Chargers vs. Washington 2021 Predictions: Interesting game on tap in the capital

Washington welcome the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1 and Neil Monnery thinks this could be one of the more interesting match-ups in the early window...

Justin Herbert is a sneaky play for NFL MVP heading into the 2021 season as the second-year player out of Oregon impressed mightily when he won the starting job last year due to a bout of serious bad luck for incumbent starter Tyrod Taylor. He leads his team across the country to take on the Washington Football Team knowing that success on Sunday will rely heavily on the men in front of him.

For you see, Washington do not scare many people offensively but their front seven on defense is frightening. The two ends Chase Young and Montez Sweat are about as desputrive as they come. Both were first round picks and they had 16.5 sacks between them a year ago. The two men playing inside were also both first round picks. This means Washington have a D-Line full of incredible talent. They will have to disrupt Herbert if the home team are going to win this game.

As for Herbert, he always looked like a prototype Quarterback all the way through college. Yes he had some struggles but you looked at him and thought with a bit of coaching, the penny would drop and he’d be an above average signal caller in the pros. Well he very much looked like that last year. With 31 TDs tossed in his debut season as a rookie and only ten picks, the future is now for the Chargers who can make a serious run at the playoffs.

Austin Ekeler is a vastly underrated all purpose back who can do it all. Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are also fairly reliable receivers. Hunter Henry departed in the off-season but Jared Cook should be solid enough at TE.

For Washington, the jury is still out for me on Antonio Gibson. I know he has plenty of fans but I’m just not convinced by him nor Terry McLaurin. The addition of the veteran QB in Ryan Fitzpatrick will be a fascinating story to follow. He’s never done a bad job anywhere he’s gone but rarely lights it up either.

This should be an interesting Week 1 encounter.

Spread:

Fair to say the Sportsbooks aren’t entirely sure how this one will play out. The hometown team are a whopping 0.5 point favorites. I do like Justin Herbert for a big year but on the road against a fearsome front four - I’m taking Washington.

Straight-up/Moneyline:

At -104 straight up, I’m happy to roll with the Football Team.

Over/Under Points Totals:

44.5points is on the low end but I can see why. Ryan Fitzpatrick has a history of putting up surprising decent numbers and therefore I’m going with the over - against my better judgement. Very much a gut feel pick here.