San Diego Chargers vs. Oakland Raiders: What's the Game Plan for Oakland?

The Oakland Raiders must channel the excitement for an emotional final home game into a sound game plan against the San Diego Chargers.

The Chargers won’t suit up and lie down for safety Charles Woodson's home-victory lap in hostile territory.

Chargers tight end Antonio Gates referenced the Black Hole as an exhilarating place to play for the visiting team as well, per CSNBayArea.com reporter Scott Bair: 

San Diego has lost a number of key players due to injuries: 

Player	Positin
Keenan Allen	WR
Brandon Flowers	CB
Melvin Gordon	RB
Corey Liuget	DT

Nonetheless, the Raiders should prepare for a fight. The Chargers scored 30 points at Qualcomm Stadium in their final home game against the Miami Dolphins in Week 15.

Where’s Woodhead?

The Raiders linebackers, safeties and cornerbacks should take the field on high alert for Chargers running back Danny Woodhead, who can attack a defense from various positions across the offensive formation.

Woodhead scored all four of the San Diego's touchdowns against the Dolphins in Week 15. The offensive game plan kept the Chargers running back on the move, making it difficult to contain him as a receiver.

Woodhead on the Perimeter 

In the Chargers’ previous outing, Woodhead scored the first touchdown as a receiver positioned on the perimeter.

The wide receiver adjacent to Woodhead ran an inside post route, which cleared the sideline and led the high safety away from the action.

Quarterback Philip Rivers made an accurate pass inside a sizable window between the trailing linebacker and the safety.

Woodhead in the Backfield

In his natural position out of the backfield, Woodhead kept this particular play alive by coming back to the quarterback on a touchdown grab.

Rivers missed Woodhead for an easy touchdown earlier in the route but extends the play with a scramble to the right. The running back comes back to the football to secure his third touchdown catch of the day.

Woodhead’s Wide Receiver Routes 

On the Chargers’ final touchdown score, Woodhead makes a sharp cut and runs a crisp slant route toward the end zone. Rivers releases the football quickly, hitting the running back on a short pass with a five-yard cushion from the nearest defender.

Woodhead lined up as a wideout and ran a route as good as any receiver in the league. He’s a quick-twitch player, which allows him to find crevices within a defense on short pass plays. 

The Raiders cannot allow Woodhead to exploit dead areas within their intermediate pass coverage. Earlier in the season, the defense struggled to close gaps between the linebackers and safeties.

Linebacker Malcolm Smith, safety Charles Woodson and the nickelback must account for the versatile running back on every play. Woodhead caught 11 passes for 75 yards and two touchdowns against the Raiders in Week 7.

Go to Murray and Stay with Murray

Week	Team	Rushing Yards Allowed	Result
2	CIN	175	Loss
3	MIN	163	Loss
4	CLE	100	Win
5	PIT	155	Loss
6	GB	133	Loss
7	OAK	130	Loss
9	CHI	109	Loss
11	KC	153	Loss
12	JAC	102	Win
13	DEN	134	Loss
14	KC	150	Loss

This season, the Chargers have allowed 100-plus rushing yards in 11 out of 14 games.

The Raiders allotted 21 carries for running back Latavius Murray in Week 15. He should handle 20-25 carries on Thursday.

It’s the 15th game of the season, and there’s no need to preserve Murray for future games—remove the cap on his carries and allow him to max out.

Ben Margot/Associated Press/Associated Press

The Raiders logged 130 rushing yards in the first meeting and should find success on the ground against the Chargers' No. 24-ranked run defense.

Most importantly, Oakland cannot stray away from the rushing attack as it did in the previous outing. Murray logged 15 carries for 64 yards in the first half and six carries for 14 yards in the second half against the Green Bay Packers.

Note to the coaching staff: Stick with a productive game plan until it falters.

Prediction

Harry How/Getty Images

Murray ranks as the fifth-leading rusher in the league, just 44 yards shy of a 1,000-yard season. He should reach that noteworthy milestone against the Chargers’ No. 24-ranked run defense.

Mentally, quarterback Derek Carr must contain his excitement to avoid poor throws and reckless decisions with the football.

Chargers safety Eric Weddle missed the first meeting in Week 7. His presence puts a cap on rookie wideout Amari Cooper’s production as a deep threat. Second, Cooper’s foot injury hurts his explosiveness on screen plays.

Expect wideout Michael Crabtree to lead all receivers in catches and yards by winning his one-on-one matchup with Chargers cornerback Patrick Robinson. 

According to offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, Woodson may run some routes as a wide receiver. It’s unclear how much he’ll factor into the offensive game plan, but he could flash for a catch or two.

The Raiders have fielded the No. 7-ranked pass defense over the last three outings, which bodes well for their matchup against the Chargers’ depleted receiving corps.

Final Score: Raiders 31, Chargers 17

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All statistics are provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com, Pro Football Focus and Team Rankings unless otherwise noted.