As the Detroit Lions head to sunny Los Angeles for their post-bye showdown with the Chargers, it feels like we’re going to find a lot out about both teams by the time this game is over.
The Lions are 6-2, but they’ve beaten the Raiders, Buccaneers, Panthers, Packers, Falcons, and — on opening night — the Chiefs. Their losses include a barnburner against Seattle and a blowout in Baltimore. Are the Lions ascendent, or are they just another decent NFL team doing what they’re supposed to do?
Then there’s the Chargers. A 4-4 record, with losses to the Dolphins, Cowboys, Chiefs, and Titans(!). Their victories? A non-murderer’s row of Vikings, Raiders, Bears, and Jets.
Are the Chargers contenders? Pretenders?
Again, who knows, and again, it really appears we’ll know a lot more after Sunday, where the sportsbooks have installed the Lions as field-goal favorites. Best bang for the buck is currently at Caesars and PointsBet, where the three points only cost you -105.
On the moneyline, the best odds are at FanDuel at -148. And the linemakers are expecting offense to rule the day, with a healthy — especially for 2023 — total of 48.5, where it’s -110 across the board on either side.
Despite this only being Week 10, the Chargers are basically playing for their playoff lives. According to the New York Times playoff calculator, the Chargers have a 36% chance of making the playoffs (the Lions are at 99%, for the record). Obviously, if the Chargers lose, those odds are going to fall, and perhaps fall rather dramatically depending on the outcome of other games.
In short, this is a semi-desperate situation the Lions are walking into.
Player props
On the player prop front, Jared Goff has a reputation for having some tough home/road splits, but the conditions in the dome-like SoFi Stadium shouldn’t bother the native California.
Goff’s yardage prop is at 265.5 at -115 at PointsBet on the over, and a bit of a middle exists, with FanDuel’s under set at 274.5. Goff has only exceeded the over three times this year, but sportsbooks are clearly expecting some offensive fireworks Sunday.
Rushing yard props for the Lions running backs haven’t been posted yet, mostly due to the lingering uncertainty surrounding David Montgomery. He is expected back this week, but Jahmyr Gibbs has excelled in his absence. Head Coach Dan Campbell said to expect a more even split going forward.
Top Lions wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown, who has either 100 yards or a score in every game so far this year, has his yardage prop set at 84.5 at -115 on the over at BetMGM, and his anytime touchdown prop is set at +130 at FanDuel.
Photo: Cooper Neill/Getty Images
