LA Chargers vs. New York Giants

LA Chargers vs. Oakland Raiders

Philip Rivers is still forcing the ball into coverage. This is a result of his aggressiveness, going for it and trying to create a big play. If Rivers can get some protection, he has a big chance to make some plays against the Raiders’ secondary. He showed us last week that he now has two check-off options, Hunter Henry and Melvin Gordon. This week, Rivers will face a group of Oakland corners, who Baltimore’s Joe Flacco exploited. I think Rivers can also exploit the Raiders open pass defense.

Hallelujah! We finally got Melvin Gordon going with 105 yards in the game against the Giants. Not only was he putting up the run game, which creates play action – something that has not been a part of this offense until last game – he also had six receptions. When we get him involved in passing game, it creates a good dump off for Rivers. We have to keep this trend going against the Raiders.

The Raiders have been outscored 73-37 in the last three games and look like a team who have been punched in the stomach and don’t know how to react. This could be a result of the loss of Derek Carr, who is expected to be back this week.

Marshawn Lynch wasn’t horrible last week, although still a bit sluggish. His best runs were yards after contact. He can brush off a tackle and keep his feet going, which could become a factor in this game since the Chargers have not been a solid tackling team.

Even though the Raiders love big splash plays and have the ability to go deep, they are best with a short passing game, which is safe and leads to less drops (and they’ve had a few too many lately).

If the Raiders decide on a short passing game, they could negate the Chargers edge pass rush. While I love me some Chargers defense, they gave up 152 yards rushing and they’ve got to clean up the missed tackles. This comes down to not leaving holes and playing with discipline.

Our edge pass-rush is great, but Carr has been known to struggle versus the blitz so will they bring other pressures? It comes down to a chess match between Chargers pressure and Carr’s ability to beat that pressure.

Oakland didn’t make stops against the Ravens when they needed to. They should have been grabbing the lead and pounding them into submission. The Raiders have shown us the last three weeks they have not been able to finish.

So, who can finish this game?

[NFL-Chargers-footer] [NFL-Crucial-Catch]

Photo Credits:

Los Angeles Chargers logo on Wikimedia Commons by San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers
Oakland Raiders on Wikimedia Commons by Oakland Raiders
Giants on Wikimedia Commons by NFL Communications.com
Philip Rivers on flickr by Jeffrey Beall
Hunter Henry on Wikimedia Commons by Jeffrey Beall
Handel – Messiah music on Wikipedia by Georg Friedrich Händel
Derek Carr on wikimedia commons by Erik Drost
Marshawn Lynch on Wikipedia by Keith Allison
Kansas City on Wikimedia Commons by Kansas City Chiefs
Baltimore Ravens on Wikimedia Commons by Baltimore Ravens