Raiders-Chargers Preview

SCOUTING REPORT

Gates, Miller will be featured on Thursday nightBoth of these teams lost last week, and with the Broncos' victory over the Jets, the lowly AFC West looks to be all but wrapped up. Neither the Chargers nor the Raiders have much hope for a wild-card berth. The Chargers were beaten at home by Atlanta in just about every area of the game, while Oakland lost to a Chiefs team that had just one win for the season. San Diego won the first contest 28-18 in Week 4, and both teams will be playing for pride on a national stage.

· Full Scouting Report

Matchup
	W-L	PF	PA	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF
OAK	5-11	263	388	2-6	3-5	2-4	4-8
SDG	8-8	439	347	5-3	3-5	5-1	7-5
· Complete Standings

Individual Leaders

Oakland Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Russel... 46.8 1064 2 9 Gradko... 53.1 346 2 3

San Diego Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Rivers 63.2 2621 17 6

Oakland Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Bush 81 377 4.7 2 Fargas 90 336 3.7 2

San Diego Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Tomlin... 135 458 3.4 6 Sprole... 60 210 3.5 1

Oakland Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Miller 34 495 14.6 2 Murphy 17 261 15.4 2

San Diego Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Jackso... 47 788 16.8 7 Gates 52 709 13.6 2

Full Player Stats: Oakland | San Diego

TEAM AVERAGES & NFL RANKS
TEAM OFFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Total Yards	OAK	272.0
	SDG	349.0
Yards Passing	OAK	148.1
	SDG	241.1
Yards Rushing	OAK	124.2
	SDG	107.9
TEAM DEFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Yards Allowed	OAK	360.9
	SDG	349.9
Pass Yds Allowed	OAK	201.3
	SDG	247.4
Rush Yds Allowed	OAK	159.7
	SDG	102.6

HEAD TO HEAD MATCHUPS (SINCE 2001)
San Diego leads 12-4
Sep 28, 2008	OAK 18, @SDG 28
Dec 30, 2007	OAK 17, @SDG 30
Oct 14, 2007	OAK 14, SDG 28
Nov 26, 2006	OAK 14, SDG 21
Sep 11, 2006	OAK 0, @SDG 27
Dec 4, 2005	OAK 10, SDG 34
Oct 16, 2005	OAK 14, @SDG 27
Nov 21, 2004	OAK 17, @SDG 23
Oct 31, 2004	OAK 14, SDG 42
Dec 28, 2003	OAK 14, SDG 21
Sep 28, 2003	OAK 34, @SDG 31
Dec 8, 2002	OAK 27, SDG 7
Oct 20, 2002	OAK 21, @SDG 27
Dec 15, 2001	OAK 13, SDG 6
Nov 18, 2001	OAK 34, @SDG 24

The San Diego Chargers haven't had a losing season in five years. It's been just as long since their last loss to the Oakland Raiders.

Possibly the most disappointing team of this NFL season wants to make sure neither of those streaks end Thursday night, with the Chargers hosting the Raiders and looking to avoid putting their slim playoff hopes at risk this weekend.

"They don't call the season off when you're going bad or when the odds are stacked against you that you won't be playing in January," San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers said. "So we've got to go play a game. If you've got any pride or anything about you, you'll prepare and go play."

A year after reaching the AFC championship game, the Chargers (4-8) likely need to win their final four games to have any shot of making the playoffs, and it's a necessity if they are to avoid their first sub-.500 season since going 4-12 in 2003.

The NFC West champion three of the last four years, San Diego is three games behind division-leading Denver with four to play. That means if the Chargers lose Thursday, they will be eliminated from postseason contention if the Broncos beat Kansas City on Sunday.

"We've got to win them all and they've got to lose three of four," Rivers said. "Can it happen? Sure, but we haven't shown the ability to be able to win four in a row."

Rivers' team enters this matchup on a three-game losing streak, equaling the longest he's seen since joining the Chargers in 2004. San Diego hasn't dropped four straight since an 0-5 start in 2003, and one of those losses was a 34-31 defeat in Oakland.

The Raiders (3-9) have lost all 10 meetings since that game, and only one of the last seven has been decided by fewer than 10 points.

A victory Sunday would give San Diego the longest winning streak in the 48-year history of this series. Oakland took 10 in a row from 1972-77, a stretch in which it won the first of its three Super Bowls.

The Raiders' glory days are long gone. They must win out to avoid becoming the third team in NFL history to suffer at least 10 losses in six consecutive seasons -- Tampa Bay (1983-94) and Detroit (2001-06) previously did it.

"Every time we win a game right now is very important for us," interim coach Tom Cable said. "For us to go down (to San Diego) and win would be huge."

The Raiders could not slow down LaDainian Tomlinson in the first meeting as he rushed for a season-high 106 yards and two touchdowns in San Diego's 28-18 win on Sept. 28. Lately, though, the ineffectiveness of the reigning two-time NFL rushing champion has mirrored his team's struggles.

He's been held to 60.8 rushing yards per game and 3.2 per carry over the last four weeks. Tomlinson has 794 rushing yards through 12 games after having at least 1,400 in each of the previous six seasons, during which San Diego's run offense finished among the league's top 10 every year. The Chargers are 26th this season with 93.4 yards per game.

Tomlinson had 24 yards on 14 carries in a 22-16 home loss to Atlanta on Sunday as the Chargers gained a season-low 201 yards.

"A lot of people around the league probably think we are going to pack it in and give up. But we won't," Tomlinson said after posting the second-lowest rushing total of his career.

While problems running the ball have plagued a Chargers offense that's proficient through the air -- Rivers leads the AFC with a 100.5 passer rating -- the Raiders have been done in by the NFL's worst passing attack (139.5 yards per game).

The slow development of second-year quarterback JaMarcus Russell is a big reason why Oakland ranks 29th in total offense (263.3 ypg) and 30th in scoring (14.3 ppg). The only offense to score fewer touchdowns than the Raiders' 13 is that of St. Louis (12).

Oakland's offense had gone 15 consecutive quarters without a TD before a surprising 31-10 win in Denver on Nov. 23. That victory kept the Raiders in the playoff hunt, but they were all but mathematically eliminated Sunday with a 20-13 home loss to Kansas City as Russell finished 10-of-28 for 132 yards.

"Even though we were 3-8, we were still thinking that there was a chance that we could get to the playoffs," cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha said. "It hurts us because now it's pretty much out of the way. So, we just got to keep playing and, hopefully, get some more wins before the season's over."

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