Raiders vs. Chargers: Philip Rivers Will Get His Groove Back Against Raiders

One of these weeks it has to happen. It just has to.

San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is too good to keep struggling like this. We're only eight games into the season, and he's only one interception away from tying a career high.

His current quarterback rating of 81.4 would be the lowest of his career since becoming a starter in 2006. 

And to top it all off, even after last week's four-touchdown performance, he's on pace to throw the second lowest amount of scores in his career. 

So what exactly is wrong with Philip Rivers? He's missing throws he would have completed in his sleep last season. He's turning the ball over at a rate the Chargers can't afford to let him do.

He's essentially switched places with Eli Manning this year. 

At 29 years old, you don't just all of a sudden become mediocre. Especially if you've been as successful as Rivers in the past three years. 

The only thing that could possibly explain Rivers' struggles is an injury, but he keeps insisting that's not the reason.

If that's true, and Rivers is truly healthy, he's going to finally get back on track tonight against the Oakland Raiders. 

The Raiders are giving up 246 yards per game, which is right around average for the league. But yards haven't been the problem for Rivers. He's still racking up plenty of those and is actually on pace to break his personal high.

It's those pesky turnovers. Luckily for Rivers, the Raiders have only picked off seven passes on the season, or less than one per game. 

Ever since Nnamdi Asomugha left, Oakland's play-making ability on defense has declined considerably.

Even guys like Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy have gotten past this defense without throwing an interception. 

Without having to worry about facing an opportunity-seizing defense like he did last week against the Packers, Rivers can calm down and make his throws.

The Raiders have only gotten 18 sacks on the season. That's 12th worst in the NFL. Rivers will have plenty of time to look down field and find his receivers. 

Philip Rivers has talented receivers, he has good pass-catching running backs, he has the necessary quarterback skills and the Raiders don't force a lot of mistakes. 

As long as he gets out of his head and makes the throws that are constantly open, this will be the game where Philip gets his groove back.