The Los Angeles Chargers (0-2) and New Orleans Saints (0-2) will wrap up their preseason slate on Friday night at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. Kickoff will be at 8 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook‘s lines around the Chargers vs. Saints odds, and make our best NFL picks, predictions and bets.
The Chargers lost 29-22 to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1 and were blown out in Week 2 by the Cowboys 32-18, allowing 2 special teams touchdowns by KaVontae Turpin. QB Justin Herbert and most of the Chargers starters have not played this preseason, thus leading to Easton Stick and Chase Daniel as the top quarterbacks.
The Saints haven’t been much better this summer, also starting the preseason 0-2. They lost to the Houston Texans and Green Bay Packers, and like the Chargers have not been playing most of their starters as well as being without QB Jameis Winston. It’s unclear if Winston will play against the Chargers, and if he doesn’t, it’ll likely be QB Ian Book leading the offense again.
Chargers at Saints nickname odds
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Thursday at 4:03 p.m. ET.
- Money line (ML): Chargers +133 (bet $100 to win $133) | Saints -165 (bet $165 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Chargers +3.5 (-135) | Saints -3.5 (+110)
- Over/Under (O/U): 36.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)
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Chargers at Saints picks and predictions
Prediction
Chargers 20, Saints 18
Money line
It’s been a sloppy preseason for both teams, combining for 8 turnovers through 2 games. The Saints are tied for the league-high with 5 turnovers of their own, which shows they’ve gotten away with the mistakes they’ve made.
Stick and Daniel are decent backup quarterbacks to have and I think they’ll have the offense playing well on Friday night. Take the CHARGERS (+133) to win outright.
Against the spread
If you want to protect your ML bet a little bit, you can do so by taking the Chargers to cover the 3.5-point spread. Obviously, the return on that bet is far less than an outright ML wager, but at least if the Chargers wind up losing by 3 points or less, you can still get back some money.
Neither the Saints nor the Texans have covered the spread yet this season, but I like the CHARGERS +3.5 (-135).
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Over/Under
The total went over pretty easily in the Chargers’ first 2 games, combining for 51 and 50 points in those contests. Saints games have been lower-scoring so far, totaling 30 points in each of their first 2 preseason games.
The Chargers defense hasn’t looked great so I expect the Saints to score more than the 13 and 10 points they put up the last 2 weeks, and L.A.’s offense has shown some signs of life so far. Bet the OVER 36.5 (-115).
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