AFC Wild Card: Jaguars vs Chargers 1/14/23 NFL Picks, Predictions, Odds
Los Angeles Chargers (10-7) vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (9-8)
January 14, 2023 8:15 pm EDT
The Line: Jacksonville Jaguars +1.5 / Los Angeles Chargers -1.5; Over/Under: 47.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Jacksonville Jaguars and Los Angeles Chargers clash Saturday in the AFC Wild Card Playoffs NFL action at TIAA Bank Field. The Los Angeles Chargers look for their first playoff win since the 2018 season. The Jacksonville Jaguars look for their first playoff win since the 2017 season.
The Los Angeles Chargers have won 5 of their last 8 road games. Justin Herbert is completing 68.2 percent of his passes for 4,739 yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Mike Williams and Joshua Palmer have combined for 1,664 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns, while Keenan Allen has 66 receptions. The Los Angeles Chargers ground game is averaging 89.6 yards per contest, and Austin Ekeler leads the way with 915 yards and 13 touchdowns. Defensively, Los Angeles is allowing 22.6 points and 346.1 yards per game. Drue Tranquill leads the Los Angeles Chargers with 146 tackles, Khalil Mack has 8 sacks and Bryce Callahan has 3 interceptions.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have won 4 straight home games. Trevor Lawrence is completing 66.3 percent of his passes for 4,113 yards, 25 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Christian Kirk and Zay Jones have combined for 1,931 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns, while Evan Engram has 73 receptions. The Jacksonville Jaguars ground game is averaging 124.5 yards per contest, and Travis Etienne Jr. leads the way with 1,125 yards and 5 touchdowns. Defensively, Jacksonville is allowing 20.6 points and 353.3 yards per game. Foyesade Oluokun leads the Jacksonville Jaguars with 184 tackles, Josh Allen has 6 sacks and Andre Cisco has 3 interceptions.
The Chargers are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 road games and 4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Jaguars are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games in January and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The under is 5-1 in Chargers last 6 games overall. The under is 11-3 in Jaguars last 14 home games. The Chargers are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 meetings in Jacksonville and 9-1 ATS in their last 10 meetings. The favorite is 8-3 ATS in their last 11 meetings.
The Los Angeles Chargers are probably the better, deeper team that has more experience in big games, and they’re getting healthier, which makes them scarier. However, the Jacksonville Jaguars have been one of the hotter teams over the last month and a half, and that offense has been rolling. We also can’t ignore the Jaguars beating the Chargers by 28 points back in September. It’s fair to say the Jags are an even better team now. Trevor Lawrence is playing the best football of his pro-life. We also know the Chargers have a weird thing of finding strange ways to lose. Home game, hot team, give me the Jags, and I’ll probably side with the ML here as we get closer to game day.