NFL Week 2 concludes with the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football. Chargers vs Raiders is scheduled to kick off at 10 p.m ET from Allegiant Stadium.
Our NFL staff has two Chargers vs Raiders player props for MNF targeting Geno Smith and Omarion Hampton.
Let's dive into our Chargers vs Raiders prop picks for Monday Night Football.
Chargers vs Raiders Player Props
- Omarion Hampton Over 56.5 Rushing Yards (-110; DraftKings)
- Geno Smith Under 0.5 Interceptions (+106; DraftKings)
Chargers vs Raiders Prop Picks, Preview
Omarion Hampton Over 56.5 Rushing Yards (-110)
The Chargers love to run the ball, right?
Well, it certainly didn't seem like it against the Chiefs last week, as Justin Herbert and the Bolts' offense lit up Kansas City for 318 passing yards and three touchdowns through the air on 34 pass attempts en route to a 27-21 win in their season-opener.
Meanwhile, the Chargers' rushing game was unusually quiet in last week's win. Rookie Omarion Hampton rushed 15 times for 48 yards against Kansas City. However, I believe there is plenty of room for Hampton and the Chargers' rushing attack to improve upon that number against the Raiders in Week 2.
In last week's game, Hampton clearly served as the featured back, playing 80% of the Chargers' offensive snaps in his NFL debut, and he handled pretty much all of the touches out of the backfield, carrying the ball 15 times and catching two passes. Najee Harris recorded only one carry and one reception, and that was about it for the rest of the RB group.
In Jim Harbaugh's first campaign with Los Angeles, the Chargers' offense ranked 12th in rushing attempts (27.2) and 10th in rushing yards per game (110.7) last season. While on the other side of that same coin, they ranked 28th in pass attempts (30) and 19th in passing yards (229.5) per game.
There's a chance I'm hilariously wrong about this, but I think the pass-to-run ratio for the Chargers' offense last week was a bit of a one time thing. I don't think the Chargers are dedicating themselves to throwing the ball way more all of a sudden. That was just the best way to attack the Chiefs's defense, so they did it.
The Chiefs' defense is really good at bottling up opposing running backs. They ranked top-6 in yards allowed per carry (4.1) last season. However, the secondary is much easier to attack, which has been on display in the first few weeks of this season.
Fortunately for Hampton, the Raiders' defense isn't so tough in that department, although they did manage to hold New England to 60 yards on the ground last week. The Raiders ranked 17th in yards allowed per carry (4.4) and 13th in rushing yards allowed per game (116.8) last season.
So, after picking up only 48 yards on 15 carries last week, I expect Hampton to have more room to run this time around, and we know the Chargers desperately want to run the ball more often than they did in their season-opener.
I'll back Hampton to go over his rushing yards line in this contest. I also like the idea of climbing the ladder for him to hit 60+ yards (+105) or 70+ yards (+175).
Pick: Omarion Hampton Over 56.5 Rushing Yards (-110 at DraftKings)
Geno Smith Under 0.5 Interceptions
By Derek Carty
THE BLITZ is forecasting 0.55 interceptions for Geno Smith compared to 0.84 interceptions implied by oddsmakers, so I believe there is some value here.
If you take the under, you’d be projected to win 67% of the time, resulting in a 38% ROI. Based on a $100 wager, the expected value here would be $37.94.
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Pick: Geno Smith Under 0.5 Interceptions (+106; DraftKings)
