‘Monday Night Football’ picks and open thread: Broncos at Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers (-4.5) are set to host the Denver Broncos (+4.5) in an AFC West showdown on Monday Night Football. DraftKings Sportsbook has LA opening as 4.5-point favorites, which isn’t all that surprising given that the 2-3 Broncos have had a disappointing start to the Russell Wilson era, not to mention the fact that they are 0-2 on the road. The Chargers, on the other hand, are 1-1 at home; they have mostly recovered after a staggering 38-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 3 in a game where Justin Herbert was playing through a rib cartilage fracture suffered in their Week 2 loss to the rival Kansas City Chiefs.

Herbert is doing much better now, but Russell Wilson is nursing a partially torn lat, though he is obviously expected to play after receiving an injection to “ease (the) pain” in his throwing shoulder. On paper, this looks like the Chargers should have this one in the bag, but divisional matchups tend to get wild. Los Angeles is 4-1 against the spread and 3-2 on the Over/Under so far this season; meanwhile Denver is 1-4 against both the spread and the O/U. A primetime upset isn’t out of the question, but I just don’t think this is the Broncos week. Given Wilson’s injury, I am thinking that this one ends up being neither high-scoring nor particularly close.

The pick: Under 45.5 points, Chargers will win and cover the spread

Our Tallysight picks are below: