5 keys to victory for Raiders vs. Chargers in Week 17

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OAKLAND, CA – OCTOBER 15: Derek Carr No. 4 of the Oakland Raiders looks to pass against the Los Angeles Chargers during their NFL game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on October 15, 2017 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Be able to move the sticks against an excellent Los Angeles secondary.

Oakland should be able to pound the rock against the worst run defense in football on Sunday. Los Angeles struggles to slow down the ground game. It won’t help that most of the StubHub Center crowd will be Raiders fans. It’s been too long since the Silver and Black played in Southern California.

However, the Raiders will have to have faith in the passing game to beat an improving Chargers team. Even though the Chargers lost their longtime defensive coordinator John Pagano to Oakland, the Bolts are doing just fine with former Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley calling the shots.

Los Angeles has several great players in its secondary, most notably an All-Pro candidate in cornerback Casey Hayward. Why did the Green Bay Packers ever let him go? Seriously. The guy has been fantastic since the Chargers acquired him a few years back. Safety Tre Boston is an excellent player in the back-end of the Chargers defense as well.

Though he could get picked off a few times, this can’t be another dink-and-dunk performance out of Raiders quarterback Derek Carr. Getting his yards per attempt over 8.0 might be difficult in this rivalry game, but he can’t be in that miserable 4.5 range again. Oakland has to move the sticks in the passing game to upset the Chargers on Sunday afternoon.

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