Oakland Raiders vs. San Diego Chargers: Game Day Open Thread

The Oakland Raiders have rolled into their home away from home – San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium. Though the Chargers have tried valiantly to make their home stadium Raider-proof over the years, the Oakland faithful always show up very strong – much to the chagrin of San Diego fans everywhere.

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Despite the fact that the Raiders have been down for the last decade, they still lead the overall series 58-50. The Raiders are currently riding a three game losing streak, and have lost seven of the last eight overall.

In fact, Oakland’s last victory over the Chargers came in October 2013 when they notched a 27-17 win over their division rivals to the south.

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Coming off a bye week, the Raiders are rested, and some of the walking wounded have had a chance to heal up a bit. Back from injury for the Raiders this week is running back Taiwan Jones, which is good news for a running game that could use a little bit of a spark.

And against one of the worst run defenses in the league, Jones and Latavius Murray could – and should – get some work in.

Out for the Raiders this week is obviously, Justin Tuck who unfortunately, went to the IR with a torn pec. His presence is going to be missed on the defensive line, but the hope is that rookie Mario Edwards will step up in his place and shine. Defensive tackle Denico Autry has also been ruled out, suffering the effects of a concussion. And defensive tackle Justin Ellis is listed as questionable, but in all likelihood is not going to play with an ankle injury.

To help with the depletion of the defensive line, the Raiders have called Shelby Harris up to the 53-man roster. Harris had a very good preseason and it was something of a surprise that he didn’t make the roster out of camp. Hopefully, he can make an impact for Oakland today.

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Also joining the Raiders this week is return specialist Walt Powell, who is going to handle the kickoff and punt return duties for the Silver and Black. The benefit of having Powell on the roster is twofold – he will definitely help in the field position game, but more importantly, he will keep Travis Carrie and Amari Cooper from exposing themselves to injury by returning kicks.

It was a lesson the Raiders finally had to learn the hard way after Carrie suffered an injury doing just that. Thankfully, it was a lesson learned without major consequences.

Out for the Chargers today are running back Melvin Gordon and safety Eric Weddle – both pieces of good news for the Raiders. Listed as questionable for San Diego are wide receivers Keenan Allen and Steve Johnson, as well as tight end Antonio Gates.

Linebacker Manti Te’o is listed as doubtful to go with an ankle injury and starting San Diego offensive linemen King Dunlap, Chris Watt, and D.J. Fluker are all listed as questionable.

While it would be a huge boon for Oakland if none of those guys played, given the importance of this game and the fact that San Diego’s season may be hanging in the balance, we should probably expect to see all of them on the field.

The Raiders have snapped a couple of dubious streaks already this season – they broke their Eastern Time Zone curse, as well as won a game on the road. And if not for a couple of self inflicted wounds, they would have snapped a losing streak against the Broncos in week five.

Division games are always tough and hard fought. Do the Raiders have it in them to break this ugly streak against the Chargers? Will they be able to take that next step they need to take to back towards relevance and respectability?

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Let’s hear what you think. This is your podium to step up and talk all things Raiders. Let’s hear what you have to say. What storylines do you find compelling heading into the matchup? What do you think the outcome will be?

Time to sound off…