Oakland Raiders: A Few Keys To Victory Over The San Diego Chargers

Don’t Underestimate The Chargers

Sure, the team is 1-3 and are beat up at plenty of key positions. But make no mistake about it, the Chargers are still a very dangerous team. A team the Raiders cannot afford to overlook or lose focus against.

The main reason for that is Rivers. Say what you will about him – and we’ve said a lot – but he’s a very talented quarterback. He’s a fierce competitor who will try to will his team to a win. Despite all of their issues, he had the Chargers in line to win some games this season. If not for the defense utterly collapsing, the Chargers might have a few more wins.

San Diego held double digit fourth quarter leads against both the Chiefs and the Saints. They held a small lead against the Colts. They lost all three games simply because the defense could not hold the line and make a stop when it was needed most.

The point though, is that San Diego, for all of their injuries and problems, still have some guys who can make plays. HC Jack Del Rio needs to remind his team of that fact, as well as the fact that the Chargers could easily have a better record than they have now if not for some bad breaks here and there.

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It’s a classic trap game. On paper, it looks like the Raiders should be able to overwhelm the Chargers because of the disparity in talent due to San Diego’s multitude of injuries. But the games aren’t played on paper. They’re played on the field where a missed block, a missed tackle, a dropped pass, a turnover, or a million other little things can mean the difference between winning and losing.

The Raiders are off to a great start this year. For the most part, they seem to be living up to the hype and expectations. They cannot afford to let themselves be derailed by playing down to the level of competition and losing a winnable game.

They need to stay focused, stay hungry, and be ready for everything San Diego is going to throw at them.