Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers Preview
By ChargerGirl Cindi
September 10, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Fans fight in the stands during the third quarter between the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports
This is it. The last game of the season. Against our biggest rivalry. Neither team has anything to gain, except bragging rights. I wouldn’t even be surprised if the announcer yelled “let’s get ready to rumble” before kickoff. I quit going to Charger/Raider games about ten years ago. There are way too many people who feel like they have something to prove at these games and it’s just not worth it to me. If you are headed to the game beware those fans. Also, give yourself about an extra hour to be violated at the gate by security. On the field, the Raiders players will have the same mentality and the Chargers players are not opposed to sinking to that level.
Expect to see at least 200 yards in penalties and a few people carted off the field. The San Diego Chargers are coming into this game 6-9, sadly that puts them at number two in the AFC West. The Oakland Raiders are 4-11 which has them at third. Neither team is headed to the playoffs due to Peyton Manning and his ability to lead the once floundering Broncos to a 12-3 record after a rocky start (it will be 13-3 after they play KC this weekend). Oh, and the fact that they do not deserve to go.
On offense I hope to see Philip Rivers wearing his gloves. There is a cold front (San Diego cold front, but it’s still cold) here so the gloves better be on. We learned from the games in Pittsburgh and New York that those gloves are magic. I would also expect to see every non-injured player to be getting the ball. Rivers should have a 400 yard game and at least three passing touchdowns. I am not sure what kind of offense the Raiders will put out there, but it should look like chaos with moments of them acting like they meant to pull off a great play. Carson Palmer may just throw a touchdown pass or two as well, but it will not happen until the second half. Brown, Clary, Green and Royal are probable, but fighting injuries.
As far as these two defenses go it will be interesting. The Chargers have shown that they can adjust on the ball and make big plays… most of the time. Butler, and Spikes are probable which keeps most of the defense in tact. With Franklin on IR two new guys are hitting the field. Sean Cattouse is a 6-foot-2, 210-pound free safety and Greg Gatson is a 5-foot-11, 165-pound cornerback. These moves happened on Wednesday, so hopefully these guys have time to learn the plays and pickup the pace.
The numbers are in the Chargers favor, but you never know which Chargers team is going to show up. The most important number, the turnover ratio has the Raiders at -6. The Chargers are at a +1. By comparison the teams in the number one spot in the league are +12 and +14.
Enjoy the last Chargers game of the season and come back here often for the news we are all really waiting to hear – what will happen with Turner and Smith?!
On Twitter: #OAKvsSD
ChargerGirl Cindi