When the Raiders selected the super fast WR Darrius Heyward-Bey with the 7th pick of the first round of last April’s NFL Draft they were expecting him to contribute this season and start down the road.  But to this point he has shown no signs of being a good WR any time soon.  Some of that blame has to go to JaMarcus Russell but Heyward-Bey’s hands are like a pair of bricks.  He has caught 4 passes for 64 yards (16.0 avg) and he has carried the ball 2 times for 19 yards (9.5 ypc) this season.  The amazing thing about Heyward-Bey’s numbers is that he is third on the Raiders in receiving yards this season which is incredible as it says quite a bit about the offense.

In week #1 these two teams played on Monday Night Football in Oakland and the Chargers snuck out of town with a 24-20 win.  The teams look very different right now as the Raiders are only averaging 8.9 points per game and 227.6 yards of total offense per game.  The Raiders will come out running the football with Justin Fargas against the soft run defense of the Chargers which is allowing 137.7 yards rushing per game and 4.2 yards per carry.  The Raiders need to keep the ball on the ground to protect JaMarcus Russell who has turned the ball over 13 times already this season (5 lost fumbles, 8 interceptions).  The Chargers will be keying on stopping TE Zach Miller who is the best receiver the Raiders have to offer.

The Chargers will come out throwing the ball against the Raiders to get them out of their gamplan.  Philip Rivers will likely be aiming for Vincent Jackson deep and Antonio Gates on the short stuff.  The Raiders are allowing 169.7 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry so the Chargers hope that LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles can give the team some balance on offense in this game. 

PREDICTION:  CHARGERS 34, RAIDERS 13

27-year old linebacker Kirk Morrison is one of the busiest defensive players in the NFL right now.  He has played in 7 games this season for the Raiders and he has 67 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss and he has forced 1 fumble.  This is nothing new to Raiders’ fans as Morrison has 4 years of 116+ tackles in a season.  It’s just too bad that the D-Line has not kept him clean or the run defense would be much better than it is.

The Raiders were awful yesterday in every facet of this game and it showed on the scoreboard.  JaMarcus Russell started this game and he was awful as usual completing 6 of 11 passes for 61 yards with 2 interceptions and he also lost a fumble.  The Raiders yanked Russell from the game and inserted Bruce Gradkowski who was not a whole lot better.  He completed 10 of 19 passes for 97 yards and he also carried the ball 2 times for 25 yards (12.5 ypc).  Gradkowski also lost a fumble in this game.  It’s too bad that the Raiders fell so far behind in this game because Justin Fargas was on fire.  He carried the ball 8 times for 67 yards (8.4 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 23 yards (7.7 avg).  WR Louis Murphy pitched in with 4 catches for 58 yards (14.5 avg) in this game to lead the Raiders in the passing game.  The Raiders finished up with 263 total yards in this game (119 rushing, 144 passing) as they only had possession of the ball for 24:03.

The defense was simply awful in this game yesterday.  LB Kirk Morrison (9 tackles) and CB Tyvon Branch (8 tackles) led the way for the Raiders on “defense”.  The Jets finished up with 447 total yards on offense (316 rushing, 131 passing) in this game.  The Raiders are now 2-5 on the season.

This game pits the New York Jets (3-3) against the Oakland Raiders (2-4) who are trying to build a winning streak after beating the Eagles 13-9 at the Black Hole.  The Jets will no doubt come out running the football against a Raiders’ D that is allowing 145.3 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry.  Thomas Jones and Leon Washington will likely have field days against the Raiders.  But they did last week against the Bills and Mark Sanchez threw the game away throwing 5 pickoffs.  The Raiders do give up 220.2 yards passing per game so maybe Sanchez can turn things around this week. 

The Raiders will also come out running the ball with Justin Fargas likely being the workhorse.  The Jets are allowing 115.7 yards rushing per game and 4.0 yards per carry so Huggy Bear Jr. (Fargas) could have a good game on Sunday.  The Raiders had better be able to run the ball or JaMarcus Russell could be in deep trouble.  The Jets only have 5 sacks this season so Russell will likely have time to throw the ball.  It’s too bad that only TE Zach Miller can catch the football.

PREDICTION:  JETS 13, RAIDERS 10