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The Vikings vs. Chargers line for Week 1 of the 2011 NFL season was coming in at -9 in favor of San Diego. This was one of the biggest spreads of the week. Oddly enough, more than 75 percent of the backing on the spread was going towards Minnesota.
Plenty of search inquiries have been pouring into the Gambling911.com website for the Chargers to win the 2011 Super Bowl (at just over 7/1 odds) but this is a team that didn’t even make the Playoffs this year.
Under head coach Norv Turner, the San Diego Chargers typically start their seasons slow.
Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers had his best season ever last year and is determined to get off to a good start and make the Playoffs.
"Ultimately, I think you're measured by winning football games and we've won a lot of games, but we've fallen short," Rivers said. "That's the ultimate goal here is to lead this team to a championship.
The Chargers can go deep provided they minimize the number of turnovers. There were a total of 29 last season. The Chargers totaled a league-low 76 over the previous four years.
"The key for us offensively is to protect the ball," Rivers said. "We turn it over way too many times early in the year last year. You look back on seasons where we've won a bunch of games, we've took care of the football."
Minnesota, meanwhile, turned over the ball 37 times last season. They will have a new quarterback in Donovan McNabb.
One shouldn’t be fooled by McNabb’s terrible debut in Washington last season. McNabb has some big-time offensive weapons to help him out with running back Adrian Peterson and wide receiver Percy Harvin. He didn’t have this type of talented support in Washington, so only time will tell if last season was a fluke.
The Chargers are 18-6 Against The Spread as a home favorite of 7.5 to 10 points since 1992 while the Vikings are just 1-9 ATS as an underdog over the past two seasons.
- Mary Montgomery, Gambling911.com
