The California showdown…

Oakland Raiders vs San Diego Chargers
8:20 PM EST, November 10th, 2011
Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA

The first Thursday night game of the season has arrived; this interesting matchup brings the Raiders with new QB Carson Palmer down to sunny San Diego to face off with Philip Rivers and the struggling Chargers.

The Raiders are coming off back to back losses to Kansas City and Denver by a combined score of 66 to 24, getting completely shut out against the Chiefs.

While the Charges have defiantly had their share of problems dropping their last 3 games including a Monday night OT lose to Kansas City as well.

This is a must win game for both teams as they fight for the top spot in AFC west, as KC, Oakland and San Diego are all tied for the #1 spot with records of 4 and 4.

The Raiders after losing their beloved owner Al Davis a few weeks back have had a drop in effectiveness; there starting QB Jason Campbell broke his collar bone and is out for the rest of the season, so they signed Carson Palmer who so far in two games has 448 yards with 3 TD’s and 6 interceptions, while stare running back Darren McFadden has 614 yards on 113 carries but only 4 touchdowns and leading the way through the air is Darrius Heyward-Bey with 434 yards and 1 touchdown on the season…

Philip Rivers and the Chargers are coming off back to back to back losses roughly the same time as they did last year, only this season the story really hangs off the odd number of interceptions Mr. Rivers has tossed up. The starting Quarterback is 193 out of 305 for 2469 total yards, 11 TD’s and 14 interceptions, taking the heat on the ground is Ryan Mathews who for the season is averaging 4.6 yards a carry on 111 carries while adding 3 touchdowns. Vincent Jackson has 613 yards through the air on 34 receptions and accomplishing 6 TD’s on the season.

The Chargers are favorite by 7 points at home and the total is 48, after reviewing the last three games of both teams, I have to say that San Diego will prevail and win the game, they were embarrassed on MNF, so I can only imagine they take revenge against an ailing Raiders team who is in desperate need of a spark.

THEDUCK