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| Oakland Raiders | San Diego Chargers |
| 4-10 | December 22, 2013, 04:25 | Qualcomm Stadium | 7-7 |
The San Diego Chargers pulled off an upset last Thursday at Denver, and while their playoff chances are slim, they ain't dead yet.
But first and foremost the Bolts have to take care of their own business, beginning with a rivalry game against the Oakland Raiders Sunday in San Diego.
Led by QB Philip Rivers, who might be having his best season as a pro, the Chargers beat the Broncos at Mile High Thursday 27-20 to get to 7-7. That kept them a game back of the Ravens and Dolphins in the battle for that second AFC wild-card spot, with two games to play.
Oakland, on the other hand, has lost four games in a row, and just gave up 56 points to Kansas City. But the Raiders did beat San Diego in the first meeting between these teams this season 27-17 back in October.
In the early betting the Chargers, 3-1 ATS over their last four games, were favored by 10 points at Sportsbook over Oakland.
The Raiders will try to spoil to the party on Sunday; they are 8-6 ATS against the number this season, while the Chargers are 8-5-1 ATS. Oakland is 7-6-1 on the totals; San Diego is 6-8.
View Oakland Raiders vs San Diego Chargers Odds and Stats.
Bettors looking to back the visiting Raiders in this one found them as 9.5-point underdogs earlier in the week at Sportsbook, while the total was settling in the neighborhood of 50.5 at shops such as Sportsbook.
The power rankings show a disparity between these teams, with the Chargers rated this week at No. 11 and the Raiders sitting at No. 30. It may or may not play a role in OddsShark score prediction models that turned out a 24-16 result in favor of the Chargers this week.
Oakland was a 56-31 loser in its last match at home against the Chiefs. They failed to cover the 6-point spread as underdogs, while the total score of 87 sent OVER bettors to the payout window. Ryan Mathews went over the 100-yard mark (127) in his team's latest effort as San Diego defeated Denver by a score of 27-20 on Thursday.
How They Match Up:
Offensively, the game matches up San Diego's No. 14-ranked offense (24.5 PPG) against a Raiders defense that ranks No. 29 at 28.07 PPG. The Chargers passing attack has averaged 279.5 yards per game, more than the Raiders give up through the air (254.43 YPG on average).
In comparing defenses, the Raiders own the league's No. 26-rated front 7 in terms of stopping the run, allowing 130.29 yards per game when on the road. San Diego, on the other hand, rates No. 17 this week in generating rushing yards at home.
A few Raiders at Chargers trends to consider:
Oakland is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Oakland's last 7 games
Oakland is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games on the road
Oakland is 1-10 SU in its last 11 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of San Diego's last 10 games
San Diego is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games at home
San Diego is 2-7 ATS in its last 9 games when playing Oakland
San Diego is 16-4 SU in its last 20 games when playing Oakland
Next up:
Oakland home to Denver, Sunday, December 29th
San Diego home to Kansas City, Sunday, December 29th
