2022 NFL season specials preview and predictions: Chargers set to light it up

Free American football tips, best specials bets and analysis for the 2022 NFL season, which starts on Thursday.

Best bets

LA Chargers highest-scoring team in regular season
1pt 9-1 bet365

Cooper Kupp most regular-season receiving yards
2pts 8-1 Betfred, Hills

Patrick Mahomes over 34.5 passing touchdowns
2pts 4-5 bet365

Micah Parsons Defensive Player of the Year
1pt 9-1 general

Kayvon Thibodeaux Defensive Rookie of the Year
1pt 7-1 Betfred

2022 NFL season specials preview

The Los Angeles Chargers have made moves to strengthen their defence and turn themselves into genuine Super Bowl contenders this season, but the strength of their team remains an offence led by elite quarterback Justin Herbert.

Whether or not their defence holds up and no longer gives away games that look won, as has happened all too often in recent seasons, they should still be able to put plenty of points on the board and they look a decent bet to be the highest-scoring team in the regular season.

The Chargers were fifth in the NFL in scoring in 2021 despite ending the year with a mediocre 9-8 record. The wild AFC West division should produce a lot of close contests and Herbert is likely to be throwing the ball early and often all year. Even after throwing for 5,014 yards and 38 touchdown passes last season, Herbert is still getting better as he enters his third season. The Chargers could easily score more than 500 points this year.

LA's other team, the Rams, had the league's leading receiver last season in Cooper Kupp and the pass-catching phenomenon has a great chance of repeating that feat. The star wideout recorded a huge 1,947 receiving yards, way ahead of runner-up Justin Jefferson on 1,616.

Kupp and Rams QB Matthew Stafford have a strong connection and with Tyreek Hill having moved on from Kansas City and Davante Adams leaving Green Bay, continuity and chemistry is on Kupp's side in this market too. The Rams' dynamic passing attack goes through him and there's no reason to expect his production to fall off.

The individual player over-under bet that appeals most is for Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes to have over 34.5 passing touchdowns. The passing magician had 50 TD passes in 2018 and has had 38 and 37 in the last two seasons, falling short of this mark only in his injury-disrupted 2019 season. Mahomes still has reliable tight end Travis Kelce to target despite the departure of Hill and if he stays fit he should clear this line with a couple of games to spare.

On the defensive side of things, Micah Parsons burst onto the NFL scene last season, scooping the Defensive Rookie of the Year award and also coming second to JJ Watt in the overall Defensive Player of the Year category. Parsons established himself as a top talent with 84 tackles, 13 sacks and three forced fumbles, so he should be in contention for the senior award this time around.

Kayvon Thibodeaux of the New York Giants looks a likely successor to Parsons for the rookie award. He’s a pass-rushing specialist with tremendous athleticism who will be playing in a defence that loves to blitz, and that's a recipe for an eye-catching rookie season.

Thibodeaux was selected fifth overall in the draft and looks set to make an immediate impact in a defensive scheme that looks made for him.

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