By Robbie Williams

Thursday, Dec. 17 at 8:20 PM ET

NFL NETWORK

SPREAD: Raiders, -3.0

Thursday night’s matchup of the 7-6 Las Vegas Raiders against their division rivals, the 4-9 Los Angeles Chargers, is likely going to be a game mostly about respect. But it could also be the beginning of a Cinderella story. The Chargers have no chance of making the playoffs this year, but the Raiders could sneak into the third wildcard spot with a little luck if they win out the remainder of the season or win at least two of the next three games.

Las Angeles Chargers

The Chargers have a respectable defense and a great young quarterback in Justin Herbert, which means there is hope for better seasons for years to come, but this season is going nowhere for them after Week 17. The Chargers’ Week 15 matchup against the Raiders is nothing more than a chance for revenge, an opportunity to spoil the fun of their rivals by snuffing out what is left of the Raiders’ hopes and dreams for a playoff run. If the Raiders are trying to be Cinderella, the Chargers are just one of their evil stepsisters, and, likely, the Chargers will inevitably lose like them, even if the Raiders don’t get their glass slipper before Week 17 comes to an end.

Chargers Offense

The Chargers’ young quarterback, Justin Herbert, has been great in his rookie season, throwing for almost 3,500 yards so far as well as throwing for 24 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions. To put that into perspective, the Seattle Seahawks quarterback, Russell Wilson, has thrown for roughly 3,600 yards this season with 12 interceptions, though he has thrown 12 more touchdown passes and run for a lot more yards than Herbert.

He and his top wide receiver, Kennan Allen, are the keys to the Chargers offense and will have to lead the way against a weak Raiders’ secondary by avoiding turnovers if the Chargers stand any chance of spoiling the Raiders’ season.

Keenan Allen was pulled late in Week 14 for soreness in his back but is listed as questionable going into the Thursday Night game and was a limited participant in practice on Tuesday.

Chargers Defense

The Chargers’ defense isn’t great but it’s not terrible. They’ve forced a respectable amount of turnovers this season with 15 total, six fumble recoveries, and 9 interceptions. The Chargers don’t give up a ton of total yards but they have allowed a lot of scoring. They have allowed 26 touchdowns through the air, but the Chargers are ranked 7th in passing yards allowed while ranking 21st in rushing yards allowed and giving up 13 rushing touchdowns. The Chargers defense might not be great, but it is better than the Raiders’ defense and that might be enough to tip the scale in their Thursday night battle for revenge.

Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders have had a few bad losses this season and Week 14’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts’ was one of them. The Raiders gave up 44 points to the Colts as well as committing three turnovers on offense. The Raiders’ defense allowed 456 total yards and forced no turnovers while the offense only ran the ball for 79 yards. Bad defense and a poor running game is a good recipe for losing and the Raiders need to change that if they have any hope of making a playoff run.

Raiders Offense

Derrick Carr needs to get the interceptions under control. Carr has thrown five interceptions in the past four games, with two of those coming in Week 14’s loss to the Colts.

Darren Waller needs to just keep being Darren Waller, with three of his best games this season coming in the past four games, including an impressive outing against the New York Jets where he brought in 13 receptions for 200 yards and two touchdowns.

However, Josh Jacobs and the Raiders’ receivers need to get more involved to help Carr out if the Raiders are gonna put up the kind of points they need to in order to compensate for their poor defense. Jacobs has not had a 100-yard rushing game since the Raiders’ last victory over the Denver Broncos a month ago and Henry Ruggs will not play as he was just placed on the COVID-19 list.

Raiders Defense

The Raiders are ranked 25th in passing defense and 24th in rushing defense. The Raiders are tied with the Detroit Lions for most rushing touchdowns allowed this season at 21. The lack of good defense has been an issue with the Raiders all season and is the reason they likely will not make it to the playoffs this year, and if they do, they likely will not go far, as they have allowed opponents to score 30 points or more in eight games this season. The defense has been so poor that after their performance against the Colts, the team decided to fire defensive coordinator Paul Guenther. If they are going to stand any chance of winning the rest of the season the Raiders absolutely must straighten things out on defense.

We will see if dumping Guenther was the right call or not.

The Prediction

Derrick Carr’s experience will outmatch the rookie Justin Herbert and Josh Jacobs will get the running game going for the Raiders and pull out a much-needed win to keep their playoff hopes alive. With both defenses being sub-par in this matchup, the better offense with fewer turnovers is going to win the game for their team because the only real bright spot with these defenses is that they can generate turnovers. Derrick Carr is probably going to need to throw less than Justin Herbert and will likely throw fewer interceptions because of the Raiders’ superior rushing attack. Regardless, this game should be fun to watch given the lack of defense on both sides. Expect a high scoring battle as the Raiders defend their playoff hopes from their division rivals.

AJ’S PREDICTION: Chargers 27 - 23

ROBBIE’S PREDICTION: Raiders 30 - 27

Robbie is a sports writer for La Tonique Media.