Raiders vs Chargers: Stat Predictions for Top Oakland, San Diego Stars

The Oakland Raiders host the San Diego Chargers tonight in 2011's first installment of Thursday Night football. 

Nothing better than a little NFL action during the week. 

Let's project the statlines for the most important players in tonight's AFC West showdown. 

Raiders 

Carson Palmer 

Palmer is coming off a three-touchdown, three-interception performance against the Broncos that ultimately ended in defeat. 

He threw for 332 yards and for the most part, seemed very comfortable in the pocket.

Now that he's had a sufficient amount of time to formulate a rapport with his pass-catchers he should have a solid evening, especially with the Raiders' punishing run game. 

Projection: 18-of-28, 270 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT 

Michael Bush 

While the absence of Darren McFadden clearly doesn't help the Raiders, the fact that they have Michael Bush takes away some of the worry for the Silver and Black faithful. 

Bush is a very capable runner who punishes his tacklers similar to that of McFadden. 

He averaged 5.1 yards per carry last week against the Broncos on 19 carries, and tonight, to keep the Chargers offense off the field and to alleviate some pressure from Palmer, I expect to see more touches. 

Projection: 21 carries, 123 yards,  1 TD 

Jacoby Ford 

Last week, Ford was Palmer's favorite target, catching five passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. He's the smallest of the Raiders wideouts, but is the most shifty and has incredible yards after the catch ability. While some of his targets could go T.J. Houshmandzadeh's way, I still think Ford will be a focal point of Oakland's offensive game plan tonight. 

Projection: 6 catches, 98 yards 

Chargers 

Philip Rivers 

Man, Rivers is having a tough year. He already has thrown 14 interceptions and has accounted for 19 total turnovers. 

Oakland's defense has talent, but as we've seen this season, they can definitely be thrown on. 

Tim Tebow looked pretty good last week. 

Rivers has another monster game in terms of yards, but I don't see him going a full four quarters without an interception. 

He's trying to force it too much. 

Projection: 28-of-40, 347 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT 

Ryan Mathews 

Mathews will play tonight after hurting his groin against the Chiefs two weeks ago. Expect him to see between 15-20 touches against a susceptible Raiders run defense that allowed 300 yards rushing to the Broncos in Week 9. 

He hasn't had a good game in quite some time, but he's a great check down option and can break a big run occasionally. 

Projection: 13 carries, 67 yards, 4 catches, 50 yards, 1 TD 

Vincent Jackson 

Jackson erupted with three touchdown catches last week in a shootout against the Packers. Although Rivers has struggled this season, Jackson has remained his go-to-guy down the field.  

Oakland doesn't have a shutdown guy anymore, and getting Jackson involved early will be important for the Chargers tonight. 

River will throw it frequently, so expect another high amount of targets for Jackson.

Projection 7 catches, 123 yards, 1 TD