Cincinnati Bengals vs Los Angeles Chargers

The LA Chargers are the best defense in the NFL. The Chargers have not allowed any of their nine opponents to score more than 20 points against them. There are nine of those opponents that scored 17 or fewer points. The Chargers offense has scored 26 or more points for three straight games. It is no secret when it comes to the Chargers the magic number is 20. When the Chargers score 20 or more points they are 6-0 SU/ATS. They finally have the offense producing. Cincinnati is just 4-6 and time is running out to make a playoff run. They are off a tough loss to Baltimore 35-34. The Bengals have a bad history vs the Chargers as they are 6-12 SU in the last 18 meetings. Make the play on the LA Chargers.

The Los Angeles Chargers will look to bounce back from being embarrassed at Denver last week, losing 28-13 as Justin Herbert threw 2 interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown. The Chargers might have been still recovering from a thrilling, come-from-behind win over the Steelers the previous Sunday night when Herbert had the best game of his career. Cincinnati has been inconsistent and had losses to the Jets and Browns before beating Las Vegas and Pittsburgh. Five of its games have been decided by three points, and two went into overtime. Herbert still finished 28 of 44 for 303 yards and 2 TDs against the Broncos and is capable of putting up big numbers at any time. The Chargers are 35-16-4 ATS their past 55 games as road underdogs, and the Bengals are 3-8 ATS following a win dating to last season. The Chargers are 7-4 UNDER this year, mostly due to high posted totals such as this one, and last year's meeting stayed UNDER by 12.5 points. The UNDER is 20-7-1 in the Chargers' last 28 December games, and they are 8-1 UNDER after scoring fewer than 15 points their previous game. Take the Chargers and the UNDER.

Cincinnati finished 2-14 last year and was rewarded with the No. 1 pick. They chose quarterback Joe Burrow, who led LSU to the national championship. The Bengals also expect huge improvement defensively as they signed defensive tackle D.J. Reader, who they hope will help the run defense immensely, and they drafted linebacker Logan Wilson, who had 421 tackles in his career at Wyoming. Also, Cincinnati added two former Vikings, Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander in the secondary. Los Angeles will have a quarterback battle, but it isn't much of one considering it's between veteran Tyrod Taylor and No. 6 overall draft pick Justin Herbert. The Chargers figure to run more this season, and it will take time for Herbert to learn how to read defenses, which was a problem for him in college. The defense added cornerback Chris Harris from Denver, and it will be led by Pro Bowlers in pass rushers Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. The UNDER is 13-5 in the Chargers' last 18 games as favorites, and they are 12-5 UNDER their last 17 as road favorites. The UNDER is 12-4-1 in Cincy's last 17 games as an underdog. Take the UNDER.