NFL Week 1 - 481 San Diego Chargers @ 482 Oakland Raiders
Projected line: Oakland by 4 points
Oakland has a new head coach and a new GM for this season and I believe they will start the season with a good home win over a divisional rival. Carson Palmer arrived to Oakland in the middle of the last season and with no rhythm whatsoever, he struggled in the early season, but then bounced back quite nicely at the end actually. He is coming for this season with a full training camp this time and with two young and quick receivers at his disposal (Heyward-Bey and Moore), however he struggled in the preseason with four interceptions. Even with these struggles in the preseason, I believe Palmer with his experience will make some corrections for tonight's game and especially I expect the Raiders to give the ball a lot to their primary offensive weapon that is RB Darren McFadden. He was having a huge season last year until he got injured and now back at 100%, I expect him to lead the Raiders offense once again to a good production. They'll be facing San Diego that has a questionable defense, with a poor secondary, especially in the cornerbacks position, something that the Raiders can explore with their two explosive wide receivers. The Chargers have also their starting DT Antonio Garay injured on his ankle and his questionable for tonight, something that will weaken their front seven and allow McFadden to pound even more the average-at-best run defense of San Diego.
The Chargers keep having a good pass offense and they'll need it a lot tonight, as their primary RB Ryan Matthews won't play tonight due to a collarbone injury and they'll have to start veteran RB Ronnie Brown, who hasn't been any good for a couple of seasons now and who doesn't seem able nowadays to pound even a poor run defense like the Raiders. So, QB Philip Rivers will have to lead the offense on his own and he struggled as much as Palmer in the preseason with four interceptions. He has also seen his primary receiver Vincent Jackson go to Tampa Bay, therefore San Diego may have some troubles tonight, as they won't have a productive running game and they'll have to rely on an inconsistent QB passing the ball to a group of receivers that lacks a good receiver, barring TE Antonio Gates. The Chargers will also have problems on their Offensive Line with Center Nick Hardwick and Guard Tyronne Green playing but limited, while OT Jared Gaither won't be playing tonight due to a back injury. I believe San Diego will struggle on offense with so many problems against an Oakland defense that has a couple of good players to make some big plays throughout the game.
With the Raiders having a great offensive weapon such as RB Darren McFadden and a decent passing game with two explosive receivers to expose San Diego's poor cornerbacks, I believe Oakland will have a good offensive production tonight, while San Diego is likely to struggle on offense, with an Offensive Line struggling with injuries, without their Running Back on the field and with a inconsistent Quarterback that doesn't have his main target on his team anymore. Therefore, I believe Oakland has more chances of winning this game than San Diego and so, I'll be taking them in here.
Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 482 Oakland Raiders (-1) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker
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