2024 NFL picks, score predictions for Week 7 games

Los Angeles Chargers (3-2) @ Arizona Cardinals (2-4)

Monday, October 21, 8:45 PM ET

Coming off of their bye week, the Los Angeles Chargers looked pretty darn good against the Denver Broncos, at least in the first half.

The Chargers dominated time of possession, Justin Herbert was finding his receivers on third downs with relative ease, and the Chargers put the game out of reach to the point that even a furious comeback by the Broncos couldn’t be completed.

Jim Harbaugh has had some issues on the sideline with his health that bear monitoring going forward, but it’s clear that his style of football is also translating for this Chargers team and they are doing all of the things he wants to do well. They are running the ball (for the most part) well this season, they are playing tough defense, and when Justin Herbert is able to move the chains like we saw against Denver, this team could be tough to beat.

The Arizona Cardinals are a difficult team to project at this point as Kyler Murray and that offense have been up and down, and when Marvin Harrison Jr. is not in the lineup, it’s hard to really want to pick this team straight up.

The Chargers are 2.5-point favorites on the road in this game against the Cardinals and that sounds about right. As the Chargers keep running the ball well and playing tough defense, I don’t know why they can’t be in just about every game.

Barring a huge breakout from the Arizona offense in Week 7, I think this one is shaping up to be another game of keepaway by the Chargers with the occasional explosive offensively. The Cardinals need to hope Harrison can play and that Kyler Murray can make life difficult on LA’s defense as we saw Bo Nix take off and break down the Chargers’ pressure packages with his legs on a number of occasions. 

Prediction: Chargers win 23-20