Posted on 1/15/2008 1:30:57 PM

NFL Betting Action - Can Volek Carry the Chargers?

By BetUS Staff

This week’s round of NFL betting is focused directly on Philip Rivers’ right knee. Will it be ready for Sunday’s AFC Championship?

Nobody knows yet. And nobody’s too eager to speculate, not after watching Antonio Gates suit up for the San Diego Chargers in their Divisional upset of the defending Super Bowl champions from Indianapolis. Gates was widely reported to be missing that game with a dislocated toe. The four-time Pro Bowl tight end grabbed two catches for 28 yards in a fairly quiet performance; his status for this Sunday’s matchup with the New England Patriots is uncertain, pending results from Gates’ scheduled visit with a specialist on Monday.

Gates has already been far less of a factor to San Diego’s success since the arrival of Chris Chambers, and LaDainian Tomlinson appears to be all right after hyperextending his knee against the Colts. Even fullback Lorenzo Neal is expected to play Sunday; his blocking should help LT immensely. That leaves Rivers as the main attraction on the Chargers injury watch.

Coach Norv Turner told reporters Monday that Rivers suffered a strained MCL in the Divisional round. The indomitable Rivers insists he would have returned to the game against Indy, but didn’t want to disturb Volek’s rhythm as the backup pivot marched San Diego downfield on the winning drive. That seems to be enough explanation for the betting public. The NFL betting line is up, and the Chargers are 14-point underdogs Sunday with a total of 47.5.

San Diego has already drawn enough action to bring the pointspread down from 14.5 at the open. The Patriots are 1-6 against the spread in their last seven games, proving unable to blow out the league’s better teams as the season wears on and coaches rack their brains for new antidotes to Bill Belichick’s poison. But there is enough concern over Rivers’ status to consider what would happen to the Chargers if Volek had to play against the Pats.

Volek is a perfectly sound QB with poise in the pocket and a career passer rating of 84.9. But he hasn’t played meaningful football in the two years since he left Tennessee, where Volek saw considerable action in relief of the oft-injured Steve McNair. Rivers, meanwhile, has developed into one of the cockiest men ever to set foot on an NFL field. He’s strung together five excellent starts (eight TD passes, two picks) to lead the Chargers on their current eight-game winning spree. San Diego supporters taking the NFL odds at press time had better hope Rivers is both healthy and surly this Sunday. Kick-off from Gillette Stadium is at 3:00 p.m. Eastern on CBS.

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