LA Chargers: Betting lines guide and predictions vs. Carolina Panthers

The LA Chargers are favored for the second time this season in Week 3 against the Carolina Panthers.

For the second time in three games, the LA Chargers are favored heading into their matchup, this time against the Carolina Panthers. The team was three-point favorites against the Cincinnati Bengals and 8.5-point underdogs against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Chargers have not yet lost against the spread. They pushed the spread in Week 1 and if you got the line when it was at 2.5 then you would have won. They easily covered the 8.5 against the Chiefs and nearly ruined every survivor pool out there if they would have pulled off the win.

The Panthers are 0-2 on the season and are missing their best player, Christian McCaffrey. They project to be one of the worst teams in the league this season and thus, present a much easier matchup for the LA Chargers than last week.

Vegas agrees. According to The Action Network, the LA Chargers are 6.5-point favorites over the Panthers with a total set at 43.5 points.  Over the last two seasons, the Chargers are 5-6-1 against the spread when they are at least six-point favorites.

LA Chargers betting guide for Week 3:

The picks: Carolina Panthers +6.5, over 43.5 points

I am not picking the Panthers to win this game outright but I do not love the chances of the Chargers covering an entire touchdown. Can they do it? Absolutely, without a doubt. There is a chance that this is the highest-scoring game of the season for the Bolts and they blow Carolina out of the water.

However, knowing what I know about the Chargers, there is also a chance that they let the Panthers hang in their longer than they should and allow a backdoor cover or simply win a close game.

I really do think this is a flip of a coin, so I would stay away from it, but with a rookie quarterback under center in a run-first offense, I think the Chargers control this game without turning it into a blowout.

I also think the over will narrowly hit in this game. I have picked the under the first two weeks and both unders hit but it is time for a Chargers game to hit the over.

I see the Chargers scoring 24-30 points in this game and the Panthers scoring 20-27 points. A 24-20 game seems like a realistic result, which would hit the over by half a point.