NFL Best Bets & Picks: Detroit Lions at Los Angeles Chargers, Week 10

NFL Best Bets & Picks: Detroit Lions at Los Angeles Chargers, Week 10

This article is part of our NFL Picks series.

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Detroit Lions at Los Angeles Chargers NFL Betting Odds, Picks and Predictions, Week 10

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Get ready for an interconference battle between playoff hopefuls. The Lions come into this one at 6-2. They currently hold the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff picture. Meanwhile, the Chargers knocked off the Jets to even their record at 4-4. They'll need a strong finish to the season to make the postseason. Currently, the AFC has eight teams with better records than Los Angeles. Detroit is a well-rounded team that can win with any combination of offense or defense. The Chargers need to rely on Justin Herbert, Austin Ekeler and Keenan Allen to carry the offense, as their defense struggles when facing good offenses.

Detroit Lions at Los Angeles Chargers Betting Odds for Week 10

The Lions are 1.5-point road favorites (-115 odds) while this game has an over/under total of 48.5 (each side is listed at -110). In terms of team scoring totals, the Lions are at 25 and the Chargers come in at  23.5. These odds are from DraftKings Sportsbook. To date, the Lions are averaging 25 points, and they are giving up 20.5 points per contest. Meanwhile, Los Angeles has scored an average of 25 points, while allowing 21.7 per game.

Detroit Lions at Los Angeles Chargers Betting Picks This Week

The only games the Lions have lost have been to teams that are currently atop their divisions. In Week 2, they lost at home to Seattle. They were later blown out at Baltimore. The only other good team they faced was the Chiefs, and that was back in Week 1. In that contest, the Chiefs were playing without Travis Kelce and DT Chris Jones, and the Lions won by one point on the road. Their offense is diverse in that they can play a ground-and-pound attack. The Lions can also have dominant performances through the air, led by Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta. On the other side of the ball, the Chargers offense has taken a step back after losing Mike Williams for the season. The team will also be without Joshua Palmer. That makes it easier to sell out to take away Keenan Allen. As a result, the overall lack of team speed allows defenses to compress the field, making it tough for Los Angeles to hit on big plays. Also, in the three games that the Chargers faced excellent teams, they lost all three. These factors lead toward the Lions being in position to win on the road. Detroit should also be able to score over their team total of 25 points.

Detroit Lions at Los Angeles Chargers Best Bet: Lions -1.5.

Detroit Lions at Los Angeles Chargers Prediction

I expect Detroit to use ball control to take advantage of a weak Chargers' run defense. The Lions will also be able to pick their spots through the air to keep the defense off balance. When the Chargers have the ball, their inability to stretch the defense vertically will cause them problems. Recently, the Lions' pass rush has been hot, and the right side of the Los Angeles offensive line has struggled to protect Justin Herbert. Look for many stalled drives as well as the team settling for field goals instead of touchdowns. I predict the Lions win this game, 30-23.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jim Coventry
Coventry was a finalist for the FSWA football writer of the year in 2022. He started playing fantasy football in 1994 and won a national contest in 1996. He also nabbed five top-50 finishes in national contests from 2008 to 2012 before turning his attention to DFS. He's been an industry analyst since 2007, though he joined RotoWire in 2016. A published author, Coventry wrote a book about relationships, "The Secret of Life", in 2013.
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