SAN DIEGO VS SAN FRAN – 8/24/14 FREE PICK & PREDICTION | OSB
When they face each other this Sunday afternoon at the new Levi’s Stadium, the San Diego Chargers and the San Francisco 49ers will be looking to redeem themselves from heavy defeats against the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos, respectively. The 49ers offense has been terrible this preseason, with just 3 points on two games, but they will try to put that record behind their backs as they face a Chargers defense that has been devastated by injuries.
These are the betting odds that have been posted on this 2014 NFL preseason game at BetOnAnySports, your home for the best NFL betting options:
Against the Seattle Seahawks last week, the Chargers allowed their opponents to score on five of their first six drives. The defense couldn’t stop Seattle’s powerful offense throughout the game and the team crumbled to a 41-14 defeat. With the defensive line miles away from its best shape and injuries affecting defensive end Corey Liuget and linebacker Manti Te’o, the Chargers will probably start the game against the 49ers with a good deal of backup players on the defensive side of the ball in order to avoid further injuries. Offensively, backup quarterback Kellen Clemens has been impressive so far and put together another excellent performance against the Seahawks, completing 14 of his 21 throws for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Against the 49ers, Philip Rivers should see some more playing time, and also one of his top targets, Keenan Allen, a wide receiver that is yet to make an appearance in a preseason game.
With a combined score of 57-3 against the Ravens and the Broncos, the San Francisco 49ers are 0-2 in the 2014 preseason. Last week, the 49ers were completely outplayed by the Broncos in all phases of the game and were shutdown 34-0. Colin Kaepernick produced a weak performance going 5-for-9 for 39 yards in the two series that he played in, and backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert had another terrible game, completing just 8 of his 14 pass attempts for 40 yards and an interception, his second in as many preseason games. On a positive note, rookie wide receiver Bruce Ellington and running back Carlos Hyde have had very good performances and we should see a lot of both of them against the Chargers. On the defensive side of the ball, we are yet to see the defensive line starters on the field as well as cornerback Tramaine Brock and linebacker Patrick Willis, and we probably won’t see them on Sunday as well.
After two weeks of preseason games, the Chargers are the team with the worst run defense in the league per play, with 5.58 yards. And even though this is still preseason, it seems to follow a trend from last season when they allowed 4.6 rushing yards per play, 27th in the league. Blaine Gabbert is running out of time and opportunities to prove that he can secure the backup role in San Francisco and another poor performance against the Chargers could very well force 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh to look for an alternative solution. Rookie running back Carlos Hyde will get another chance to run the ball and showcase his talents for the 49ers and even though San Francisco’s overall performance is expected to improve this Sunday, that won’t be enough to stop the San Diego Chargers from grabbing a win away from home.
Our Prediction: Chargers Win
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Tommy D. is going to break down this awesome game and give us his predictions and odds for today.
