San Diego Chargers take on Oakland Raiders in season finale – NFL Preview
San Diego Chargers will host their American Football Conference (AFC) West rivals Oakland Raiders in the season finale of the 2012 regular season on Sunday, December 30, 2012, at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California.
Both the teams last played against each other in the 2012 season opener in which Chargers got a 22-14 victory. It gave Chargers a good start, but they failed to follow up with good performances.
It also means that Chargers head coach Norv Turner is likely to be leading the Chargers for the last time after putting worst record for a season in his 6-year career as a head coach of the team. However, Turner denied giving his view about leaving Chargers.
He said:
"There's a lot of speculation that way and I know people assume that, as I said to our team, probably four or five weeks ago, this is really an outstanding group of people, aside from what they are as football players.”
Turner is not the only one who is facing the heat as Chargers general manager A.J. Smith is also under threat of leaving the post due to the team’s failure to qualify for the playoffs since the 2009 season. Smith has been in charge of the Chargers since
2003.
Chargers are also on course to finish the season with their worst record since the 2003 season in which they finished with 4-12 record.
Raiders on the other hand are also out of the playoff race. They are hoping to end the season on a winning note. The team has covered good ground during this season for their rebuilding process.
Raiders head coach Dennis Allen will also get a chance to give a start to some of the young players on the roster.
It will also include the quarterback position as the starting quarterback Carson Palmer is unavailable with a rib injury. In absence of Palmer, the team will start with either Matt Leinart or Terrelle Pryor. Giving his views about the quarterback position,
Allen said:
"We got a chance to see what Matt could do and we might need to see a little bit more of Terrelle. They're two totally different quarterbacks. Terrelle obviously is an athletic quarterback that can really do some things on the move. Matt's a little bit more
your prototypical pocket passer. So when you look at those guys you've got to take into account those skill sets and what they do well.”
Chargers will have their quarterback Philip Rivers available for the game. The player has not been able to give 4,000-yard season this time after achieving the feat in last five seasons.
Raiders offence will likely rely on running back Darren McFadden in absence of their starting quarterback.
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