- Buffalo is favored by 7 to 7.5 points at home over Los Angeles, with the total at 50.
- The Chargers are 0-2 after consecutive 26-14 losses, the first 0-2 start of Harbaugh’s career.
- Josh Allen has produced nine touchdowns and zero turnovers across Buffalo’s 2-0 start.
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Buffalo Bills are favored by 7 to 7.5 points at home over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, with the total set at 50. Jim Harbaugh’s team carries a five-game losing streak dating to last season’s playoffs – the first five-game skid of his coaching career at any level – into a matchup it enters 0-2 on the year.
A Number Split Across The Market
The spread sits at 7 with one number and 7.5 with another, and the total is 50 on both sides of the market. Buffalo’s moneyline has eased from -350 to -340, the market’s smallest concession that a team outscored 52-28 across two games isn’t quite the pushover its record suggests. The Chargers’ own number is priced between +270 and +274 – for anyone doing legal sports betting on this line, that gap is where the shopping happens. Comparing the number across regulated sportsbooks still lands Buffalo anywhere from 7 to 7.5 on this week’s NFL board.
Self-Inflicted Damage
Los Angeles has lost by the same 26-14 score in back-to-back weeks, falling to Arizona in Week 1 and Las Vegas in Week 2. Justin Herbert has thrown for 209 and 192 yards in those games – modest totals for a starting quarterback trying to keep pace – with three interceptions and six total sacks, and the Chargers put the ball on the ground six times against the Raiders, losing one. Harbaugh said in the team’s Week 2 recap that “nobody in that locker room is deterred” heading into Buffalo. Seven Chargers players did not practice Thursday, according to the team’s injury report, including offensive linemen Kayode Awosika and Trey Pipkins III on a line that has already allowed six sacks in two games.
The Case For Buffalo
Josh Allen already has nine total touchdowns and zero giveaways through two games – a 36-31 win over Houston and a 41-31 win over Detroit that opened Highmark Stadium. He is completing better than 66% of his throws, an efficient clip, and has four rushing touchdowns of his own. Buffalo’s defense has given up 31 points in each of those games, so the number leans on Allen keeping pace rather than on stops, and an 0-2 start had never happened to a Harbaugh-coached team before this year. Betting the Chargers at 7 is a bet that Herbert’s turnovers were bad execution rather than a real talent gap; betting Buffalo is a bet that the pattern holds a third straight week.
Kickoff at Highmark Stadium is set for 1 p.m. Eastern Sunday.
