Los Angeles Rams vs. Los Angeles Chargers 8/14/21 NFL Picks, Odds, Predictions

The Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers meet Saturday in a week 1 NFL preseason game at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Chargers are coming off a seven-win season and will begin the Brandon Staley era. The Los Angeles Rams won 10 games last season and enter year five under coach Sean McVay.

The Los Angeles Chargers are in an interesting spot, as Staley will takeover at head coach despite getting his first NFL job less than four years ago. You shouldn’t expect Justin Herbert to play a lot in this game, which means the Chargers will give majority of the reps to backups Chase Daniel and Easton Stick. The Chargers have questions along their offensive line and rookie Rashawn Slater could be thrown into the starting left tackle position. Defensively, the Chargers are moving from a 4-3 to a 3-4, and many have described the scheme change as night and day. Rookie cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. has shined throughout training camp and could start sooner than later. Obviously, how the defense adjusts will be key to the Chargers success. 

The Los Angeles Rams have a legit starting quarterback and Matthew Stafford could see more reps than usual in the preseason due to being on a new team and a new system. John Wolford and Bryce Perkins are the backup quarterbacks for the Rams. It’s also going to be interesting to see the Rams offensive weapons, as they have good options in Cooper Kupp, DeSean Jackson and Robert Woods, but they drafted three receivers, including Tutu Atwell with their first pick in the second round. There’s a lot of competition for the Rams at the skill positions. Defensively, the Rams will have a new voice at defensive coordinator in Raheem Morris. Jordan Fuller looks to build on a solid rookie reason and rookie linebacker Ernest Jones will have his chances to earn immediate playing time. Corner Donte Deayon is also a fan favorite and will fight stiff competition just to make the Rams roster.

The Chargers are 15-7-2 ATS in their last 24 road games and 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall. The Rams are 0-7-1 ATS in their last 8 games as a home underdog. The over is 9-4 in Chargers last 13 games overall. The under is 11-4 in Rams last 15 games overall. The over is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings.

Betting preseason football is often a coin flip due to the constant roster changes and the fact teams main goal isn’t even to win the game. It’s to find out who can play and who will make the team. With that said, I’m not looking to lay anything more than a field goal most of the time. I’m certainly not laying more than a field goal with a road team. The Chargers being this big of a favorite is odd. The Rams don’t have anything exciting outside of Stafford at quarterback, but they have a creative coach who will find a way to put points on the board. Give me the Rams.