Welcome to NFL Week 10. This week’s Lions (6-2) versus Chargers (4-4) matchup features two snake-bitten franchises looking to solidify themselves as contenders among the NFL elite.
The Lions are coming off a bye week after beating the Raiders, while the Chargers are coming off a Monday Night Football blowout of the Jets for their second straight win.
The Lions enter this matchup in control of the NFC North (and their playoff destiny), while the Chargers need to continue their winning ways to stay in the crowded AFC playoff picture – of which they’re currently on the outside looking in.
We should have some fireworks in this game that is currently Vegas’ highest points total, so let’s dig in and see what kind of betting value we can find.
Lions vs Chargers Odds
NFL odds used for this Detroit vs Los Angeles preview were found at DraftKings Sportsbook and are current as of Tuesday, Nov. 7, at 10:21 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Lions (-122) • Chargers (+102)
- Spread: Lions -1.5 (-110) • Chargers +1.5 (-110)
- Total Points: Over 48.5 (-110) • Under 48.5 (-110)
- Implied Score: Lions 25, Chargers 23.5
Lions vs Chargers Predictions
Score Pick: Chargers 27, Lions 24
While the Lions are fresh off their bye and look to be getting healthier with David Montgomery looking like he’ll play after missing the Lions’ last two games, the Chargers are finally starting to look like the team many had picked to challenge the Chiefs for the AFC West.
Justin Herbert had his lowest yardage total of the season against the Jets on MNF, but he was also facing one of the better defenses in the league and the Chargers didn’t need him to carry the load with Austin Ekeler finding the end zone twice and the defense stepping up with eight sacks.
It’s hard to know which Chargers team will show up from week-to-week, but I like San Diego to pull off the home win in what is shaping up to be a shootout.
Lions vs Chargers Best Bets & Props
Chargers (+102)
DraftKings Sportsbook • WAGER: 2 Units
I don’t usually love moneyline bets as the risk usually outweighs the likely reward, but this moneyline is a little different and is my NFL bet of the day.
Detroit is 3-1 on the road and has looked good for most of the season, but it also got beat 38-6 the last time it faced a good team on the road in the Baltimore Ravens. While players like Montgomery, Sam LaPorta, and Jameson Williams just had a full week off to get healthy, the Lions offense hasn’t looked quite as explosive over the last few weeks and will face a Chargers defense that is also finally getting healthy.
This game more or less reads like a toss-up to me (and to Vegas, too, considering the spread), so it’s hard to come down strongly on either side. However, it’s not often we get a good home team on plus-odds like this, so I think there’s enough value to go in on the Chargers pulling out the straight up victory and not having to worry about the points.
Chargers +1.5 (-110)
DraftKings Sportsbook • WAGER: 2 Units
I like the Chargers to win outright, so why not double-down and take them against the spread, right? While we don’t get the +102 odds that the moneyline bet gives us, we also get an extra point to play with here.
Turnovers have been strangely non-predictive of winning teams this season, but it’s worth noting the Chargers are +9 in the turnover column this season while the Lions are at a flat zero. In a game that should see a ton of points and come down to the wire, a turnover could be the difference between a few points so the home team has that going for them as well.
It may be worth dropping down to one unit here, but I like the idea of doubling down on both the spread and the moneyline considering they’re more or less the same thing – with this bet giving us an extra point to play with just in case the moneyline is a heartbreaker.
Over 48.5 (-110)
DraftKings Sportsbook • WAGER: 1 Unit
This is a high spread, and it does scare me a little bit to bank on both teams putting up somewhere around 25 points each. However, each team is averaging just around 25 points per game (the Chargers are at 25.1 and the Lions are at 25) while both defenses have given up more than 20 points per game (the Chargers are at 21.8 and the Lions are at 20.6).
Those averages don’t automatically translate to us hitting the Over here, but both teams have enough firepower to put up points in a hurry. I’m dropping to one unit on this play as I think we’ll probably end up within two or three points of the total, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see this line jump closer to 50 by later in the week, so there’s value in getting in now.
Lions vs Chargers Same Game Parlay
Lions vs Chargers SGP (+268)
DraftKings Sportsbook • WAGER: 1 Unit
- Over 48.5 (-110)
- Chargers (+102)
There is an interesting high-risk/high-reward SGP on DraftKings with +1100 odds with Keenan Allen needing 75-plus receiving yards and Ekeler needing two-plus touchdowns, but I’m not going to chase Ekeler’s MNF performance and go a little safer for my same-game parlay.
We’ve covered the reasons why I like both of these bets, and we move to +286 odds if we combine them together. The Chargers are likely going to need to win in a shootout as I don’t see them holding Detroit out of the end zone completely, so there’s a lot of value in stacking these two bets together considering the odds.
