Rams vs. Chargers NFL Preseason Odds, Picks, & Predictions August 13 2022

The NFL preseason week 1 gives us the heated LA vs. LA rivalry that everybody talks about coming close to Duke vs. UNC as the best rivalry in all of sports.

…..Okay, maybe the cross-town rivalry isn’t a big deal even in the regular season, but it is still a fun atmosphere having both LA teams face off each other to begin the 2022 NFL preseason.

Rams vs. Chargers Betting Odds

Which LA Team Will Claim to Be King?

I promise that will be the last joke pretending this preseason game has any actual meaning for either of these teams. With that said, despite the lack of juice for the NFL preseason, there is still value to be found from a betting perspective.

Most notably being how these team teams actually treat the preseason. Rams head coach Sean McVay doesn’t really even pretend to care about the preseason.

He has never played his starters in any of his years as the Rams coach, and this year certainly won’t be any different.

The Rams are as top heavy as any team in the entire NFL, so you can rest assured that none of their stars will even sniff the field in this game. Especially Quarterback Matthew Stafford, who is nursing a sore elbow.

On the Chargers side, meanwhile, head coach Brandon Staley took a page out of McVays book and also did not play any of his starters in last years preseason.

While we don’t have the years of history with Staley that we do with McVay, Staley is a former assistant coach for McVay, and I don’t see any reason why he would treat this preseason any differently.

So, to summarize, neither of these teams are going to put much effort into this game and we won’t see any starters. What we can count on is some pretty grotesque football. And you want to know what grotesque football means? It means lack of points!

Since McVay became head coach of the Rams, the under has gone 10-4-1 in 15 preseason games. The Chargers went 3-0 towards the under in their 3 preseason games last year. So, the low total for this game does not scare me one bit.

Rams vs. Chargers Betting Pick: Game Total Under 31 | -110 at Caesars