Thursday, December 4

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NFL

Oakland (3-9, 5-7 ATS) at San Diego (4-8, 4-7-1 ATS)

The Chargers, who have all but played their way out of playoff contention with three straight losses, take on the AFC West rival Raiders at Qualcomm Stadium.

San Diego lost to Atlanta 22-16 Sunday as a 6-point home chalk for its third consecutive SU setback and second straight ATS defeat. QB Philip Rivers (17 of 30, 149 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs) was sacked three times and had the least-productive home game of his career as the Chargers generated a measly 201 total yards. The San Diego defense allowed 348 yards, and although the Chargers won the turnover battle 3-0, they finished with a 10-minute time-of-possession deficit.

One week after a stunning 31-10 victory at first-place Denver, Oakland came crashing back to earth in a 20-13 loss to one-win Kansas City as a three-point home favorite, halting a two-game ATS uptick. QB JaMarcus Russell (10 of 28, 132 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs) was ineffective, and although the Raiders finished with just 30 fewer yards than the Chiefs (301-271), they held the ball for less than 25 minutes. Oakland also lost the turnover battle 2-1, including a fumble on a fake field-goal attempt that was returned 67 yards for a second-quarter touchdown.

San Diego is riding a 10-game winning streak against the Raiders (9-1 ATS, all as the favorite), including a 28-18 victory in September as a nine-point road chalk. In that victory, the Chargers rallied from a 15-0 halftime deficit and got the spread-cover after RB LaDainian Tomlinson broke off a 41-yard TD run with a little more than a minute to play. The road team is 4-1 ATS in the last five contests in this rivalry, but San Diego is on a 10-1 ATS run overall and is 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings at Qualcomm.

The Chargers have scored 20 points or fewer in four straight games and six of their last eight, and over the past three contests they're averaging just 15.3 points and 269.3 total yards per game. By comparison, Oakland is netting 19.7 points and 258.3 total yards in its last three games. On the defensive side of the ball, the Raiders are giving up 22.1 points and 351 total yards per game this season (192.2 passing ypg), while the Chargers are surrendering 22.8 points and 367.6 total yards per outing (260.2 passing ypg).

The Chargers are on a 1-5 SU and ATS freefall and are on an 0-4 ATS skid following a SU loss, but they still carry positive ATS trends of 9-4 at home, 5-0 in December, 16-5-1 against AFC foes and 20-7-4 versus the AFC West.

The Raiders are actually 7-1 ATS in their last eight divisional road games, but otherwise they remain on lengthy pointspread declines of 17-39 in December, 18-39-1 after a non-cover, 19-40-1 against losing teams and 22-45-1 after a SU loss.

The under for San Diego is on stretches of 4-0 overall, 4-0 at home and 6-0 against the AFC, and the under for Oakland is on runs of 5-0 overall, 4-1 against AFC teams, 16-7 versus the AFC West and 46-22-4 after a SU loss. Finally, in this rivalry, the total has stayed low in six of the last eight meetings overall and seven of the last eight in San Diego.

ATS ADVANTAGE: SAN DIEGO and UNDER

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