There was a time back in the day when opponents of the Oakland Raiders came to fight and die (not literally) in the Black Hole that is known without its corporate name as simply the Oakland Coliseum.
In recent times, however, the Raiders have been the ones more times than not that left with the loss on the record books. What was once a great home field advantage has pretty much gone by the wayside, though many teams still do not exactly get great joy in visiting the Raiders.
With an unusual Sunday night start time of 8:30 p.m. local time, the San Diego Chargers venture into the Black Hole to take on their long-time AFC West adversary.
The contest, moved to the late start in order to turn the field back to a football look after the Oakland A's hosted a pair of playoff games versus Detroit Friday and Saturday, pits the 2-2 Chargers against the 1-3 Raiders. Yes, not exactly a battle of the titans by any means, but still what should be a fun and physical encounter.
Oakland, which leads the series 57-47-2, looks to rebound from a 24-14 home loss to the Washington Redskins a week ago, while San Diego hopes to continue its momentum following a 30-21 home win versus Dallas last Sunday.
Raiders Still Offer Some Challenges
While this year's version and recent forms of the Raiders are a far cry from their playoff glory days of the 1970's and 1980's, the Silver and Black still pose some challenges for their rivals to the south.
Star running back Darren McFadden has rushed for 215 yards and a pair of TDs to date, while wide receiver Denarius Moore is the top throw to threat, hauling in 233 yards on 15 receptions (two touchdowns) so far. It is expected that second-year QB Terrelle Pryor will get the start, this after sitting out last Sunday's game (Matt Flynn played) due to concussion symptoms.
On defense, the Silver and Black is led by Kevin Burnett and Charles Woodson (20 solo tackles each), who have been in on 24 and 26 total tackles, respectively.
A win for San Diego would give it added momentum heading into a Monday night meeting a week from Monday (Oct. 14) at home versus Indianapolis.
THE SKINNY
Contest - San Diego at Oakland
Network - NFL Network
Spread - Chargers are 4.5-point favorites
Series History - Raiders lead 57-47-2
Prediction - Chargers 24-20
