The Chargers and their playoff hopes travel to the East Coast for a December battle with the New England Patriots.
Los Angeles currently has a 94% chance to make the playoffs and a win here, and they are in, but a loss and the odds become 83%. New England has been eliminated and has the second-worst record in the NFL, so the Patriots are solely looking to play spoiler.
New England is 3-12 this season and started 3-2 after switching to Drake Maye but has lost five straight to teams in the playoff hunt. The Patriots averaged 19.1 points per game in his nine healthy starts (one injured) and have a lot to look forward to next season.
The Chargers are 9-6 and have two winnable games to make the playoffs with a road trip to the Patriots and a road finale in Las Vegas against the Raiders. Despite the non-ideal travel for Los Angeles in the next two weeks, New England and Las Vegas have a combined 6-24 record.
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Game Details and How to watch the Los Angeles Chargers vs. New England Patriots on Sunday
· Date: Saturday, December 28, 2024
· Time: 1:00 PM EST
· Site: Gillette Stadium
· City: Foxborough, MA
· TV/Streaming: NFL Network
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Game odds for Chargers vs. Patriots
The latest odds as of Friday courtesy of DraftKings:
Moneyline: Los Angeles Chargers (-218), New England Patriots (+180)
Spread: Chargers -4.5 (-110)
Total: 42.5
The opening spread has not moved off the -4.5 but the total has seen movement between 41.5 and 43.5 over the past week. The Chargers are a perfect 5-0 ATS in the last five games, while the Patriots are 2-2-1 ATS during that span.
NBC Sports Bet Best Bet
Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) likes the first half Under 21.5 between the Chargers and Patriots:
“Since the bye week, New England trailed Arizona 13-3 at halftime and led Buffalo 14-7. Those are two very different starts for a team that is in the lead for the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NFL draft.
On the other side, the Chargers make the trip to the East Coast after exploding for 17 and 13 first-half points of the last two games. However, the first half of the four ET time zone games have been low-scoring.
The first-half results for the Chargers’ trips to the East Coast:
At Carolina: LA led 20-0
At Pittsburgh: LA led 10-7
At Cleveland: LA led 20-3
At Atlanta: LA led 9-7
Three of the four East Coast games in 20 or fewer first-half points in Chargers’ games and Los Angeles held all four to seven or fewer points. I think the Chargers can do it again and keep this low-scoring.
I like the Patriots’ first-half team total Under 9.5 but think the best bet is the first half Under 21.5 if the Chargers are sleepy in the early road start on a Saturday.”
Los Angeles Chargers vs. New England Patriots team stats, betting trends
- New England is 6-8-1 ATS, ranking 10th-worst.
- Los Angeles is 10-5 ATS, ranking tied for 3rd-best.
- The Chargers are 3-1 ATS as a road favorite.
- The Patriots are 2-3-1 ATS as a home underdog.
- New England is 9-6 to the Over and 5-1 to the Over as the home team, ranking second-best.
- Los Angeles is 6-1 to the Under as the road team, ranking tied for first to the Under.
- Justin Herbert threw for 284 yards last week, his second-highest mark of the season.
- Ladd McConkey hit 50 or more yards in eight straight games.
- Quinten Johnston had his two-game touchdown streak broken last week on three catches for 18 yards.
- Drake Maye has thrown for at least 200 yards in five straight games.
- Rhamondre Stevenson has 60 or more rushing yards in three straight games.
Quarterback matchup for Los Angeles vs. New England
Los Angeles: Justin Herbert – Herbert has had an excellent season in year one under Harbaugh with 18 touchdowns to three interceptions. Herbert has a 64.7% completion percentage and 3,243 passing yards, to go along with two rushing touchdowns.
New England: Drake Maye - Maye has 16 total touchdowns (14 passing) to 10 interceptions in his rookie year. Maye has 2,159 passing yards and a 67.6 completion percentage. New England has averaged 19.1 points per game with Maye under center, which is an improvement from Weeks 1-5 (12.4 PPG).
Patriots and Chargers injury update
New England’s LB Yannick Ngakoue (personal), CB Marcus Jones (hip), and DT Jaquelin Roy (foot) are out, while DB Kyle Dugger (ankle) and DB Jabrill Peppers (hamstring) are questionable.
Los Angeles’ RB J.K. Dobbins (knee) is questionable, while RB Gus Edwards (ankle) is out. TE Hayden Hurst (illness), TE Will Dissly (shoulder), (LB Denzel Perryman (groin), and OL Zion Johnson (ankle) are questionable.
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