The Chargers have won the last nine games against the Raiders including 5 out of the last six in Oakland.  Still, the Chargers can’t look past the Raiders who match up semi well with them in some areas.  The Chargers have not run the ball too well this season as they are only averaging 97.3 yards rushing per game and 3.7 yards per carry.  With the way Philip Rivers has played so far this season the gameplan could be to throw the ball to get the lead and then grind away at the clock with the running game.  The Chargers have only allowed 2 sacks this season but the Raiders will be blitzing him a lot as they already have 8 sacks this season.  With the Raiders having a effective pass rush it might be smart for the Chargers to work on the short passing game to the RBs and Antonio Gates to loosen up the Raiders’ secondary before going deep to WRs Vincent Jackson and Chris Chambers.

The Raiders will attempt to do what they do the best and run the football against the Chargers with Darren McFadden and Michael Bush.  The Raiders are averaging an amazing 182.7 yards rushing per game this season and 5.1 yards per carry.  The Chargers are allowing a stunning 5.0 ypc this season so the Raiders should get there running game going early and often.  The Raiders should take the training wheels off of JaMarcus Russell and let him throw the ball deep off of play action against a Chargers’ pass defense that is allowing 284.7 yards passing per game.

PREDICTION:  SAN DIEGO CHARGERS 27, OAKLAND RAIDERS 20

The Chargers have signed 26-year old DT Ian Scott to a 1-year deal.  Scott last played in 2006 with the Chicago Bears but if he’s healthy he should help out the run defense of the Chargers which is allowing 109.3 yards rushing and 5.0 yards per carry so far this season.  Scott has played in 49 games (33 starts) in his NFL career and he has made 95 tackles, has 2 sacks, has defensed 13 passes and he has intercepted 1 pass.  This was a good low risk/high reward move for the Chargers as Scott will help them if he is healthy.

The Chargers made the Jets pay for every mistake they made on Monday Night.  Philip Rivers was very solid again as he completed 19 of 25 passes for 250 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 interception.  LaDainian Tomlinson got a lot of work in this game but yards were hard to come by.  He carried the ball 26 times for 67 yards (2.6 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he also caught 3 passes for 20 yards (6.7 avg).  Darren Sproles also had a solid game rushing for 38 yards on 5 carries (7.6 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 39 yards (19.5 avg).  Vincent Jackson led the way for the Chargers in the passing game with 74 yards on 3 receptions (24.7 avg).  Chris Chambers, Antonio Gates and Mike Tolbert each caught a TD pass in this game.  The Chargers finished this game with 107 yards rushing on 35 carries (3.1 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 25 passes for 250 yards.

The Chargers were very opportunistic on defense against the Jets in this game.  CB Antonio Cromartie led the way for the Chargers’ defense with 9 tackles and 2 interceptions (one he returned 52-yards for a TD).  Safety Eric Weddle (7 tackles, interception) and linebacker Jyles Tucker (6 tackles, 2 sacks) each also had very solid games on Monday Night Football.  The Jets finished up with 41 yards rushing on 13 carries (3.2 ypc) and they also completed 33 of 47 passes for 267 yards.  The Chargers improved to 1-2 on the season with this win.

A bad call ruined a outstanding offensive effort by the Chargers who rolled up 456 yards of offense despite only having possession of the football for 26 minutes in this game.  Philip Rivers was outstanding as he completed 21 of 33 passes for 377 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 interception.  LaDainian Tomlinson only carried the ball 10 times for 26 yards (2.6 ypc) before leaving the game with an injured toe.  Darren Sproles replace L.T. and he had the game of his life.  Sproles carried the ball 7 times for 53 yards (7.6 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 72 yards (36.0 avg).  One of Sproles receptions went for a 66-yard TD.  Sproles also returned 5 kickoffs for 192 yards (38.4 avg) and one of them he returned 103 yards for a TD.  Chris Chambers also had himself a great game catching 4 passes for 83 yards (20.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs (48, 15 yards).  Vincent Jackson pitched in with 6 grabs for 73 yards (12.2 avg) yesterday.  The Chargers finished up with 80 yards rushing on 18 carries (4.4 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 33 passes for 376 yards.

CB Quentin Jammer (11 tackles) and CB Steve Gregory (8 tackles) led a very dull effort by the Chargers’ Defense yesterday.  The Broncos finished up with 145 yards rushing on 24 carries (6.0 ypc) and they also completed 36 of 50 passes for 341 yards.  The banged up Chargers are off to a 0-2 start this season.

The Chargers swept the series against the Broncos last season outscoring them a stunning 64-6!  The Chargers will likely let it all hang out on offense against the Broncos.  The Broncos allowed 150 yards rushing (4.8 ypc) against the Raiders last week so LaDainian Tomlinson will likely get his fair share of yards in this game.  If Tomlinson gets going then Philip Rivers should have a good game.  He threw 3 TD passes last week and he will look to Antonio Gates on the short stuff and Chris Chambers and Vincent Jackson on the deep patterns. 

The Broncos will mix it up on offense against a Chargers’ defense that’s banged up a little bit.  Jay Cutler will likely have time to throw the ball against the Chargers and that could be big trouble for them.  That’s because Brandon Marshall is back and he will team with Darrell Jackson and Eddie Royal to give the CBs of the Chargers fits in this game.  Also, TE Tony Scheffler could cause problems over the middle against the safeties of the Chargers.  RBs Selvin Young, Andre Hall and Michael Pittman should have some success on the ground against a Chargers’ defense that allowed 142 yards rushing (4.9 ypc) last week.

PREDICTION:  DENVER BRONCOS 35, SAN DIEGO CHARGERS 31

The Chargers have lost OLB Shawne Merriman for the season as he couldn’t play through his aching knee.  He will have reconstructive knee surgery which will put him out for a long time and the Chargers’ can’t replace him on defense.  Merriman only had 2 tackles in the season opener against the Panthers and you could see he was hurting badly.  Merriman has played in 43 games (38 starts) in his career with the Chargers and he has made 189 tackles, has 39.5 sacks, has defensed 15 passes and he has 1 interception.

The offense played pretty well for the Chargers in this football game giving the Chargers a lead with 2:27 left in the football game.  But, Jake Delhomme led the Panthers on a magical 11-play, 68 yard drive that ended with a TD with 0:00 left on the game clock!  Can’t blame Philip Rivers for this loss as he completed 17 of 27 passes for 217 yards passing with 3 TDs.  LaDainian Tomlinson also did his part as he carried the ball 21 times for 97 yards (4.6 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 15 yards.  Antonio Gates was solid in this game as he caught 4 passes for 61 yards (15.3 avg) including one grab that was good for a TD.  WRs Chris Chambers (44 yarder) and Vincent Jackson (5 yarder) each caught TD passes in this football game for the Chargers.  The Chargers finished up with 105 yards rushing on 27 carries (3.9 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 27 passes for 211 yards.

The Defense really let the Chargers down in this football game as they didn’t defend the pass or the run well.  Safety Eric Weddle led the way for the Chargers’ defense with 11 tackles in this game.  Fellow safety Clinton Hart pitched in with 10 tackles.  Linebacker Shaun Phillips was all over the football field against the Panthers with 9 tackles and a fumble recovery.  The Panthers finished up with 142 yards rushing on 29 carries (4.9 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 41 passes for 246 yards.  A loss like this can linger so it will be interesting to see how the Chargers respond this week.

With Steve Smith out for this game the Panthers will try to run the football early and often against the Chargers.  Rookie RB Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams will split carries to keep both of them fresh.  NT Jamal Williams and inside linebackers Matt Wilhelm & Derek Smith will have their hands full trying to stop the Panthers’ backs.  The Panthers will likely keep the passing game conservative in Jake Delhomme’s first start in a long time.  He will target D.J. Hackett, Mushin Muhammad and TEs Dante Rosario and Jeff King in the passing game.  CBs Antonio Cromartie, Quentin Jammer and rookie Antoine Cason are all impact players that make big plays so it will be interesting to watch what happens when Delhomme drops back to pass the ball.

The Chargers will likely feed the rock to LaDainian Tomlinson early and often against a Panthers’ defense not really equipped to stop him.  But, 2nd year middle linebacker Jon Beason will likely be chasing L.T. all over the football field.  When Philip Rivers drops back to pass he better beware of Panthers’ DE Julius Peppers who looked great in the preseason.  The Panthers do have a solid set of corners in Ken Lucas, Chris Gamble and Richard Marshall so the Chargers better be careful when throwing the ball downfield to Chris Chambers, Vincent Jackson and Chris Davis.  The Chargers hope that TE Antonio Gates is ready to go because he is a mis-match for safeties Chris Harris and Charles Godfrey.

PREDICTION:  SAN DIEGO CHARGERS 23, CAROLINA PANTHERS 20

The Chargers have signed FB/TE Kris Wilson.  The 27-year old can handle either TE or fullback as he is a very unselfish player who doesn’t need the football in his hands to help the team win games.  Wilson has played in 49 games (23 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 4 times for 13 yards (3.3 ypc).  He also has caught 42 passes for 345 yards (8.2 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  This was a good move for the Chargers as Wilson is a talented football player.

The Chargers have cut Andrew Pinnock.  Pinnock played 5 seasons for the Chargers covering 42 games (3 starts) in which he carried the ball 18 times for 56 yards (3.1 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 31 yards (7.8 avg).  The Chargers won’t miss Pinnock too much as they have already signed his replacement, Kris Wilson.