Date: Sunday, November 1st
Time: 4:05PM ET
TV: CBS
Line: San Diego -16 ½
Total: 41 ½

There used to be a time when this game meant something to football fans, but unless you live in one of the cities where these teams reside, it is now just another game on the schedule. That being said, this is a huge game for San Diego who enters the weekend 3 games behind the Broncos, and needs to put together a win streak if they hope to make it back to the playoffs.

Quarterbacks: Philip Rivers has been a one man marching band for San Diego. He enters this game with a QB rating of 96, and understands that his running game is dismal. Rivers will be under a steady rush from the Raiders front seven, so he will count on Antonio Gates to make plays. We were impressed with the poise he showed in the pocket last week against the Chiefs. You may think he is a loud mouthed punk, but give him credit as one of the tougher Quarterbacks in the league.
FF: Rivers is 7-0 against the Raiders

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The question the Raiders had to ask themselves going into the 2007 draft was a simple one: Brady Quinn or JaMarcus Russell? Hindsight is always 20/20, and Quinn isn’t making people forget Bernie Kosar in Cleveland, but Russell is awful. We talk to scouts who say he looks worse today then he did at his first training camp. His TD to INT ratio of 2/8 is stunning. The Raiders have to establish a running attack to help Russell, but that will be tough to do against a Charger defense that looked pretty good against Kansas City last weekend. The Chargers have had zero luck covering the TE this year, so our advice to Russell would be find Zach Miller early, and keep throwing to him until SD forces you to do something else.
FF: San Diego has won 12 straight against Oakland

Running Backs: As football fans, we love LaDanian Tomlinson, but the reality is, his best days are over. Tomlinson was 0-6 in goal line attempts last week against the miserable Chiefs, and was held to just 55 yards rushing in the opener at Oakland. Chargers insiders continue to preach about LT’s success against the Raiders over the course of his career, but we point out those were teams that did not have Greg Ellis and Richard Seymour manning the D-Line. Considering his season high is 71 yards rushing (last week vs. KC) don’t expect Tomlinson to be the game changer here. Darren Sproles should be used more then he has the past couple of games.
FF: Tomlinson has nine 100 yard games against the Raiders in his career.

Darren McFadden will miss the game, but we do like the combo of Michael Bush and Justin Fargas. San Diego did a nice job against the run last week, but had been very soft in their previous 5 games. Bush is a punishing back that will challenge the toughness of San Diego’s patchwork defensive line, and it could fall to him and Fargas if the Raiders have a chance of pulling the upset.

Wide Receivers: Vincent Jackson maybe the best WR that gets no publicity in the league. Last week he had 142 yards receiving in the first half against Kansas City. For the year Jackson has 30 catches and 4 touchdowns. He draws a tough assignment in the Raiders Pro Bowl CB Nnamdi Asoumoga, but we still like Jackson to have a good game. Antonio Gates will be another option for Rivers, and appears headed back to the Pro Bowl with 35 catches in 6 games and 2 TD’s. Rivers could exploit the matchup of Gates and Raiders SS Tyvon Branch. Chris Chambers has become a non factor for San Diego.
FF: since 2002, Gates leads all TE’s with 53 TD catches

Rookie WR Louis Murphy had a nice game in week 1 vs. SD, but if we are Tom Cable, we instruct JaMarcus Russell to focus on getting the ball to TE Zach Miller. Chargers SS Eric Weddle is a decent player, but undersized at 5’10. Weddle has been pushed around this year by physical Tight Ends such as Heath Miller, Todd Heap, and Miller in week 1. The Chargers are going to try to put a lot of pressure on Russell to test his decision making skills, if he can find Miller early, it may force San Diego to drop Shawne Merriman or Shaun Phillips into coverage to help Weddle.
FF: Murphy had 87 yds receiving and a TD in week 1 vs. SD.

Defense San Diego looked like the Defense people expected last week in Kansas City. We understand the Chiefs are terrible, but San Diego needed a big game. We talked to several players this week who believe they can get to Russell. When asked about the loss of McFadden, most guys stated that Bush is a tougher back to defend because of his size.
FF: Shawne Merriman has 6.5 sacks in last 4 vs. Oakland.

Raiders insiders cannot say enough about Richard Seymour. They tell us that Seymour and Greg Ellis have changed the mindset of the locker room, and have started to bring the Old Raider toughness back. They would not admit it on the record, but they know that Tomlinson is done, and in order to win they have to get to Rivers. Seymour pushed around Left Tackle Marcus McNeil in their first meeting, and we expect more of the same. Ellis draws Jeromey Clary on the right side who has been average at best.
FF: Seymour and Ellis have a combined 124 career sacks.

Key Injuries:
SD: Nick Hardwick-C/ankle (out) Kevin Burnett-LB/ankle (doubtful)
OAK: Darren McFadden-RB/knee-(out) Chaz Schillins-WR/foot (doubtful)

Betting Trends:
Raiders are 2-11 ATS in their last 13 games against the Chargers
Raiders are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games in San Diego
Chargers are 13-6 ATS in their last 19 home games
The OVER is 5-1-1 in the Chargers last 7 games
The OVER is 3-0-1 in the last 4 meetings between the two teams