Chargers face Raiders in rematch from week One

A lot has happened since the Chargers and Raiders last met on opening day. For the Chargers the struggle to remain consistent and to try to find ways to overcome some of their deficiencies has continued from week to week. They lost two big games at home to the Ravens and Broncos and after six games played are only 3-3, trailing first place Denver by 3 games. For the Raiders it has been another miserable season. It’s amazing that they’ve even won two games, especially the victory over Philadelphia. They have been completely blown out in four of their five losses: 23-3 to Denver, 29-6 to Houston, 44-7 to the Giants, and 38-0 to the Jets just last week. The only game they lost in which the score was close was the 24-20 defeat against the Chargers.

In the NFL teams usually only go as far as their quarterbacks will take them. Make no mistake the Raiders are a terrible team and even if they had a Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or Phillip Rivers under center they’d still be abysmal. But with Jemarcus Russel at QB the Raiders don’t appear to be going far in the league anytime soon. The former overall number one draft pick has not even come close to developing into the star Oakland thought they were getting. So far this year he has thrown only two touchdowns with eight interceptions and a completion percentage of only 46.3. He’s also been sacked 18 times, which doesn’t say much for their offensive line either.

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The key then for the Chargers defense will be to pressure Russel and to get to him early in the game to try to force him into the same kind of mistakes he’s been making this year. San Diego should also get some help due to the fact that Raiders running back Darren McFadden will not play because of a foot injury. Oakland’s offense will be more one dimensional without McFadden, making Russel’s job even more difficult. It’s a great opportunity for the Chargers struggling defense to build on what it began last week against Kansas City.

Looking at the ways the Raiders have gotten annihilated this year the Chargers should figure to have a field day on offense. The Raiders are ranked 19 th on passing defense, which isn’t as bad as one might expect. However, against the run they are ranked 30 th, surrendering almost 170 yard per game. Ladanian Tomlinson’s eyes should light up at the sight of that stat, and he and the rest of his running back team mates should be able to light up the Raiders defense for a monstrous game on the ground. This could be the one super breakout game that the Chargers rushing attack has been waiting for.

The Chargers are hoping to win their second game in a row after knocking off the Chiefs last week and make it two in a row against the Raiders this season. The win against the Chiefs was one of the best performances San Diego has had as a team this year. They were strong in all phases of the game, including rushing, which has been an issue for them since that first game in Oakland. Even though the Chiefs and Raiders are pretty much laughing stocks in the NFL a win is a win, and the Chargers will need to continue to build momentum against Oakland for the rest of the schedule will not get this easy again.

By Steven Mondelli
ProFootball-fans.com San Diego Chargers Correspondent