Chargers vs. Cardinals final prediction and betting odds for Week 7

Chris Roling | Oct 21, 2024

Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Los Angeles Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers enter Monday night’s primetime affair against the Arizona Cardinals favored to win, which would push the early Jim Harbaugh era record to 4-2.

Given the wealth of injuries suffered by the likes of Justin Herbert, Joe Alt, Rashawn Slater and Joey Bosa, it would be an impressive feat. It would also put the Chargers in a position to make a serious playoff push, especially when each of their next three opponents doesn’t boast more than two wins.

Some of it is a testament to the Jesse Minter-coordinated defense, which continues to endure injuries to the secondary and misses Bosa, who has a new injury. The unit is one of the NFL’s best, and it will need to be again against Kyler Murray, who has completed 68.2 percent of his passes with eight touchdowns against two interceptions on a Cardinals offense likely getting rookie wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. back.

Monday night’s game does look like a nice chance for Herbert’s offense to ramp up. He’s far removed from the ankle injury now, as are his starting offensive tackles. Those details partially explain why he’s thrown just six touchdowns and one interception this season and falling nearly out of the top 20 in quarterback rankings.

The Cardinals cough up 27 points per game on average and seem especially weak against the run. That could really let the Chargers play some Harbaugh ball that coordinator Greg Roman prefers, meaning a possible big game for J.K. Dobbins, who to this point has 438 yards and three scores on a 5.4 per-carry average.

Given the inconsistency in personnel on the defensive side of the ball, Murray will probably get his in this one. But the Chargers should be able to dominate the overall pacing, steadily pulling away in the process.

Final score: Chargers 27, Cardinals 14