. pic.twitter.com/pAr9VRemc4
— ESPN (@espn) October 14, 2019
Making matters worse, the Steelers beat them with #3 quarterback Devlin Hodges under center, and the home stadium sound system played Styx’s Renegade, Pittsburgh’s fight song. Titans backup Ryan Tannehill bettered them in his first start of the season.
On Oct. 21, the Chargers were a season-worst +970 to win the division, dropping to third overall behind the Chiefs and Oakland Raiders.
Bear-ing Down
When was the last time the Chargers tasted success in the Windy City? Well, let’s just say it’s been awhile.
It was Oct. 18, 1970 at Wrigley Field when the Bolts strutted into Chicago and came away 20-7 victors, thanks to a pair of John Hadl-to-Gary Garrison touchdown passes. That was so long ago, Dick Butkus was still playing middle linebacker for the Bears.
The Chargers are waving goodbye to the Bears fans after Chicago missed a 41-yard field goal to win it 👋 pic.twitter.com/USVlcfGMFS
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) October 27, 2019
The Chargers had never won a game at Soldier Field before Sunday. However, aren’t the oddsmakers placing a little too much emphasis on this win? These Bears have proven to be monstrous at the Midway. And in a familiar script to Chicagoans, the Bears lost because of a missed field goal on the game’s final play.
Chargers Aren’t Legit
No NFL team finds ways to mess up a good thing like the Chargers. In 2010, they finished first overall in the NFL in both offense and defense. They also finished second in the AFC West at 9-7 and missed the playoffs.
https://twitter.com/ChargersLegion/status/1188535893117800448?s=20
Pro Bowl running back Melvin Gordon sitting at home in a contract squabble well into the regular season was this year’s big blunder. Gordon hasn’t found his legs and the Chargers just became the first team in 73 years to be held to fewer than 40 yards rushing in four straight games.
Chargers rushing yards the past four weeks: 35, 32, 39, 36.
A combined 63 attempts for 142 yards (2.25 YPC).They are the first team to rush for fewer than 40 yards in four straight games since 1946.
— Rich Hribar (@LordReebs) October 28, 2019
The Chargers are the second-favorite in the AFC West in the same way that Vice-President Mike Pence is the second-favorite to be the Republican candidate for President in 2020.
It’s going to take something epic for either to happen.
Don’t bet on the Chargers. Not now. Not ever.
Pick: Kansas City Chiefs (-400)
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
