It would be easy to judge the Chargers as something of a second-tier team in the NFL, seeing as they’re the second-place team in the AFC West and the No. 2 team in Los Angeles.
But the oddsmakers know just how good the Chargers are: The Chargers are 14-point favorites on Sunday against the Bengals, in a game that will be played just two weeks after they were also 14-point favorites against the Cardinals.
It might be tempting to say those point spreads are more about the Cardinals and the Bengals, but the reality is, a team being favored by 14 points in the NFL just isn’t very common, even against the worst teams. There have only been five spreads all season of 14 points or more: These two recent Chargers games, two games in which the Chiefs were heavy favorites (over the Cardinals and Raiders), and the biggest upset of this NFL season, when the Vikings were 16.5-point favorites over the Bills but lost 27-6.
The Chargers easily covered the 14-point spread when they beat the Cardinals 45-10. The way the Chargers are playing, they are a dangerous team to bet against.