Raiders vs. Chargers: Complete Week 11 Preview for San Diego
Coming off a much-needed bye week, the San Diego Chargers should view Sunday's home game against Oakland as an ideal opportunity to get back on track after a three-game skid.
Mike McCoy's team stunk up the joint in Week 9 with an embarrassing loss to the Miami Dolphins, but San Diego's head coach was quick to promise an immediate turnaround.
"We’ll get it back on track, I promise you. I promise you we will get this back on track. No doubt in my mind," McCoy told reporters after the game.
McCoy and the Chargers can make good on those promises if they're able to dismiss the winless Raiders for the second time this season. San Diego edged out a 31-28 victory in Oakland a little more than a month ago, as Jason Verrett sealed the game with a last-minute interception of Derek Carr.
The Bolts overcame a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter with a Nick Novak field goal and Branden Oliver's go-ahead score in the final two minutes of play. Since then, the Raiders haven't come any closer to their first win of the season, but Tony Sparano's bunch has challenged some good teams the past few weeks.
Had the Raiders recovered an onside kick in Week 9's 30-24 defeat up in Seattle, Carr might have provided a different outcome on one last drive down the field. Oakland also raised some eyebrows for a brief moment when it led Denver 10-6 in the second quarter of last Sunday's contest.
Looking back to that last meeting on Oct. 12, the silver and black have already proved they're not a team to be taken lightly, so expect San Diego to come out with every intention of shutting the door early on Sunday.
Here's what you need to know for this week's matchup.
Week 9 Recap
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San Diego suffered its first shutout since 1999 against a Dolphins team that could do no wrong, losing 37-0.
Miami converted seven of its 11 drives on offense into points, and Ryan Tannehill was a big reason for that level of efficiency. He completed 70.6 percent of his passes and achieved a passer rating of 125.6—his highest total of the season. The Dolphins QB carved up San Diego's defense for 288 yards through the air and three touchdowns. He also added 47 yards rushing on four carries, including a long of 22 yards.
Miami also had a strong defensive showing, forcing Philip Rivers into four turnovers (three INTs, one fumble). Even with Donald Brown's return from a concussion, the Chargers were held to 50 yards rushing on 19 attempts, and the Dolphins secondary didn't allow any completions of 20 yards or more to San Diego's pass-catchers.
The Chargers were overmatched in every phase of the game, but how poorly they executed on both ends was a shock considering this same team looked unstoppable during a five-game win streak not too long ago.
News and Notes
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Mathews Poised for Return Against Raiders
As Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune alluded to on Wednesday, all indications point to Ryan Mathews playing on Sunday. The fourth-year running back missed seven games with an MCL sprain, but he returned to practice fully this week and is on schedule to start against the Raiders. Mathews' return to the lineup couldn't come at a better time for the Chargers, who have averaged 60 yards rushing over the last three games.
One thing to keep in mind, however, is the number of carries Mathews will see in his first game back. Offensive coordinator Frank Reich spoke to that during the week.
""We want him to play as much as he can but we want to be smart about it as well." Reich on Ryan Mathews
— San Diego Chargers (@Chargers) November 13, 2014"
With Brown and Oliver providing backup, there shouldn't be a reason to push Mathews more than he's capable of.
Reinforcements Coming on Defense
Joining Mathews in practice this week were a couple of familiar faces in Manti Te'o and Melvin Ingram, per Gehlken's report. Te'o, who has missed six games with a foot injury, has been sorely missed at inside linebacker, where Donald Butler has struggled in recent weeks. The former second-round pick notched 10 tackles his last time up in Buffalo and was steadily improving before he was struck down by injury.
Ingram was on a similar path with nine tackles and a sack against Seattle, but a hip injury forced him to short-term injured reserve just two games into his third season. Ingram hasn't been added to the active roster yet, which rules him out for Sunday, but his return to the practice field is a good sign that he's on his way back.
Chargers Are Enigmatic, According to Former NFL Coach
NFL Media analyst and former Super Bowl-winning head coach Brian Billick listed the Chargers as one of four teams struggling with inconsistency as of late. While injuries have been an issue for San Diego, Billick views injuries as a common theme around the league:
"Have injuries hurt the Chargers’ offense? Certainly, but show me a team in the NFL in November that hasn’t suffered key injuries. San Diego has a two-game respite against the Raiders and Rams, but then they face what might be the toughest five-game closing stretch in the league: at Baltimore, home against the Patriots and Broncos, and on the road against the 49ers and Chiefs." (via NFL.com)
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Billick concludes the piece by stressing the importance of adjustments and calibration. What better time to do so than during a bye week?
Injury Report
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| Player | Position | Injury | Status |
| Jahleel Addae | S | Concussion | Questionable |
| Seyi Ajirotutu | WR | Non-injury related | Questionable |
| Jerry Attaochu | LB | Hamstring | Probable |
| Donald Brown | RB | Concussion | Probable |
| Brandon Flowers | CB | Concussion | Probable |
| Dwight Freeney | LB | Non-injury related | Questionable |
| Sean Lissemore | DT | Quadriceps | Questionable |
| Ryan Mathews | RB | Knee | Probable |
| Manti Te'o | LB | Foot | Probable |
| Jason Verrett | CB | Shoulder | Questionable |
The Chargers should have most of their injured players for Sunday. Addae returned to practice on Thursday after completing the league's concussion protocol, which leaves Verrett and Lissemore as the only players to miss practice due to injury. Verrett is out indefinitely with a torn labrum, and Lissemore suffered a quad injury in the loss to Miami.
Ajirotutu did not practice due to the birth of twin girls, and Freeney continued his recent trend of weekly rest days. I already touched on the impact Mathews and Te'o will bring to their respective positions, but Attaochu is another name to watch after he missed the last three games with a bad hamstring. Until Ingram makes his way back to the active roster, San Diego is still in search of help with its pass rush, and Attaochu was drafted out of Georgia Tech just for that purpose.
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X-Factor and Matchups to Watch
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Brandon Flowers/Shareece Wright vs. Andre Holmes
The Raiders don't have household names at receiver, but the Carr-to-Holmes connection was a profitable one against San Diego last time out. On just four catches, Holmes amassed 121 yards and had a pair of touchdowns. The Chargers experimented with both Flowers and Verrett on Holmes, but neither really seemed to get a handle on his big-play ability.
Flowers was victimized for a 77-yard scoring strike, and Verrett was overmatched on a 30-yard grab by Holmes. Carr had his best game to date against the Chargers, but it will be interesting to see if having Wright healthy this time around makes a difference in defending against the Oakland passing game.
Chargers Linebackers/Safeties vs. Mychal Rivera
Rivera was a non-factor for the Raiders in their Week 6 matchup with the Chargers, but the second-year tight end is on a little bit of a roll with three touchdown receptions in his last two games. All three of his scores have come in the red zone, and two utilized play action near the goal line.
Rivera does a really good job of selling a block at the line of scrimmage before firing off to the corners of the end zone, and he can work the middle of the field as well.
San Diego is coming off a loss in which the opposing tight end caused problems on defense. Charles Clay caught five passes for 65 yards and a touchdown in Week 9 against the Chargers, and it didn't require very much effort for him to blow by Donald Butler for a six-yard score. Defensive coordinator John Pagano will need to keep tabs on Rivera and find the best matchup possible for defending Oakland's athletic, young tight end.
Chargers Rushing Attack vs. Raiders Front Seven
The last time San Diego racked up 100 or more yards rushing in a game was in mid-October against Oakland, courtesy of the 101 yards put up by Oliver. In the three games since, Oliver has totaled 122 yards as the Chargers have failed to establish a ground game, but the return of Mathews should do well to help their cause. Even if his workload is limited, Mathews can provide the types of explosive runs San Diego's offense has been missing. Pair that with the shifty Oliver behind him, and I'd say San Diego has a pretty good shot to gain at least 100 yards on Sunday.
X-Factor: Philip Rivers
Rivers is coming off one of his worst performances in Miami where he was picked off three times and lost a fumble. He had a passer rating of 31, which was the third-lowest of his career, and his streak of consecutive games with a passing touchdown was snapped at 28.
Rivers was an MVP candidate a short time ago, but giving up seven turnovers in the last three games has put his candidacy on hold momentarily. The Chargers need a big game out of their quarterback on Sunday in an effort to get this thing back on track.
Prediction
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San Diego is favored by eight points on Sunday, and the computer prediction at Odds Shark is calling for a big showing by the Chargers defense. With Te'o coming back, I would expect to see a better effort in defending the run, and having a healthy Attaochu available to rush the passer will be big for a unit that couldn't get a finger on Carr last time.
On offense, Reich should be able to establish some balance with Mathews in the lineup. In the last three games, San Diego has been forced to abandon the run, but Mathews, Brown and Oliver could make out good on Sunday against a Raiders defense that is allowing 130.9 rushing yards per game.
The Chargers have a two-game homestand against Oakland and St. Louis to get their heads on straight before the brutal portion of the schedule unfolds. The playoff picture is getting pretty competitive with the AFC East and North playing some good football. If the Chargers want to stay in the hunt, they'll need to start by keeping the Raiders winless one more week.
Prediction: Chargers 21, Raiders 10
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