Jacksonville Jaguars VS Los Angeles Chargers is a game that features two of the 2023 NFL postseason pleasant surprises, who will be facing off in the first Wild Card game of the American Conference.
After a challenging first half, the Chargers won five of their last 7 games to earn the AFC Wild Card, while the Jaguars made an epic comeback by winning 7 of their last 9 games to lead the AFC South.
MatchPlug brings you the best preview and NFL Predictions this week for this matchup between the Jaguars and Chargers.
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Predictions and Betting Preview for Jacksonville Jaguars VS Los Angeles AFC Wild Card Game
- Venue: TIAA Bank Field, Jacksonville, Florida
- When: Saturday, January 14, 2023
- Time: 17:15 GMT
- Teams to play: Jacksonville Jaguars VS Los Angeles Chargers
- NFL Picks: Over 1.70
Odds by BetMGM and 1XBet.
Betting On The Jacksonville Jaguars
Season Record: 9-8 (AFC South Champion – 4th seed AFC)
- BetMGM Spread: +2.5
- BetMGM Moneyline: 2.20
- BetMGM Over/Under: Under 47.5
- 1XBet Spread: +2.5
- 1XBet Moneyline: 2.1
- 1XBet Over/Under: Under 47.5
The Jacksonville Jaguars qualified for first place in the AFC South after securing 5 straight victories. Doug Pederson gracing the Jaguars’ bench might have signified a before and after in the team’s history and this feat may the first of Pederson’s legacies.
Jacksonville hoped to escape being last place in their division after entering their “bye week” with a 3-7 record after losing to Kansas City Chiefs in Week 10. But, the team reversed their negative trend thanks to quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne for guiding a balanced offense.
This team ended the campaign with an average of 5.7 yards gainerd per play, 7th best in the league, and its offensive line had the 5th fewest quarterback sacks with only 28. Furthermore, they ranked among the top 15 offenses regarding total rushing and passing yards, including rushing and passing touchdowns.
In terms of defense, the Jaguars also balanced and in the past three weeks, their opponents only scored 22 points against team. They are strong on the field and have a knack for inflicting losses on opponents; despite often struggling with passes, which is not good if they are playing Justin Herbert.
For this season’s campaign, they emerged as 4th in turnovers with 22 and second in fumbles recovered with 13; one was last Saturday against the Titans in the fourth period, when they went all the way to the end zone to win the match.
Betting On The Los Angeles Chargers
- Season record: 10 -7 (1st wild card – 5th AFC seed)
- BetMGM Spread: -2.5
- BetMGM Moneyline: 1.70
- BetMGM Over/Under: Over 47.5
- 1XBet Spread: -2.5
- 1XBet Moneyline: 1.75
- 1XBet Over/Under: Over 47.5
During the season’s second half, the Los Angeles Chargers put their inconsistencies aside and became the first wild card in the American Conference, and one of the hottest teams towards the end of regular round.
Supported by quarterback Justin Herbert’s aerial display, Los Angeles finished the season with just a game under 200 total passing yards and were third in the league with 4,584 on the campaign.
These statistics, plus the 26 touchdown passes by Herbert, were the remedy the Chargers needed to rise above the problems that affected their ground game through out the year. Those problems placed them as second to last in average yards per rush (3.8) and total rushing yards (1,524).
For defense, Los Angeles still has some issues to deal with, but an improvement in this area led them to their outcome this season. Before their 28-31 loss to the Denver Broncos, this team did not allow any opponent to score over 17 points during their four-game winning streak. This was impressive especially since they were 11th in points allowed with 384.
Chargers being second-fewest penalities team in the circuit with only 80, also boosted this team’s performance. As did them being top 10 in the red zone by allowing touchdowns on only 52.1% of visits.
But, when defending on the ground, Los Angeles in one of the worst in the league, as they allowed the most yards per rush than other teams with 5.4. Also, their 2,478 rushing yards allowed was the 5th highers figure in the circuit.
MatchPlug Prediction
Jacksonville Jaguars VS Los Angeles Chargers will be a play off on each other’s strengths and weaknesses, which makes this game the closest one of Wild Card week.
Although Los Angeles is a bit superior to Jacksonville in passes and will be facing an extremely incosistent secondary; the Jaguars’ ground game which supercedes that of the Chargers is still expected to have a smooth game against a lackadasical opposing ground defense.
The Chargers lost the fewest fumbles of the campaign with only 19, the Jaguars matched the New England Patriots this year as the team that had the most points scored after a turnover with 111 points.
That being said, home advantage will play a vital role in today’s matchup. While in 8 out of the past 10 games these teams have played, the Los Angeles team came out on top, this year the Jaguars beat the Chargers 38-10 on the road.
This evening the Jaguars will be hosting the Chargers at home where they have a 5-2 record; their opponent had a 5-4 record on the road.
Final Prediction: Jaguars to win (LA 20 – JAX 24).
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