Thursday Night Football Preview Los Angeles Chargers @ Las Vegas Raiders: NFL Best Bets and Props, Davante Adams, Josh Jacobs, Austin Ekeler and More

Last week's game turned out to be much more exciting than expected for fantasy owners. The Patriots and Steelers managed to hit the over for the game in the first half. We also continued our hot streak nailing both our prop bets while the third bet was voided.

This week we have another game that looks disastrously boring. Hopefully, the Los Angeles Raiders and Las Vegas Raiders can also produce unexpected offense despite a litany of injuries to both teams. The Raiders don't even know who they'll be starting at QB in this one while the Chargers will be running out Easton Stick under center. We once again don't have high hopes but maybe it will work out again for us fans, gamblers and fantasy owners.  

Week 15 Thursday Night Football Best Bets

We will start with the road team this week and try to figure out what to do with your Chargers. You may already know by now, however, we have to start by pointing out that Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen have already been ruled out for this game. This may be good news for Herbert owners who felt pressured into starting a mediocre quarterback week in and week out due to a big name and draft capital. Now you can stresslessly move on to the man that the fantasy community is starting to refer to as Justin Turdbert. Unfortunately, the loss of Allen is going to sting for a lot of fantasy owners who have been relying on him to be a top wideout all season. We don't know exactly how effective he would have been with Stick throwing him the ball, but either way, his loss is a big one. 

That leaves us with only one guy we want anywhere near our lineups for the Chargers and it's still a scary option. Austin Ekeler, who has been awful for weeks prior to Week 14, is the only option we're plugging in on Thursday Night Football. There are a ton of variables that make him very risky, nevertheless, we're still putting him in our lineup. Other than that, we are benching Joshua Palmer, Quentin Johnston, Gerald Everett and any other option the Chargers may throw out there. 

Things get even more confusing with the sinking Raiders. The team has already come out and stated that they do not know who their starting quarterback is going to be. To make matters worse, both Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams have been listed as questionable and neither is a lock to play. Jacobs looks to be on the wrong side of questionable with a quad injury he just picked up on Sunday while Adams is dealing with an illness that we know very little about. If they are active you probably have to start them despite the obvious risks. Jacobs if healthy is a must-start, but could be limited even if active just four days removed from the injury. Adams is risky to begin with due to quarterback play and an illness could further hinder his production. There is no one else on Vegas that we want to start. Maybe Jakobi Meyers if Adams is out, but we still wouldn't be excited about it. Although, Jimmy Garoppolo getting the start would give us a bit more optimism. 

The Picks

Los Angeles Chargers +3 (-108)
Las Vegas Raiders Moneyline (-162)
Over/Under O34.5 (-110)

 

Player Props of the Night

Prop #1: Aidan O'Connell, Under 0.5 TD Passes (+160)

Options are limited in this game because there are so many question marks around key players. We are going to try to take advantage of one of those question marks here. Reports have said that if O'Connell does not perform well he is likely to be benched in this game. We are banking on him not playing well because he generally doesn't. This means we may only need a few drives for him to look bad and this bet can hit. It's one of our more riskier bets, but that's why you're getting better odds. 

Prop #2: Austin Ekeler, Over 82.5 Rushing + Receiving Yards (-115)

We are just hoping volume wins out here. We don't anticipate Ekeler being overly efficient, but we do expect him to get 20+ opportunities. That will give him plenty of chances to get to this mark. With Keenan Allen out and a backup QB in, it makes all the sense in the world that this team would lean on Ekeler. Even if he has been playing at the level that he once was, he will still serve as a stabilizing force in this offense.  

Prop #3: Quentin Johnston, Over 2.5 Receptions (+105) 

This is a low mark and Stick has to complete at least a few passes to wide receivers. Johnston is a big-bodied guy who should be an easy target to try to move the chains with. He also has the lowest reception total we can bet on. Plus, we like the +105 odds. We're willing to throw a few bucks down on this one and bank on the first-round pick to see an uptick in targets with Allen out.