Raiders vs. Chargers: Why Ryan Mathews' Return from Injury Is Huge for San Diego

When the San Diego Chargers made Ryan Mathews the 12th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, they thought they were getting a guy who could step in right away and take over the team's running back duties. While Mathews spent the majority of his rookie season struggling through injuries, he finally appeared to get on track through the first portion of this season.

In Week 8 against the Kansas City Chiefs Mathews suffered a mild groin strain and had to leave the game and then missed the team's Week 9 loss to the Green Bay Packers. The Fresno State product is on track to play tonight against the Oakland Raiders, and while he seems to be snake-bitten when it comes to injuries, the second-year back has been great when playing this season.

In seven games this year Mathews has 509 yards and three touchdowns on 111 carries. He has also added 342 yards on 30 receptions. His 851 total yards on 141 touches means he's ripping off 6.04 yards every time he touches the ball. Translation: his return is huge for a Chargers team in desperate need of a win tonight.

One area San Diego has struggled mightily this season is in the red zone, and Mathews' return should help the Bolts and quarterback Philip Rivers by giving him an extra option near the goal line. While fellow running back Mike Tolbert is more likely to get the bruising between the tackle carries in the red zone, Mathews can get the job done down there as well.

Against a Raiders team that ranks 29th in the NFL against the run (139.6 yards allowed per game), expect a heavy dose of both Mathews and Tolbert. San Diego will want to make things easy for Rivers as he tries to get out of his current funk and the best way to do that will be by pounding the ball at Oakland's porous front seven.

Having Mathews back will be a huge key to San Diego's success against the Raiders tonight.