Thursday Night Football is Back: Raiders at Chargers

In the first game, Oakland blocked two punts in the first quarter, one for a safety and one for a touchdown, and then Tyvon Branch recovered a Philip Rivers’ fumble late and returned it for the decisive touchdown. San Diego lost a game in which they outgained the Raiders by over 200 yards.

In the second game, the Raiders ran the ball 52 times for 251 yards as they jumped on the Chargers early and never trailed, winning 28-13.

Those games likely mean nothing for this year, except they were part of a problem that has continued for San Diego–losing games they should probably win.

Tonight, Philip Rivers comes in leading the league in interceptions, while Carson Palmer would have that honor (6 interceptions) if he had played more than six quarters. With both quarterbacks giving the ball away, anything can happen. The Raiders are still without Darren McFadden and it has hurt their offense. Palmer seemed to develop something with the speedy Jacoby Ford last game, when he wasn’t throwing it to the other team.

The winner of tonight’s game moves to 5-4 and could be in first place by themselves by Sunday night. The line is the Chargers favored on the road by 7.5. I’m not sure San Diego has been consistent enough to merit that–only one win by more than 7 (at home vs. Miami). I’ll reluctantly take the Raiders as a 7.5 point dog on the road.

[photo via Getty]