Injury SZN

This stretch of the NFL season, weeks 15-18, always mark two distinct routes for every professional football team. Contenders separate themselves and gear up for a playoff run, while the bottom dwellers begin preparing for the tank. Regardless of a franchise’s direction, everyone is forced to deal with the cumulative effect of weekly football games - injuries. Tonight’s edition of TNF showcases two of the most banged up teams in the league, as the Raiders play host to the Chargers, as we expect Aidan O’Connell to start vs. Easton Stick 🤕

Before we dive into what should be a bizarre game, can we talk about the AFC West really quickly? Ahead of the season, this division looked like one of the better conferences in the NFL. The Raiders and Chargers are very average teams, but low key Denver is only one game behind KC after going 6-7 since Week 6 👇

The Chiefs are perennial Super Bowl contenders, and Justin Herbert, fresh off a brutal postseason loss to the Jaguars, certainly had me wondering if this was the year he would have more team success. Well, the Chiefs are a mess (and have no WRs) and Herbert was ruled out for the season after sustaining a finger injury. Maybe it’s time to take a ride with Russell Wilson 🤷‍♂️

AFC West Divisional Winner

• Chiefs: -1500

• Broncos: +900

At this point the division is a two-horse race, and the value for Denver here is pretty apparent. The Broncos have come alive after a slow start to the season (remember that 70-20 loss to the Dolphins in late September?), and look like a better team than Kansas City at the moment. It’s an intriguing future to say the least 👀

📍 Chargers @ Raiders

The Chargers might be dominating headlines after announcing Keenan Allen would miss tonight’s game, which completed the 1-2 punch of Herbert’s absence, but the Raiders are dealing with their own health issues as well 🩹

• Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams both haven’t practiced this week, and at the time of this writing, are listed as questionable to play

• Easton Stick is starting for the Chargers and might need to save Brandon Staley’s job

• Las Vegas has a QB carousel in motion — Aidan O’Connell is expected to start, but there could be a last second shift to one of their vets. Still, expert the Purdue grad to run point

The only thing I’m loosely confident about heading into tonight’s game is that points might be hard to come by. Even with Adams and Jacobs last week, the Raiders still struggled to score, narrowly losing 0-3 in what was one of the worst football games of all time 🤮

Chargers @ Raiders Betting Preview

• Spread: Raiders -3.5

• Moneyline: Raiders -166, Chargers +140

• Over/Under: 34.5 Total Points

• When: 8:15PM EST on Amazon Prime

Trivia Question: Out of the AFC’s 16 teams, only 5 head into this week with a losing record. Can you name them?

For My Parlay Gurus

If the Chargers manage to score tonight, it’s probably because of Austin Ekeler. He will get all of the goal line carries, but will most likely command even more touches given the team’s available personnel. Meanwhile, I’m grabbing the under and not thinking twice. Both of these teams are bad in their current states - check out my parlay 👇

• Austin Ekeler Anytime TD Scorer: +170

• Chargers @ Raiders Under 34.5 Total Points: -110

$100 on this bet would win you $529 — if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for a chance to win an Overtime hoodie*. Many will enter, only some will win 😉

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Trivia Answer: The AFC teams with a losing record entering this week are the Patriots, Jets, Titans, Chargers and Raiders

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