We have a West Coast showdown this week, as week five of the NFL will be in full swing. The 1-3 San Diego Chargers will head to Oakland to take on the Raiders. The Chargers are coming off a heart breaking loss to the New Orleans Saints at home, despite the fact that the Saints usually are not very good on the road. The Raiders, on the other hand, return West after a 28-27 victory in Baltimore a week ago.
The Chargers have suffered a handful of season-ending injuries to start the season. Offensive weapons Keenan Allen and Danny Woodhead are both gone for the year, but it has been the team’s defense that has let them down. Going up against a team with some serious offensive weapons, that could certainly be their downfall this week once again. Their losses have come against average to below average teams, which does not bode well this week.
That leads us to Oakland, who are led by Derek Carr. He has plenty of weapons to work with in Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree, Clive Walford, and a trio of running backs. They return home, where they suffered their only loss of the season. Their three victories have come on the road, which signals the team is for real. Last week’s win in particular was the most impressive, and sets things up nicely for their return home.
This is going to be a high-scoring affair, and the over seems like a solid bet. And given how beat up the Chargers are, I find it hard to see them being able to stand toe to toe with the Raiders. They have yet to get Amari Cooper going with a monster game, but that could certainly change this week. Last week was the Crabtree show. This week, look for Cooper to be the man to take down San Diego.
For all week five NFL Spreads and Over/Under’s, check out our NFL week 5 Betting Odds master-sheet here.
Line: Oak -3.5, O/U: 50.5
Pick: Raiders and the Over
Result: Oak 34 – SD 31, Chargers and the over