Chargers open as 3-point favorites over the Falcons

Sunday night came and the opening odds for Week 9’s slate of games dropped with it.

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the LA Chargers have opened as three-point favorites over the Atlanta Falcons coming out of their bye week. Atlanta is coming off a win over the Panthers which pushed them to 4-4 and has them somehow sitting atop the NFC South. The over/under is currently set at 49.

The Chargers will have an extended period of time to prepare for this week’s opponent and the way they come out and perform early against this team on Sunday will go a long way in either solidifying this coaching staff’s ability or adding more kindling to the fire under their respective seats.

The Falcons are currently riding a strong running game that begun with Cordarrelle Patterson but has since shifted to Caleb Huntley and Tyler Allgeier due to an injury that landed the former on IR. Veteran quarterback Marcus Mariota has been playing solid enough to put them in this position and he has played well in the past against the Chargers when he was with the Raiders.

On the other side of the ball, the Falcons are ranked 31st in total defense, which also includes the worst-ranked passing defense in the NFL (306.9). I don’t want to say the Chargers SHOULD have a field day on offense since it came back to bite me against the Seahawks, but another poor showing on the scoreboard would be quite deflating, even with injuries.