Raiders Quest For Playoff Birth Continues in San Diego

NFL News - October 27th, 2009 - Written by John

Perhaps Richard Seymour spoke a bit prematurely.

Less than a week after the defensive end decided to rally his troops and predict the Oakland Raiders would shock the NFL landscape and qualify for the playoffs, the New York Jets quickly brought him back down to earth with a 38-0 whipping while Mark Sanchez munched on a hot dog on the sidelines. In all fairness, it had been relatvively impressive that the Raiders beat the Eagles in Week Six, but team's don't just right the ship in a week and it was clear Oakland still has a ways to go.

They are the biggest underdogs of the week, according to NFL Week 8 Betting Lines provided by BetUS Sportsbook. Raiders will inherit 16 1/2 points from the San Diego Chargers. The over/under is 42 1/2. Seven of the last nine meetings between these two teams in San Diego has resulted in an under. Most of that has to do with the Raiders ineptitude on offense. They are last in the NFL in total yardage and points per game and, excluding the season-opener, have yet to score more than 13. Against Kansas City and Philadelphia, they managed to win despite scoring only 13 points both games.

Despite being the lowest-rated passer in football, JaMarcus Russell will still get the start for the Raiders. He was benched last week for another poor performance in which he fumbled on the first play of the game and threw two picks (one of which to a spot where no Raider receiver was within 15 yards). But Russell told reporters after the game that he didn't believe he was to blame.

"I don't think it's me," he said. "Do you?"

The short answer is yes. He has thrown for 128 yards or less in six of the team's seven games, the lone exception coming in the season-opener against the San Diego Chargers. In that game, it appeared that the Raiders were going to upset the odds, although, they did, in fact, beat the four-point spread. But they couldn't hold on to the outright lead when Darren Sproles punched through a game-winning touchdown with 18 seconds left.

Sproles has been the Chargers best back. He has 80 fewer rushing yards than LaDainian Tomlinson, but has far more catches and yards out of the back field and has three more touchdowns than his counterpart. He has been one of Philip Rivers' main targets, giving him more options than Vincent Jackson and Antonio Gates down field. Rivers has thrown for 1,787 yards and 10 touchdowns, his longest going to Sproles on an 81-yard screen pass earlier in the year.

Tomlinson, who claimed his best was not behind him at the beginning of the year, still looks to be moving slow after nursing a sore ankle for two years. In an array of interviews, he claimed he would return to dominance, but the production simply hasn't been there. Last week's 71 yards were a season-high and he is running at a mere 3.5-yard-per-carry pace.

Jackson is sixth in the league with 561 yards after a season-high 142 yard performance last week against Kansas City. It was the third time this year Jackson had at least 120 yards through the air.

Gates is third among tight ends with 474 yards and two touchdowns.

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