MNF Picks: New Orleans Saints vs Los Angeles Chargers NFL Picks, Predictions 10/12/20

The Los Angeles Chargers and New Orleans Saints meet Monday in week 5 NFL action at Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

The Los Angeles Chargers need a feel good victory here to snap a three-game losing streak. The Los Angeles Chargers have lost five of their last eight road games. Justin Herbert is completing 72 percent of his passes for 931 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. Herbert enters this game with 107 career pass attempts under his belt. Keenan Allen and Hunter Henry have combined for 572 receiving yards and one touchdown while Austin Ekeler has 17 receptions. The Los Angeles Chargers ground game is averaging 125.3 yards per contest, and Ekeler leads the way with 248 yards and one touchdown. Defensively, Los Angeles is allowing 23.8 points and 373.8 yards per game. Kenneth Murray Jr. leads the Los Angeles Chargers with 33 tackles, Joey Bosa has three sacks and Melvin Ingram III has one interception.

The New Orleans Saints look for their second home victory to get a game above a .500 record. The New Orleans Saints have won seven of their last 10 home games. Drew Brees is completing 71.3 percent of his passes for 1,006 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions. Brees has two or more touchdown passes in 10 of his last 13 games. Alvin Kamara and Tre’Quan Smith have combined for 507 receiving yards and five touchdowns while Emmanuel Sanders has 14 receptions. The New Orleans Saints ground game is averaging 120 yards per contest, and Kamara leads the way with 236 yards and four touchdowns. Defensively, New Orleans is allowing 30.8 points and 334.3 yards per game. Malcolm Jenkins leads the New Orleans Saints with 27 tackles, Trey Hendrickson has three sacks and Marcus Williams has one interception.

The Chargers are 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 road games, 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 games in October and 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Saints are 37-14 ATS in their last 51 games in October, 2-5 ATS in their last 7 home games and 13-6 ATS in their last 19 games overall. The over is 4-1 in Chargers last 5 games overall. The over is 4-0 in Saints last 4 games overall. The Chargers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 meetings. The over is 5-0 in the last 5 meetings.

The Los Angeles Chargers were already a banged up football team and now they’ll be without leading rusher Ekeler for likely a month due to a hamstring injury. With that said, the Chargers have been a solid football team with Herbert at quarterback and they probably should have beaten the Buccaneers on the road last week. The Saints have been up and down through four games and their defense has really struggled the most, allowing an average of 33.3 points in their last three games. Also, going to New Orleans in a primetime spot isn’t as scary with the limited or no fans this season. This line isn’t giving the Chargers much respect, and the Saints are playing shaky football to be laying more than a touchdown to a resectable opponent. 

Give me the Chargers and the points.