Football is back, baby! It's a new year with a new regime for the Oakland Raiders as they look to kick off the 2012 season with a win at home against the rival San Diego Chargers. The Raiders are looking to avenge the week 17 loss at the hands of the Chargers that kicked the Raiders out of a division title. Win and they would have been the AFC West champions and would have gone to the playoffs for the first time since 2002. The Raiders will have a healthy Darren McFadden in this matchup and a Carson Palmer with a full training camp and preseason under his belt. The Chargers will have some key players missing that will most likely affect the outcome of this game. Let's get to it and see how the matchups will play out and pick a winner.
Raiders Offense vs. Chargers Defense
The Raiders will be playing its first game with Carson Palmer and Darren McFadden on the field at the same time and Palmer has been looking forward to this moment since last year. McFadden is one of the elite backs in the league when healthy and is the key component to this offense running on all cylinders. They will be without the services of Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore will not be 100%, so look for rookie Rod Streater to make an impact. Streater was one of the most talked about players from OTA's and Training Camp and continued that success into the preseason as he led all receivers in the NFL with 18 receptions. The Chargers like the look of their pass-rush as they added LB Melvin Ingram from the draft and still have Shaun Phillips and Corey Liuget. The Chargers will have their hands full with the speed of the Oakland offense.
Advantage: Raiders
Raiders Defense vs. Chargers Offense
The Raiders Defense went through the most change of any unit on the team as GM Reggie McKenzie cleaned up many of the overpriced contracts on players who were underperforming or not worth the investment. Gone are sack-leader Kameron Wimbley and the top three cornerbacks in Stanford Routt, Chris Johnson and Lito Sheppard. This unit could be better statistically, however, as they enter this year with an actual NFL-style defense under new defensive-minded head coach Dennis Allen. They will play more matchup style of defense each week to find weaknesses in the offenses they go up against. Gone are the days when they only play man-to-man coverage and rush with only the front four. They will now come with different looking blitzes, stunts, zone coverages, and at times a 3-4 front. Offenses will not know what to expect from the Raiders defense, since it will be unlike anything they've seen from this team since they've been in existence. The Chargers will be without Ryan Matthews at RB, Vincent Brown at WR, Vincent Jackson left in free-agency and two new receivers in Eddie Royal and Robert Meachem. They will also be playing a rookie Left Tackle guarding Philip Rivers' blind-side. Look for the Raiders to blitz often as Rivers was one of the least successful QB's in the league last year with 8 INT's on blitzes.
Advantage: Raiders
Special Teams
The Raiders still have the services of Shane Lechler and Sebastian Janikowski, so this unit will be one of the strongest in the NFL. They will be without Jacoby Ford which will hurt them in the return game. The Chargers have a good kicking tandem as well in Nate Kaeding and Mike Scifres. They also brought over Eddie Royal from Denver to return punts and he is an explosive returner.
Advantage: Chargers
Prediction Raiders 27, Chargers 21
Record from last year: 7-7
Raiders Offense vs. Chargers Defense
The Raiders will be playing its first game with Carson Palmer and Darren McFadden on the field at the same time and Palmer has been looking forward to this moment since last year. McFadden is one of the elite backs in the league when healthy and is the key component to this offense running on all cylinders. They will be without the services of Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore will not be 100%, so look for rookie Rod Streater to make an impact. Streater was one of the most talked about players from OTA's and Training Camp and continued that success into the preseason as he led all receivers in the NFL with 18 receptions. The Chargers like the look of their pass-rush as they added LB Melvin Ingram from the draft and still have Shaun Phillips and Corey Liuget. The Chargers will have their hands full with the speed of the Oakland offense.
Advantage: Raiders
Raiders Defense vs. Chargers Offense
The Raiders Defense went through the most change of any unit on the team as GM Reggie McKenzie cleaned up many of the overpriced contracts on players who were underperforming or not worth the investment. Gone are sack-leader Kameron Wimbley and the top three cornerbacks in Stanford Routt, Chris Johnson and Lito Sheppard. This unit could be better statistically, however, as they enter this year with an actual NFL-style defense under new defensive-minded head coach Dennis Allen. They will play more matchup style of defense each week to find weaknesses in the offenses they go up against. Gone are the days when they only play man-to-man coverage and rush with only the front four. They will now come with different looking blitzes, stunts, zone coverages, and at times a 3-4 front. Offenses will not know what to expect from the Raiders defense, since it will be unlike anything they've seen from this team since they've been in existence. The Chargers will be without Ryan Matthews at RB, Vincent Brown at WR, Vincent Jackson left in free-agency and two new receivers in Eddie Royal and Robert Meachem. They will also be playing a rookie Left Tackle guarding Philip Rivers' blind-side. Look for the Raiders to blitz often as Rivers was one of the least successful QB's in the league last year with 8 INT's on blitzes.
Advantage: Raiders
Special Teams
The Raiders still have the services of Shane Lechler and Sebastian Janikowski, so this unit will be one of the strongest in the NFL. They will be without Jacoby Ford which will hurt them in the return game. The Chargers have a good kicking tandem as well in Nate Kaeding and Mike Scifres. They also brought over Eddie Royal from Denver to return punts and he is an explosive returner.
Advantage: Chargers
Prediction Raiders 27, Chargers 21
Record from last year: 7-7
Biggest advantage the Raiders have going forward: Al Davis is no longer wasting draft picks and over-paying for antique veterans.
ReplyDeleteWe need to be able to strengthen our overall depth issues to move forward as a franchise. I think this will happen over time but it is a glaring need, especially in the secondary.
ReplyDelete