The LA Chargers and Arizona Cardinals both played on primetime in Week 11 and both fell short. The Chargers succumbed to a game-winning drive from Patrick Mahomes after a horrible second half while the Cardinals were simply whomped by the San Francisco 49ers.
Now the two teams square off in what is essentially a loser leaves town match. The Chargers need to realistically go 5-2 down the stretch to finish with 10 wins to make the playoffs in the AFC. Meanwhile, the 4-7 Cardinals need another win to keep their playoff hopes alive. A 4-7 record is already really hard to overcome. A 4-8 record would be near-impossible.
Both teams should be playing with immense urgency in this game and on the Cardinals' side of things we might not even see Kyler Murray. Murray has not played the last two weeks and early reporting indicates that he will have to miss another game. With that info in mind, let's get into the betting odds and our prediction.
Chargers vs Cardinals odds Week 12:
Despite being on the road, the Chargers are four-point favorites over the Arizona Cardinals in this matchup. This makes the Bolts a -194 moneyline favorite while Arizona is a +162 moneyline underdog. There is slightly more juice on the Chargers' side of the spread with -115 odds.
The over/under for the game has been placed at 47.5 points, making it the second-highest total in the Week 12 slate. Only the Bills and Lions on Thanksgiving have a higher total.
Chargers vs Cardinals prediction Week 12:
While Chargers fans might be down in the dumps right now after two ugly primetime losses, they should be excited about this matchup with the Cardinals. Of course, anything can happen for the Chargers, who find new ways to let teams stay around in games, but on paper this should be a blowout.
First of all, the offense is much healthier and we saw how big of a difference that made against the Chiefs. When Joe Lombardi and Brandon Staley were not being timid the offense was moving almost at ease. Against a bad Cardinals defense, the Chargers should be able to put together a great offensive performance.
The counter to that is the fact that the Chargers have a bad defense. But the Cardinals do not have the tools to expose this, especially if Kyler Murray is not playing. Colt McCoy and Trace McSorley are not worth losing sleep over and the Cardinals do not have a rushing attack that strikes fear. They rank 21st in yards per attempt this season.
For all of those reasons, the Chargers should not only win this game but cover. I am going with Chargers -4 and over 47.5 with a final score prediction of Chargers 31, Cardinals 20.
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Odds periodically update and are subject to change after time of publication.