Raiders vs. Chargers: Philip Rivers and 3 Players Who Will Disappoint

Thursday night’s matchup between the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers will feature two AFC West teams with a chance to jump into first place.

Therefore, it should be a hard-fought battle, with both teams having a lot to prove.

Plenty of players will have good games, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about.

Instead, let’s focus on players who will be disappointing this week.

Here are three players who probably won't have great games on Thursday night.

Philip Rivers, QB, San Diego Chargers

Rivers has been just awful this year. He’s throwing way too many interceptions and making way too many crucial mistakes late in games.

So, it’s only natural that he’s going to start pressing. He’s going to be trying way too hard to succeed on Thursday night, so he’s going to end up making even more errors.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least two more interceptions from him against the Raiders and maybe lose another costly fumble.

Let’s just say things are going to get worse before they get better for Rivers.

Antonio Gates, TE, San Diego Chargers

Gates hasn’t been the tight end he once was, this year.

This is because he’s battling foot injuries that have plagued him for the past couple years.

He’s missed a few games already this season and hasn’t played for a long stretch of time in a couple years. 

He had a good week against Green Bay last week, but don’t expect him to be able to have back-to-back good games until he gets fully healthy.

Carson Palmer, QB, Oakland Raiders

Eventually, the Palmer trade will look good for the Raiders, but it won’t be this week.

Palmer hasn’t faced a team with a defense like San Diego’s, yet, this year, so he’s definitely going to have a hard time Thursday night.

He still has the skills that made him a good NFL quarterback, but they won’t be on display Thursday night.

He needs more time to get in tune with the Oakland receivers and offensive scheme. Then, he’ll start looking like a quarterback who is worth a couple high draft picks.