New Orleans Saints vs Los Angeles Chargers Prediction, 8/20/2023 NFL Picks, Best Bets & Odds Preseason

Game: New Orleans Saints vs Los Angeles Chargers

Date: Sunday, August 20, 2023

Location: SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA

TV: NFL NET

Odds/Point Spread: Chargers (+4)

Total/Over-Under: 37

The New Orleans Saints (7-10 last season) are traveling to SoFi Stadium on Sunday where they will attempt to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers (10-7 last year). Los Angeles opens this contest as 4-point underdogs. The total is 37.

The New Orleans Saints finished the year holding a 7-10 mark. In their last game, the Saints played against the Panthers and took a loss by a score of 10-7. Andy Dalton connected on 15/25 with 171 yards through the air and 1 touchdown. He had a quarterback rate of 93.9 and ended the contest without throwing an interception. Alvin Kamara led the offense in rushing for the Saints with 23 attempts for 107 yds (4.7 yards per carry). Chris Olave averaged 12.0 yds per catch by tallying 60 yards on 5 receptions. The New Orleans Saints ran the football 32 times and compiled 143 yards, which is an average of 4.5 yds per carry. Overall, they tallied 58 plays which gave them 304 yds. New Orleans conceded 5 completions on 15 attempts for a total of 32 yards, and a completion percentage of 33.3%. In the running game, the Saints conceded 171 yards on 41 attempts, which averages out to 4.2 yards per run surrendered.

The Saints tallied 5,674 total yards last year. New Orleans earned 181 1st downs offensively, and they were flagged for 99 infractions for 841 yards. New Orleans earned 24 passing touchdowns and 12 rushing touchdowns. They turned the football over 25 times (14 picks and 11 fumbles lost). As a team they had an average of 116.6 yards rushing, ranking them 19th in the NFL. In terms of putting the ball in the endzone, the New Orleans Saints had an average of 19.4 points per outing.

In terms of yards through the air, the Saints conceded 3,134 yards which put them in 2nd in the NFL. Over the course of their 17 games played last year, they gave up 184.4 yards per outing through the air and allowed a completion percentage of 60.1%. They gave up 314.8 yards/game which had them sitting 5th in the league. They granted 17 touchdowns via the pass in addition to 14 rushing touchdowns. They allowed teams to run for an average of 4.5 yards per tote and 130.5 yards on the ground per game last year. Overall, they conceded 2,218 running yards through 17 outings. The Saints ranked 9th in the National Football League in relation to their opponents scoring, conceding 20.3 PPG.

Get all of our NFL Picks

The Chargers ended the season having earned a 10-7 record. The last time they stepped on the gridiron, the Chargers took a loss by a final score of 31-30 against the Jaguars. Austin Ekeler carried the rock 13 times for 35 yds, walking away from the contest with 2.7 yards per attempt for Los Angeles. Gerald Everett was one of the featured targets for the Chargers, grabbing 6 passes for 109 yards (18.2 yards per catch). Justin Herbert (1 touchdown) walked away from the game with 273 yards on 25/43 passing while his QB rating was 84.7. He didn't throw any interceptions and his Y/A was 6.3 yards. Los Angeles surrendered 21 attempts on the ground for 117 yards (5.6 yards per rush). The Chargers secondary allowed a completion percentage of 59.6%, relinquishing 273 yards on 28 out of 47 through the air. The Chargers finished the game with 320 yds and they ran 69 plays (4.6 yards per play). Los Angeles ran the ball for 2.9 yards per carry, finishing the game with 67 yards on 23 attempts.

In relation to the points being put on the board, the Chargers were ranked 13th in football with 23.0 PPG. Throughout last year, the Chargers earned 4,584 passing yards in addition to averaging 269.6 throwing yards per contest, which ranked 3rd in the NFL. They averaged 89.6 rushing yards per game and ran for 1,524 yards for last year. The Los Angeles Chargers maintained an average of 359.3 yards/outing which was good for 9th in football. The Los Angeles offense had 635 penalty yards on 81 infractions, which had them sitting 29th in the league in terms of helping out the opposition. They gave away 10 picks while surrendering 9 fumbles and they recorded 232 first downs.

The Chargers relinquished 22.6 points per game, ranking them 21st in the league. They allowed 24 touchdowns through the air and 200.4 yards per outing, ranking them 7th in the NFL. Over the course of the season, they gave up 384 points in total. Los Angeles gave up a total of 2,478 rushing yards (145.8 yards/game) and 17 touchdowns via the rush last year. The Chargers defense took the field for 1,002 plays, which had them ranked 5th in the league. Their defense earned 24 turnovers (10 fumbles recovered and 14 picks) for the prior year.

Who will win tonight's Saints/Chargers NFL game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take the Saints -4

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here