Las Vegas Raiders +6.5 (-110)

I can already hear the apprehension. The Chargers have a great offense! The Raiders defense is horrible! The Raiders are starting a rookie! This is a road game for the Raiders! All very valid points. Let’s start with the Chargers offense, they are pretty good but they have Corey Linsley and Austin Ekeler out of this game. They couldn’t run the ball with Josh Kelley with Linsley playing. Now they need to do so down one offensive lineman. The Chargers have all sorts of injuries coming into this one. Derwin James, Joey Bosa, etc. While the Raiders defense is pretty bad, they will be able to key in on Herbert throwing the ball. As for Aidan O’Connell starting, I think this will take the Chargers defense by surprise. They practiced all week expecting Brian Hoyer and now they are getting something totally different. I also believe Josh Jacobs has a big game here. Until Brandon Staley can figure out how to stop the run (he has not in 3 years), the ball will get run down the Chargers’ throat. Regarding the road game…this is a HOME game for the Raiders. There will be way more Raiders fans in LA than Chargers fans. This is a lot of points in a divisional game against a Chargers team that keeps every game within one score.