Oakland Aims To Snap Opening Day Skid On MNF

NFL News - September 11th, 2009 - Written by John

San Diego Chargers vs Oakland Raiders - The Oakland Raiders have a lot of soul-searching to do. Not only have their own coaches turned against each other, teammates begun squabbling and fans become increasingly indifferent, the team has become a calamity to the point that when they do acquire the occasional star, he refuses to show.

In the midset of preparing for divisional favorite San Diego in week one, the Raiders are still without the Pro Bowl defensive end they traded for. Richard Seymour still has not arrived at camp and Oakland is left scrambling to find a suitable replacement if he remains absent. The Raiders have since re-signed defensive tackle, William Joseph, and will hope Trevor Scott can repeat his rookie performance, leading the team with five sacks. It is a tall stack of bills that will occupy head coach Tom Cable, who was accused of punching one of his assistant coaches during a fight, trying to lead the Raiders to their first season-opening win since 2002.

The Raiders will carry a 10-game losing streak against the Chargers into the final season-opener of the 2009 slate, when they host the late game on Monday Night Football.

The Chargers finished 3-5 on the road in the 2008 season, while the Raiders were a meager 2-6 at home. San Diego finished second in the league in scoring last season with 27.4 points a game and was11th in total yards. The Bolts feature one of the leagues elite running backs in Ladainian Tomlinson, and will more than likely share some of the load with Darren Sproles. Tomlinson will undoubtedly be under the microscope this season after asserting that he, not Adrian Peterson, is the most complete back in the league. This coming after missing most of the two previous seasons with injuries. The Chargers only managed to win eight games in his absence last year, but still took the division when they beat Denver in the final game of the regular season. All-Pro quarterback Phillip Rivers has since inked a giant $92 million deal and will try to repeat as the league's top-rated passer.

Meanwhile, the Raiders only scored 16.4 points a game last year, ranking 29th amongst all NFL teams. The franchise has been in rebuilding mode ever since reaching the Super Bowl in 2003, cycling through dozens of busts via trade and draft. JaMarcus Russell will likely have one more year to avoid being put in that category, after two adequate, yet unremarkable, seasons in Oakland. Last year's first round pick Darren McFadden will be completely healthy coming into the season, and will hope to provide a spark in the backfield to take some of the pressure off his quarterback. The sophomore was picked Friday to be the Raiders' feature back, beating out Justin Fargas and Michael Bush because of his higher upside.

The Chargers are favored to win the game by a staggering nine points despite being on the road. Both teams have a payout of -110. Taking the Raiders win in the money line bracket could net a huge payout. Vegas is offering a +375 return on investment if Oakland pulls off the shocker.

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