Oakland Raiders vs San Diego Chargers
The last quarter of the NFL season begins Thursday night, and it’s time for the San Diego Chargers to put up or shut up. They pretty much must win out to have any hopes of catching Denver in the AFC West, starting Thursday against Oakland, which is a 9-point underdog on WagerWeb.com.
Should they Chargers lose Thursday night and Denver win Sunday, the Broncos would clinch the AFC West title. But San Diego losing appears unlikely, as it has beaten Oakland 10 consecutive times, including 28-18 earlier this season (although the Bolts were down 15-0 in the third quarter).
But San Diego enters on a three-game losing streak; the Chargers haven’t dropped four straight since a 0-5 start in 2003. The Raiders, meanwhile, are hoping to avoid becoming the third team in NFL history to suffer at least 10 losses in six consecutive seasons.
A few numbers point to a rushing-dominated game tonight. The Raiders have a powerful trio of runners in Justin Fargas, Darren McFadden and Michael Bush, and Oakland has run the ball 70 times over the past two games and is averaging 32 carries over the past four games. After going seven games without a rushing TD, the Raiders have three in the past two games.
Meanwhile, San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson absolutely loves to see the Silver and Black. He has nine 100-yard games in 15 chances against the Raiders. His 1,815 yards and 21 touchdowns against the Raiders are the most in NFL history against an opponent through 15 games. In the earlier game this year, LT scored two of his six rushing touchdowns and had one of his two 100-yard games this season.
Those numbers are gaudy, but this year’s Charger ground game has not been the same. The Chargers rank 26th in the NFL with a per-game average of 93.4 yards on the ground. A year ago, the San Diego running game was seventh at 127.4. Tomlinson has been held to 60.8 rushing yards per game and 3.2 per carry over the last four weeks.
If this game comes down to the quarterbacks, it’s a huge advantage for San Diego. Chargers QB Philip Rivers leads the AFC with a 100.5 passer rating, while JaMarcus Russell and the Raiders have the NFL’s worst passing attack (139.5 yards per game). Russell is connecting on barely 50 percent of his passes and has completed passes to only one wide receiver in each of the past four games, which is astonishing.
Injury-wise, the Raiders will be without starting center Jake Grove tonight and may also be missing wide receiver Ashley Lelie, who has become their No. 1 threat at wideout. Veteran center John Wade, who signed in the offseason after four years as a starter in Tampa Bay, will play in Grove’s place, while Lelie didn’t practice this week due to headaches and is questionable.
Oakland has lost its last nine prime-time games. In those nine losses, the Raiders have been outscored 234-94, and only one of those losses was by fewer than seven points.
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