Wayne Root
Millionaire - SF 49ers
KARL GARRETT
50 Dime SF 49ers
STEPHEN NOVER
100 Dime San Diego Chargers
BOB VALENTINO
50 Dime Teaser - SD Chargers & Under
MICHAEL CANNON
20 Dime SF 49ers
ATS Lock Club
3 Units NJ Nets
2 Units San Francisco
Northcoast
Marquee - SD Chargers
Vernon Croy
5* Calgary -140
Rocketman
3* St Louis -105
St Louis is 9-4 at home this year. Kings are 2-5 in their last 7 road games. Kings are 2-5 in their last 7 vs. a team with a losing record. Kings are 2-5 in their last 7 after scoring 5 goals or more in their previous game. Kings are 0-4 in their last 4 when their opponent scores 2 goals or less in their previous game. Blues are 14-3 in their last 17 games as a home favorite. Blues are 7-2 in their last 9 games as a home favorite of -110 to -150. Blues are 18-6 in their last 24 home games. Blues are 15-6 in their last 21 games as a favorite. Blues are 7-3 in their last 10 Thursday games. Blues are 9-4 in their last 13 home games vs. a team with a losing road record. Kings are 2-6 in the last 8 meetings in St. Louis. Kings are 1-4 in the last 5 meetings.
Marc Lawrence
San Francisco 49ers +9.5
The Niners enter tonight's contest three games under .500 (5-8) but just one game back in the NFC West. With the division leaders meeting on the final week of the season, Mike Singletary's squad doesn't have much margin for error. The problem is that tonight's hosts are riding in the same boat known as 'Desperation'. The Chargers kept themselves in the AFC West race with a shutout win over the QB-less Chiefs but our database has a thing about squads in this scenario, noting: teams off a division shutout win in which they beat the spread by 19 or more points are 6-19 ATS when facing a non-division foe off a SU win. It also warns us that the Chargers are just 3-9 ATS versus a non-division opponent off a double-digit SU win while the 49ers are 6-1 ATS as dogs of 4 or more points versus AFC opposition. Last week San Fran backers relied on coach Singletary's terrific ATS record when coming off a loss to bring home the bacon. They also know he is 5-5 SU in games against AFC opposition, with only one loss by more than seven points. This week they'll count on his perfect 7-0 ATS log as a dog versus a foe off a win of 13 or more points to spread the cheer. With Frisco 3-1 SU in its last four visits to San Diego, we'll do the same… grab the points in this battle of desperadoes. We recommend a 3-unit play on San Francisco.
Ben Burns
8* Calgary -145
I've successfully played both on and against the Flames a number of times in recent weeks, each time "zig-zagging" from their previous result. When they've been off a loss, I've played on them to come back with a win. And vice versa. Therefore, I'm aware that they haven't won two in a row in quite some time. That said, I feel that this will be an excellent spot for them to do so.
The Leafs are off a big "revenge" win at Edmonton on Tuesday (Oilers had beaten them 5-0 at Toronto) and they've got another big "revenge" game on Deck, as they'll be in Vancouver (Canucks also beat them at Toronto) on Saturday night.
Even with the win at Edmonton, the Leafs still have just four wins in 13 road games. They've been outscored by a whopping 3.4 to 2.1 margin in those games. On the other hand, the Flames have won eight of 14 home games, outscoring teams 3.2 to 3 overall here.
Even with the win at Edmonton, the Leafs are still 13-28 (-13) their last 41 non-conference games. During that stretch, they were also only 12-23 when playing a road game with an O/U line of 5.5. Meanwhile, over the same period, the Flames were 41-31 at home, with an O/U line of 5.5. With the Flames also a perfect 5-0 the last five times that they hosted the Leafs, I feel the price is more than fair.
BIG AL
Denver
UTEP
Evan Altemus
1* Weber St. +8.5
Weber State has already played well against several decent teams this season. They covered the spread at Utah State, in a game that was closer than the final score indicated. They also only lost by one point to Arizona State and beat Drake. The Wildcats also have a great player in Damon Lilliard, one of the best players in the Big Sky Conference. Meanwhile, Tulsa is coming off of three straight poor losses, and they will be without guard Jordan Clarkson as well. Also, Weber State has shown an ability to play well on the road, and they have an outstanding player who can carry the scoring load. Look for the Wildcats to keep this game close.
Jeff Benton
30 Dime San Diego
When you scan the home and road schedules of both the Chargers and 49ers you find each has had an “aberration” game.
San Diego is 5-2 SU and ATS on its home field. One of those losses was a 23-20 setback to Tom Brady and the Patriots (a game San Diego dominated from a statistical point of view, finishing with 363 yards to New England’s 179; in fact, Brady was pedestrian 19-for-32 for 159 yards with one TD). The other defeat came two weeks ago, an inexplicable 28-13 loss to Oakland, with the Raiders punching the Chargers in the mouth from the get-go and San Diego never recovered. That was the “outlier” contest.
Meanwhile, San Francisco is 1-5 in true road games, but its aberration game didn’t come in victory (three Mondays ago, the Niners went to Arizona and destroyed the crappy Cardinals 27-6 as a one-point road favorite). Now, the odd road game for the Niners came back in Week 4 at Atlanta, when they had the Falcons dead to rights but failed to close the deal, losing 16-14 but covering as a seven-point road underdog.
Not to take anything away from San Francisco’s effort in that two-point loss to the Falcons, but looking back, the Niners were coming off a 31-10 loss at Kansas City (dropping them to 0-3 on the season) while Atlanta was coming off a 27-24 overtime upset win at New Orleans. In other words, it was a classic letdown/look-ahead game for the Falcons.
Anyway, if you take away the 49ers’ win at Arizona (no real credit there) and the effort at Atlanta, you’re left with the following road results: 31-6 loss at Seattle; 31-10 loss at Kansas City; 23-20 loss at Carolina (the ONLY game the Panthers have won all year); 34-16 loss at Green Bay.
Meanwhile, if you take away the Raiders debacle and the narrow loss to the Patriots, here are the Chargers’ results at home: 38-13 win over Jacksonville, 41-10 win over Arizona, 33-25 win over Tennessee, 35-14 win over Denver, 31-0 win on Sunday over Kansas City.
Put it all together and the Chargers’ five home wins have come by a combined score of 178-62. They scored at least 31 points in every victory and held four of five opponents to 14 points or less. San Francisco’s five road losses (and I’m including Atlanta here) have been by a combined score of 135-66, and in none of those games did the 49ers top 20 points.
Look, San Francisco has been playing better of late (5-3 last eight games – including Sunday’s 40-21 rip job of Seattle at home – after an 0-5 start), but this team has a long way to go to be in San Diego’s talent class. And when you look at the Niners’ five victories, you see they all came against teams with a losing record (three divisional wins over the Seahawks, Rams and Cardinals; a victory over the Raiders at home; and a win over the Broncos in London – those five teams have a combined record of 25-40!).
On the other hand, the Chargers come into this one on a 5-1 SU and ATS roll (the only misstep coming against Oakland), and their seven wins this season have been by margins of 31, 22, 21, 6, 8, 31 and 25 points! Additionally, the SU winner has cashed in each of San Diego’s 13 games this season (the winner is also 6-1 SU and ATS in San Francisco’s last seven).
Bottom line: Unless the Chargers come out and lay a colossal Raiders-like egg again tonight, they should win this game by no less than 21 points. And from the “For What It’s Worth” department: The Chargers have cashed in 11 of their last 15 December games and they’re 22-6 ATS in their last 28 when laying big points at home (3½ to 10); San Francisco is in ATS slumps of 0-5 after a victory, 5-21-3 after a win of two touchdowns or more and 0-8-1 after a spread-cover. In fact, the 49ers haven’t covered in consecutive games since starting out last season 4-0 ATS – a stretch of 25 games!
Wizard of Odds Guaranteed Selections
BOOKIE-BUSTING LATE INFO NBA BOMB
New Jersey -6
The Consensus Group Guaranteed Selections
PERFECT 500* TRIPLE DOUBLE WINNER
Austin Peay +13.5
Cowtown Sports
3* Chargers -10
3* Fla Atl -4.5