The Chargers have won the last nine games against the Raiders including 5 out of the last six in Oakland.  Still, the Chargers can’t look past the Raiders who match up semi well with them in some areas.  The Chargers have not run the ball too well this season as they are only averaging 97.3 yards rushing per game and 3.7 yards per carry.  With the way Philip Rivers has played so far this season the gameplan could be to throw the ball to get the lead and then grind away at the clock with the running game.  The Chargers have only allowed 2 sacks this season but the Raiders will be blitzing him a lot as they already have 8 sacks this season.  With the Raiders having a effective pass rush it might be smart for the Chargers to work on the short passing game to the RBs and Antonio Gates to loosen up the Raiders’ secondary before going deep to WRs Vincent Jackson and Chris Chambers.

The Raiders will attempt to do what they do the best and run the football against the Chargers with Darren McFadden and Michael Bush.  The Raiders are averaging an amazing 182.7 yards rushing per game this season and 5.1 yards per carry.  The Chargers are allowing a stunning 5.0 ypc this season so the Raiders should get there running game going early and often.  The Raiders should take the training wheels off of JaMarcus Russell and let him throw the ball deep off of play action against a Chargers’ pass defense that is allowing 284.7 yards passing per game.

PREDICTION:  SAN DIEGO CHARGERS 27, OAKLAND RAIDERS 20

This game really hurts as the Raiders were up 23-14 about mid-way through the 4th quarter and they blew this game.  The Bills scored on the last play of the game on a 38-yard FG by Rian Lindell.  JaMarcus Russell completed 9 of 19 passes for 156 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  He also scored on a 1-yard TD run.  Michael Bush led the way for the Raiders in rushing with 55 yards on 14 carries (3.9 ypc).  Darren McFadden pitched in with 42 yards on 14 carries (3.0 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 6 yards.  WR Johnnie Lee Higgins led the Raiders with 84 yards receiving on 1 grab!  It was good for a TD.  The Raiders finished up with 98 yards rushing on 30 carries (3.3 ypc) and they also completed 9 of 19 passes for 147 yards.

The Raiders’ defense was led by LB Kirk Morrison 10 tackles and CB DeAngelo Hall who had 6 tackles, 1/2 a sack and a interception.  The Raiders allowed the Bills to rush for 116 yards on 30 carries (3.9 ypc) and they also completed 24 of 39 passes for 262 yards.  The Raiders fell to 1-2 on the season with this loss.

The Oakland Raiders got a nice road win last week but beating the Bills in Buffalo will be much harder.  The Raiders will use the recipe that worked against the Chiefs last week by pounding the football with rookie RB Darren McFadden (210 yards rushing, 7.0 ypc) and Michael Bush (90 yards rushing, 5.6 ypc) with Justin Fargas out of action due to injury.  But, they will have to mix things up a little better against a Bills’ defense that is only allowing 91.5 yards rushing per game and 3.8 yards per carry.  The Raiders will likely be careful throwing the ball down the field and challenging the solid corners of the Bills, prefering to settle for short stuff to TE Zach Miller.

The Buffalo Bills have run a pretty balanced offense this season (56 passes, 55 runs) and look for them to keep that up this week against the Raiders.  Look for the Bills to try to pass early to get a lead and take the Raiders out of there vaunted running game.  The Bills have been throwing a lot of shorter passes this season but look for them to let Trent Edwards (107.7 QB Rating) test the Raiders’ defense deep with Lee Evans (8 rec, 179 yards) often in this game.

PREDICTION:  BUFFALO BILLS 21, OAKLAND RAIDERS 10

The Oakland Raiders won this game by playing good defense and running the football.  QB JaMarcus Russell had a game to forget completing only 6 of 17 passes for 55 yards.  Rookie RB Darren McFadden had a breakout game for the Raiders with 164 yards rushing on 21 carries (7.8 ypc) and scoring a TD on a 19-yard run.  Michael Bush got in his first real action in the NFL and he looked good rushing for 90 yards on 16 carries (5.6 ypc).  Bush scored on a very impressive 32-yard run for a TD also.  Justin Fargas started the game and he played well carrying the ball 9 times for 43 yards (4.8 ypc) before leaving the game with a groin injury.  The Raiders rushed for a stunning 300 yards on 47 carries (6.4 ypc) in this game but they only completed 6 of 17 passes for 55 yards.

The defense was awesome in this game for the Raiders.  Linebackers Thomas Howard (7 tackles, sack) and Kirk Morrison (6 tackles, sack, interception) were both all over the football field against the Chiefs.  The Chiefs only finished up with 55 yards on 19 carries (2.9 ypc) and they completed 17 of 38 passes for 135 yards.  This was a good road win for the Raiders improving them to 1-1 on the season.

These are two fairly evenly matched football teams who will likely prefer to run the ball in this game.  These two teams split last seasons’ series with the Chiefs outscoring the Raiders 30-29.  The Raiders will attack the Chiefs’ defense with the two-headed running attack of Justin Fargas (97 yards rushing) and Darren McFadden (46 yards rushing).  The Chiefs allowed 126 yards rushing against the Patriots last week so the Raiders should have some success on the ground.  To win this game though, the Raiders must trust JaMarcus Russell to throw the ball dowfield to Ashley Lelie, Ronald Curry and Javon Walker.  The Chiefs’ safeties must also keep tabs on TE Zach Miller who is one of Russell’s favorite targets.

The Chiefs will likely be content to feed the rock to Larry Johnson against the Raiders as he has rushed for over 100 yards in all 5 of his starts against them.  With Damon Huard starting at QB the Chiefs might open the offense a tad more than if Brodie Croyle was starting this game.  With that in mind, look for Tony Gonzalez to be effective on the shorter passes and for Dwayne Bowe to stretch the field for the Chiefs.

PREDICTION:  KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 20, OAKLAND RAIDERS 17