Chargers vs Colts Preview & Free Pick [December 26th 2022]

LA Chargers (8-6) at Indianapolis (4-9-1)
When: Monday, December 26th 2022
Where: Lucas Oil Stadium,
Indianapolis, IN
Time: 8:15 ET | TV: ESPN
Opening Odds: Los Angeles -2.5/48

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The Los Angeles Chargers aim to clinch a postseason berth when they visit the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football. That scenario is possible thanks to the New York Jets, New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders all losing their Week 16 games. The Chargers are currently the sixth-seed in the AFC and can keep moving up over the final three weeks. L.A. has won three of their last four games thanks to a vastly improved defense since the beginning of the season. Last week’s 17-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans was the fewest points allowed all season. Getting key players healthy on both sides of the line has been a key to the Chargers recent success. They will be taking on a Colts team that made NFL history last week.

Indianapolis built a 33-0 lead at the Minnesota Vikings in Week 15, only to be outscored 39-3 in the second half and overtime. That has led to the benching of quarterback Matt Ryan for the rest of the season. The Colts will now go with former Super Bowl winning signal-caller Nick Foles to close out a lost season. Indianapolis will also be without their best player in running back Jonathan Taylor, who was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday, ending his season. Taylor led the NFL in rushing last season with 1,811 yards last season, 552 more than the next closest running back. Indianapolis has lost four in a row and are just 30.5 percent on third-down conversions during that stretch. These teams last played in the 2019 season opener at a soccer stadium in Carson, Calif. The Chargers won that game 30-24 in overtime and are 7-2-1 ATS in the past 10 meetings.

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The Chargers won their second straight game on Sunday to improve to 8-6, even though Justin Herbert didn’t have his best game. Herbert threw for 313 yards, but didn’t have any touchdowns and threw two picks. Herbert did hit Mike Williams on a 35-yard pass with about 30 seconds left to get the Chargers into field-goal range. Cameron Dicker nailed the winning field goal from 43 yards. Herbert is now the only quarterback in NFL history to have 4,000 passing yards in each of his first three seasons. The Chargers played without Pro Bowl safety Derwin James Jr. for the second straight game. He is nursing a quadriceps injury and is listed as Probable for Monday. Star pass rusher Joey Bosa, who has been on injured reserve since undergoing groin surgery after Week 3, will not play.

There’s no telling how the Colts will react after letting the Vikings come away with the biggest comeback in NFL history. The previous was from 32 points down by the Bills against the Oilers in the 1992 Wild-Card round. Frank Reich was the Bills’ QB that day and was fired as head coach of the Colts earlier this season. Ryan is now the only quarterback to lose two games in a career when up by at least 25 points. His Falcons blew a 28-3 third-quarter lead in Super Bowl LI to the Patriots in overtime. Ryan has more than twice as many touchdown passes (381) as interceptions (183) in his 15-year NFL career, but he has 14 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions this season. The Colts are 2-5 ATS in their past seven following an ATS win.

The Colts are done and I don’t think Nick Foles is going to be much better than Ryan. The Chargers are on a bit of a roll right now and are a solid team away from home, going 5-2 ATS in their last seven. I expect a big game from Herbert.

Week 16 NFL Staff Selections

Pick: Chargers -4

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