Chargers open as 1-point favorites at home against the Browns

With their 28-14 primetime victory over the Raiders now behind them, the Chargers will look to this coming Sunday as they host the 3-1 Browns inside SoFi Stadium. It’s AFC West vs. AFC North which pits two of the best teams in two of the divisions in football against each other. What’s not to love?

Thanks to a new partnership with DraftKings, we’ll now be releasing opening odds for the Chargers’ next game every Monday. As of this morning, the Chargers have opened as one-point favorites over Cleveland. The total on the game has yet to be set.

The last time the Chargers started 3-1 was back in 2014. That year they missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record and a 2-4 record in the division.

The Browns present an intimidating opponent that happens to be good at the one thing the Chargers are not the best at defending: Rushing the football. They’re currently tops in the NFL with 177.0 yards per game on the ground while the Chargers are fourth-worst in defending it.

However, if they want to take notes from what the Vikings did to limit Cleveland to just 14 points, then I believe the way is to make things really demoralizing for Baker Mayfield. Minnesota held Mayfield to just 155 passing yards and zero touchdowns. Cleveland slowed the game down with their rushing attack but if Minnesota could buy more than a touchdown or two than I think the outcome would have been a bit different.

The Chargers offense is too good to ever be held to single digits and that’s why I believe a similar game plan to the Vikings — but with, ya know, more points scored by the offense — is an easy plan to start with.

In the end, I think the Chargers win by more than a point. Do you all agree? If not, how do you see this one shaking out?

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.