Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers: Keys to the Game

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Jun 9, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders coach Jack Del Rio (left) and offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave at minicamp at the Raiders practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

5. Push the Tempo

In the offseason, it was a major talking point for the Raiders that offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave would be bringing up-tempo offense to the team after spending time with the Philadelphia Eagles under Chip Kelly. Musgrave going as far as telling the media that he would be looking to use what he learned as the quarterbacks coach in Philadelphia and incorporating it in his playbook as the offensive coordinator in Oakland.

So far, Musgrave has delved in up-tempo offense at times to success this season, but it is normally used as a necessity for the Raiders rather than as a strategy. Musgrave pushing the tempo when needed, or for one drive a game, but not on a consistent basis throughout the game as the Raiders have had a fairly normal pace so far this season.

On Sunday, the Raiders might be best served to try and use the tempo that has worked in flashes for them this season as they are likely to get into a shootout with the Chargers based on Rivers historic pace this season as a quarterback who could have a shot at setting the single-season passing yards record. With those type of numbers, the Raiders are going to need to put points on the board to challenge Rivers, and the answer to putting up points in bunches could be pushing the pace.

In the Raiders two wins this season, they won with offensive firepower while in their last two losses they failed to find the endzone in the second half in what was the difference between wins for the team. If they want to end that losing streak they are going to need to find a way to get back to putting numbers on the scoreboard, and the answer to that might be a balance of up-tempo play along with the aforementioned use of Latavius Murray to get the touchdowns they need.

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