In the 11th straight meeting between division rivals Oakland and San Diego, San Diego handedly beat the Raiders 34-7. The Raiders lone score came from Justin Miller’s kickoff return towards the end of the first half. For a rival series where the Raiders have failed to make the slightest competitive, getting blown out by more than 10 points in the last 4 meetings, the Chargers completely shut down the Raiders last night.
It didn’t help that Andrew Walter, who in 15 games has only threw 3 touchdowns and 16 interceptions, came in for Jamarcus Russel who injured his right ankle at the end of his first half. Russell himself played another poor game, throwing 2 interceptions and fumbling the football near the Raiders endzone in the first quarter.
After a brilliant Raiders red zone stand holding the Chargers to a field goal, the game quickly went out of reach as the Chargers went into the half leading 27-7 with only a late Miller kickoff return to put the Raiders on the board.
Tom Cable came into this game hoping to build momentum for the Raiders. After all with a win, the Raiders would have tied San Diego for second in the AFC West and the team still has youth to build upon for next season. Instead, the Raiders came out, continued Raiders football of the post-Buccaneers Superbowl eras failing to move the ball on offense and committing stupid penalties during crucial times.
The Raiders have a tough schedule ahead, and their next game is at home against the New England Patriots.
Yes I know, this is supposed to be a football blog, not a football gamblers come here for a free pick blog. But hey, the Raiders are short on news, and I feel like writing.
The line for Thursday Night Football’s matchup between the Raiders and Chargers opened at San Diego -10.5. Since then, the line has steadily dropped, and the San Diego spread to cover has steadily dropped to about -8.5 to -9.5 depending which sportbook you goto.
San Diego has been absolutely dreadful as of late and hasn’t won a game by more than 1-point since October 12th against the New England Patriots. Although the Raiders have been facing offensive issues, they play their division tough.
Tonight’s Thursday Night Game Pick: Play the Raiders with the points.
On December 4, the Raiders will travel to San Diego to face the Chargers for Thursday Night Football. The game will be simultaneously broadcasted on the NFL Network as well as each team’s local networks. For us local Raiders fans, either Fox 2 or CBS 5 on 5PM.
But more interesting, this Thursday’s game will be the first NFL game ever to be partially broadcasted in 3-D. Yes. You heard it, 3-Dimensions (with those stupid red and blue lens glasses) as in in your face football. 3ality Digital LLC based out of Burbank California will be shooting the game with special 3-D cameras that will only broadcast on select theatres in L.A., New York, and Boston. So for now, we won’t be able to catch the 3-D’ness.
But here’s the excerpt from the Wall Street Journal:
Next week, a game between the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders will be broadcast live in 3-D to theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Boston. It is a preliminary step on what is likely a long road to any regular 3-D broadcasts of football games.
The idea is a “proof of concept,” says Howard Katz, NFL senior vice president of broadcasting and media operations. “We want to demonstrate this and let people get excited about it and see what the future holds.”
As HDTV has just took hold in the recent years, early developers are experimenting with 3-D capable television sets. A handful are available in stores that are compatible with HD-enabled DVD players. But 3-D televisions are purely experimental at the time. We’ll see how 3-D works this Thursday as the Raiders face off with the Chargers.