Oakland Raiders(4-11SU,4-11ATS) vs.San Diego Chargers(6-9SU,7-8ATS)
NFL Week17
Date and Time:Sunday December 30th, 2012 4:25 p.m. EST
Where:Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California
TV:CBS
byTimmieb,Football Handicapper, Predictem.com
Point Spread: OAK. OFF/SD. OFF
Over/Under Total:OFF
Actually, this is a probably the most fascinating game of WEEK 17! Why? Well, most assumed that Matt Leinart would fill in for the injured Carson Palmer (cracked ribs/bruised lung) at QB this week but Oakland sent Holiday Cheer to San Diego when they suggested that Terrelle Pryor might be the starter! What happened next? The ODDS Makers took the game OFF the board! Initially the Chargers were -4.5, but nowHoly Lord! There is no telling how high that spread will go if Pryor is the starting QB! Leinart will only get you beatsort of. But with Pryor, if you thought Tebow had a bad throwing motionHoly Lord!
Chargers met the Raiders in Oakland on Monday Night Football last September, 2012. They, evidently did, in fact, meet and did a musical number called DC United vs The L.A. Galaxy that provided us with seven (7) magnificent field goalsand two touchdowns. The Bolts won 22-14 and truly, the Raiders were already playing out the string and making plans to purchase Super Bowl tickets. I guess the difference in the two teams is Philip Rivers? Rivers seems to be a competitor; sometimes? I mean: He yelled at Jay Cutler from the sidelines once or twice when Cutler was with the Broncos? Okay, to the numbers: The Raiders are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 and 2-5 ATS in their last seven on the road. Oakland is 1-6 S/U in their last 7 on the road. The O/U has gone under in the Raiders last five. San Diego is 1-5 S/U in their last 6 at home (Holy Lord!). SD is 1-5 ATS in their last six at home (Holy Lord!). SD has won two straight on the road against Pittsburgh and the other NY team (Looking for a positive here). AH! Here it is! San Diego is 15-3 S/U in their last 18 versus the Raiders. Lets get some more insight into this game
Antonio Gates. Since Gates had 81 receiving yards against a very good Denver Broncos team, Gates has one game over 50 receiving yards (51 receiving yards against TB in a 34-24 loss) and 33 of that total came on one play. Antonio Gates will drop balls (he dropped two last week—One for a TD) but he is a Beast. Look for Rivers to go to Gates more often this Sunday since, hopefully, Norv is packing his stuff and preparing for a life as, perhaps, Owner of a Mulch Company and NOT using his offensive genius in another offensive way. Wheres Drew Brees at again? And, ummm, Darren Sproles?
Darren McFadden. McFadden has been hurthow badly is anyones guess, but CMon! McFadden is an incredible talent and each time we watch the Raiders, we seemingly wait for McFadden to do something extraordinary. But what we get when McFadden is in the game is 3rdand long or Janikowski warming up with a cheeseburger in both hands. Palmer was Done long before the cracked ribs. Leinart is Leinart and no real threat except to his own team. If McFadden can stop thinking about his future free-agency (and the moneyAllegedly) and finding the Superior Contender he wants to play for (only excuse I can provide?), the Raiderswell, the Raiders will still be kinda bad. They have cool uniforms though!
Timmiebs key to the game. Just Throw Out the Defensive Rank or Offensive Rank in this battle. Both teams have tried to show us Lunchtime with a Librarian at $80 a pop! Both teams are under regarded and usually play that way. Picking a Winner from this group is like polishing a turturtle. I did find what I believe is the most interesting piece of information for how to rate this game. The Raiders promoted Chimdi Chekwa this week to the Game roster for this San Diego meeting. This move by the Raiders signals two very important things. 1) The Raiders do not have anyone better than Chekwa to play at corner (Nickel). 2) We can all stop calling former NY Giants DB Elvis Patterson Toast for getting beat deep so many times as an active player. If Patterson is Toast then Chekwa must be considered E squared B squared R or Everything Else Burned Beyond Recognition. Chekwa has been burned more times than a schizophrenic at a magic show. And to boot: Chekwa has been flagged more than a cemetery around Memorial Day! I caught his act starting at Ohio State. If anyone else in the Chargers organization has even the slightest interest in winning this game or an ounce of football knowledge, look for Gates to get mismatched with Chekwa. If Chekwa is in the Nickel at all, drop a Dime on the Chargers to roll! Timmieb is seein it and sayin it.
TimmiebsPick to Cover the Point Spread:Chargers by a lot!
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