Oakland Raiders host San Diego Chargers to open season on Monday night – NFL Preview
The 2012 season will start for San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders on Monday night, September 10, 2012, at the O.co. Coliseum in Oakland. The two teams will face each other at the same venue where they finished the last season.
Both the teams finished with exactly the same record of 8-8 last season, and they also have similar kind of ambition this time, trying to go up in the American Football Conference (AFC) West Division.
Chargers are ready to take on the next step after a miserable end to the last season where they lost their way halfway through the season. Raiders also will also have to push hard as many of their important players are out with injuries.
As Raiders play their Week 1 game, it will also mark the regular season debut for Dennis Allen as a head coach.
The Chargers offence looks outstanding again this season. It looks to be tough day on the field for the Raiders’ young defensive team. Even head coach Allen considers it to be a good test of their capabilities. Allen said:
“This is a talented offence. Coach Turner does a great job of calling the name. He really stresses your defence and your rules. They have a lot of weapons to get the ball to so we’ve got our work cut out for us defensively trying to keep the ball in front
of us.”
The Chargers offence will be led by Philip Rivers, who is the all-time franchise leader in terms of passer rating and career completion percentage.
He will get the support from his prime target Antonio Gates, who looked fantastic during the offseason and aims to get his career-best performance this season.
Meanwhile, the Chargers defence will show its first glance under the new defensive coordinator John Pagano. The defence will be led by linebacker Takeo Spikes in absence of Jared Gaither. They have added a few talented rookies like Melvin Ingram in the team.
Quarterback Carson Palmer will play his first season opener for Raiders after joining the team in October last year.
Moreover, Raiders will need their running back Darren McFadden to show his skills against the Chargers’ mediocre defence.
The game also marks the return of wide receiver Denarius Moore who spent most of the offseason recovering from his injury.
There is not much to talk about when it comes to the Raiders defence. The team remains mostly the same like the last season with safety Tyvon Branch leading the pack.
The two teams have played 105 times against each other. Raiders are leading with 58 wins, while Chargers have won 45 games.
Looking into the performance and condition of both rosters, Chargers seem to have an upper hand with such a quality offence.
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