San Diego Chargers Surrendering 13 Against Cleveland Browns

NFL News - December 2nd, 2009 - Written by John

While teams like the Dallas Cowboys have floundered during crunchtime, faltering late in the season, there has been no hotter team in December than the San Diego Chargers. After all, it was just a year ago when the Chargers needed to win the last four games of the season to reach the playoffs, overcoming a huge defecit to win the AFC West.

It appears to be a relatively easy task to continue their late-season run this week, when they travel to Cleveland in the first December game of the year. The 2009 NFL Week 13 Betting Odds show San Diego favored over the Browns by 13, according to BetUS, with a total of 42 1/2.

The Chargers are 8-1 ATS in their last nine December games, and have played the over in five of their last eight road games. But they will have to do most of the work to reach the 42 1/2 mark against the single-worst scoring team in the league. The Cleveland Browns have played the under in nine of it's last 11 December games, and are 1-7-1 ATS in it's last nine home games.

The Chargers couldn't be hotter coming into the game. They have won six-straight to overtake the division lead, including the last two over division opponents by a combined score of 75-17. Last week Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates torched the Kansas City Chiefs' defense to the tune of 43 points, their highest point total of the year. San Diego is 8-3 on the year, and is currently positioned to earn the other first-round bye aside from the Indianapolis Colts.

It will need all the momentum it can get with a brutal finishing stretch with games at Dallas and Tennessee, and at home against Cincinnati.

Rivers has 2,938 yards on the year with 19 touchdowns, and Gates leads all tight ends with 827. Right behind him is Vincent Jackson, who is also poised to reach the 1,000-yard plateau soon with 815 so far.

For the Browns, it's been another meager season highlighted by last week's 16-7 loss to the Bengals. The score was much closer than it really was because Cincinnati ran the ball 45 times to shorten the game, and didn't take advantage of a weakened Cleveland secondary. But lost in the commotion is the fact that the Browns have covered in each of their last two games.

Cleveland is 24th in football against the pass, even allowing Jay Cutler to put up 30 points a few weeks ago. Brady Quinn has maintained the starting quarterbacking role, but has just 912 yards through the air. Aside from a breakout game against the Detroit Lions (and, frankly, who doesn't have a breakout game against the Lions), he has just 208 yards in the last three games.

Last week, head coach Eric Mangini used Josh Cribbs in the wildcat formation a few more times, and that would probably be the team's best chance at finding the end zone.