Oakland Raiders v. LA Chargers: Six Things That Must Happen

The Oakland Raiders play host to the Los Angeles Chargers riding a three-game losing streak – to get back on the right side of the ledger, these things must happen.

For the Oakland Raiders, this was not how it was supposed to be. Coming off a 12-4 season and their first trip to the playoffs in forever, this team was supposed to be locked, loaded, and ready to build on that successful campaign.

Six weeks into the 2017 season though, and this is a team that looks anything but locked and loaded. And sitting at 2-3 after the first five weeks, they’re hardly building on that success.

In many ways, this team has taken a step backward from last year’s unit. The offense, what was supposed to be one of the league’s elite units – and the unit that was supposed to carry this team – has been anything but.

Ever since week three against Washington, a Raiders offense that, heading into the season, was going to be prolific, has been suffering from an extreme power outage. All of the sudden, a team that has an embarrassment of riches in terms of offensive talent, can’t move the ball and they can’t score.

Over the last three games against Washington, Denver, and Baltimore, the Raiders are averaging just 209 yards of total offense and 12 points per game.

That’s not just anemic. That’s downright humiliating for an offense that boasts the likes of Derek Carr, Marshawn Lynch, Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree, and Jared Cook – not to mention the rest of their offensive talent.

The good news is that there is still plenty of football left to play. We’ve seen teams get off on a run and never look back. But that run is going to have to start sooner, rather than later, or the Raiders will be counted among the biggest disappointments of this NFL season – and underachieving team that’s sitting at home watching the playoffs.

Their week six matchup with the Chargers, while not an absolute “must win,” definitely falls into the “they really need this one” category. Not only will it pull them back up to .500, but it will be an all-important win inside their division – something this squad desperately needs.

But the Chargers always play Oakland tough and will most definitely not be an easy out. Coming off their first win of the year – after a few really close games – Los Angeles will be looking to build on that momentum.

It’s up to this Raiders team to kill their momentum – and get off their downward slide in the process. And, to do that, to get back into the win column again, here are a few things that really need to happen…