Chargers vs. Jaguars NFL Wild Card Weekend odds: Sharp bettors on Los Angeles, Mike Williams ruled out

As of this writing, the "sharps" are pretty heavy on the Los Angeles Chargers for Saturday's Wild Card Weekend game at the Jacksonville Jaguars, but perhaps that changes with the news that star L.A. wideout Mike Williams has been ruled out with a back injury. That has dropped the spread at Caesars Sportsbook from LA at -2.5 to -1.5. At one point early this week, this game was a pick'em.

Los Angeles has brought in the majority of the spread action with 61.6% of the tickets and 65.6% of the handle at the book. Jacksonville (+115), however, has drawn 57.5% of the tickets and 60.0% of the handle for all moneyline wagers, including $250,000 from a Michigan bettor on Jaguars ML at even for a potential win of $250,000.

"It seems like a coin-flip type of game," said Adam Pullen, Assistant Director of Trading at Caesars Sportsbook. "The sharps (early this week) had a couple big bets to get it off pick and back up to Chargers -2.5. It's a really interesting matchup though. You have two quarterbacks making their first playoff starts, but I think the edge might lie in the coaching department. We'll see if Doug Pederson and his Super Bowl pedigree will show Brandon Staley a little something. But it's anyone guess what will happen in this game, and it shows with the action we've gotten on it so far."

Staley has been torched by the media and Chargers fans for playing his starters in the meaningless Week 18 game in Denver with L.A. locked into the AFC's No. 5 seed. That decision has cost his team Williams, who was carted off against the Broncos with a back injury. Williams was diagnosed with a fracture in his back and could miss up to three weeks of action, should Los Angeles advance.

Williams caught 63 passes for a team-high 895 yards and four touchdowns this season. He and Keenan Allen have been available together for only four complete games (Chargers are 4-0 in those matchups) and only 260 plays (23%).

It's a terrific quarterback matchup between Herbert and Trevor Lawrence, with both young stars making their postseason debuts. It's the fourth playoff QB matchup since 1950 between first-round picks both under the age of 25. Yet the defenses may control this game with temperatures expected to be only in the high 30s at kickoff. L.A. has allowed just 15.5 points per game in its past five and Jacksonville 15.6 in its past five.

Both these teams were tied for the NFL lead in comeback wins of more than one possession (at least nine points) this season with four. Jacksonville won its final four home games, all while trailing by at least nine points.

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