San Diego Chargers Favored By Four Over Washington Redskins In Finale

NFL News - December 29th, 2009 - Written by John

If there is a hotter team heading into the postseason, someone please point it out.

Otherwise, the San Diego Chargers remain as one of, if not the, most sizzling teams in the NFL with now the league's longest winning streak of 10. They dismantled the equally hot Tennessee Titans on the road in primetime in a game that really didn't mean all that much in terms of postseason position, and get another softball on Sunday.

The Chargers host the Washington Redskins in the season finale, where Week 17 NFL Betting Lines have them favored by four, according to BetUS.

San Diego has played the under in seven of it's last nine January games, and are 6-2 ATS overall.

But Washington has stayed within range in games they were underdogs, keeping it under in six of the last eight instances. That figure would be better if last week's 17-0 loss to the Dallas Cowboys is tossed out.

The Chargers have already locked up the second seed in the AFC bracket, and may dispatch their starters early on, which could be the source of the relatively narrow spread. And they are certainly in better position than last year, when they were 7-8 heading into the season finale against the Denver Broncos, which was essentially a play-in game for the last wild card spot.

After winning that game, and the departure of Mike Shanahan, Jay Cutler, and several other members of the staff, it was presumed that San Diego would complete it's take over of the AFC West. Although it didn't happen right away, the Chargers have hit the throttle and are now atop some publications' power rankings.

Philip Rivers crossed the 4,000-yard mark last week and is seventh with 4,155 and 27 touchdowns. He has made superstars out of his versatile receiving corps, and suddenly engineered one of the most efficient offenses in football. Vincent Jackson leads the team with1,167 yards, but Antonio Gates isn't far behind with 1,145 and seven touchdowns. Gates leads all tight ends with 78 receptions, and is in the middle of three-straight games with a touchdown.

LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles each scored twice last week against Tennessee, and have a combined 1,054 yards on the year. Tomlinson already became the first running back in NFL history to rush for at least 10 touchdowns in 10-straight seasons. His 729 yards are relatively low for this point in the season, but his 12 scores lead the team and are tied for third in the entire league.

For Washington, last week was far less eventful. Jason Campbell was picked off once and the offense was held scoreless for the first time this year. Quinton Ganther and Campbell both tied for the rush lead with all of 13 yards.

There was a point in the year, between mid-November and mid-December where the Redskins seemed to be turning the corner, winning twice in a five-game span and keeping the other three games air tight. But those memories seem to be fading, and Washington has now lost it's last two games by a combined 62-12.

The teams have only met twice this decade, and San Diego has won both times and covered the spread. In 2005, LaDainian Tomlinson led a rushing attack that torched the Redskins for 202 yards on the ground and - touchdowns.