Week 14: Buffalo Bills at San Diego Chargers

BUFFALO BILLS @ SAN DIEGO CHARGERS

Vegas Line: Bills + 7

Rob’s Line: Bills + 7.5

Having looked woefully out of their depth when losing heavily to Dallas and Miami by a combined score of 79-15 over Weeks 10 and 11, the Buffalo Bills have brought some respectability back to their franchise with better performances the past two weeks against the Jets and Titans, despite both being losses.
San Diego have gone through the mill themselves since Week 7, when they allowed the aforementioned Jets to recover from a 14-3 deficit to win 27-21. The Chargers were 4-1 heading into that one and the defeat was the beginning of a six game skid that has since seen them eliminated from playoff contention.
Their demise has been alarming, the reasons for which are plentiful, but last week we saw a glimpse of what they’re really capable of on offense when they destroyed Jacksonville on Monday Night Football. However, they came back with a vengeance when all of the pressure was off against a team with a defense whose secondary’s in tatters. They bullied the Jaguars, but that’s nothing to be proud of and this is a franchise that’s going nowhere fast without a serious look at itself from the inside out.
Second year running back, C. J. Spiller will more than likely be called upon to exploit what is San Diego’s glaring weakness (apart from team chemistry) and that’s their 26th ranked run defense. He’ll now be given the chance to show the Bills what he’s capable of as he finishes the season as the featured back in place of Fred Jackson, who’s done for the season. He did well against against the Titans last Sunday, running for 83 yards on 14 carries at 5.9 yards per carry and he does possess the skills to break almost any run for a touchdown. The Chargers rank a healthy sixth against the pass, but Buffalo QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has been much better the past two weeks, throwing 4 TDs and 0 INTs. However, there’s no guarantee which Fitzpatrick will arrive in San Diego and it’s been a fair trek for the Bills travelling as they are across the country.
The Chargers are ready to unleash the receiving triumvirate of Malcolm Floyd, Vincent Jackson and Antonio Gates on a Buffalo defense that’s allowed at least 23 points in ten of their twelve games this season. Looking at that stat, you have to figure that the Bills are going to leak at least the same number this week so, I’m going to be bold and say that the Chargers will score 30. Buffalo’s averaging 14 points over it’s last four games and I do see them having to rely on Spiller to undertake the chunk of the work.
For two teams with playoff aspirations heading into Week 8, only for their respective seasons to quickly go south, I much prefer asking San Diego to cover than Buffalo to protect the touchdown start.

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