Raiders vs Chargers Odds, Picks: How to Bet Thursday Night Football

Updated Raiders vs. Chargers odds for Thursday Night Football have Las Vegas installed as a three-point favorite on the spread with a game total of 34.5. Finding an NFL pick for this game is not easy given the injury issues and uncertainty surrounding both teams.

The Chargers are without the injured Justin Herbert (fractured finger) for the rest of the season and are turning to QB Easton Stick, who won’t have star receiver Keenan Allen (heel) at his disposal. As for the Raiders, there are rumblings about them making a quarterback switch from rookie Aidan O’Connell to either Jimmy Garoppolo or Brian Hoyer. Also, Josh Jacobs is doubtful (quad), while Davante Adams (illness) and Maxx Crosby (knee) are not sure things to play.

Let's try to sort it all out in my Thursday Night Football preview below, which includes my Raiders vs. Chargers picks.

When the Raiders Have the Ball

On Sunday, the Raiders and Vikings were in a scoreless tie until the final two minutes of the game. As a result, both starting QBs in that game are at risk of getting benched.

The Vikings have already benched Joshua Dobbs for Nick Mullens, and the Raiders are now considering benching O’Connell for either Hoyer or Garoppolo. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the Raiders are expected to roll with O’Connell.

C Andre James (ankle) and LT Kolton Miller (shoulder) have been ruled out. Miller’s absence is massive as the Raiders will have to do some serious shuffling along their offensive line. They will have a backup attempting to block Khalil Mack, which is a disaster waiting to happen.

In addition, Jacobs (quad) and Adams (illness) are both questionable. Similar to the case with Allen, we are at the point in the season where these key players could be ruled out or shut down with the playoffs pretty much out of reach.

This game could get very thin on key players and end up resembling a Week 1 preseason game.

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When the Chargers Have the Ball

Herbert suffered a season-ending finger injury last week. As a result, the Chargers’ season is effectively over as they hand the keys to the offense over to Easton Stick for the rest of the season.

Drafted in 2019, Stick had his first extensive NFL action last week against the Broncos. He went 13-of-24 for 179 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions. He connected on two nice deep balls to Quentin Johnston but was pretty shaky on a handful of throws.

That’s to be expected for a quarterback who had 5.4 yards per attempt and a 4:8 TD:INT ratio in four full preseasons. Stick had no rush attempts against Denver, which was surprising because he does have quite a bit of rushing upside. Stick rushed for 2,523 yards and 41 touchdowns in four seasons at North Dakota State.

With a week of preparation, there’s a chance offensive coordinator Kellen Moore schemes up ways to utilize Stick’s mobility in an attempt to overcome his deficiencies as a passer.

Herbert’s injury could prevent the Chargers from letting Allen play through injury and have them start limiting Austin Ekeler’s workload down the stretch. Sure enough, Allen has been ruled out, and I would imagine they also want to scale back Ekeler’s workload.

There is a lot of uncertainty around the Chargers offense heading into this game, but it’s pretty clear they will struggle to move the ball.

Crosby (knee) could end up missing the game, which will make the matchup a bit easier, but certainly not enough to expect too many points scored by the Chargers.

Obviously, this is another contender for the worst primetime game of the year. I don’t have a lean on the spread or the total since we have key players getting ruled out and uncertainty at quarterback for the Raiders.

That being said, I am someone who bets on most preseason games if I see something I like, so I’m not going to shy away from this contest just because these teams are neither good nor healthy. For this matchup, though, I will need more information before having a strong opinion and making a bet.

I have three props, as listed above, that I broke down on Green Dot Daily. Here's a full breakdown for all three picks.

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