The 4-4 Oakland Raiders host the 4-5 Los Angeles Chargers in a Thursday Night Football game featuring two division rivals fighting for second place in the AFC West.
Week 10 seems about right for an AFC West clash between two longtime rivals. The Oakland Raiders, sitting at 4-4 play the Los Angeles Chargers who are 4-5 and looking like a team facing serious questions in the second half of the season.
Earlier this week, reports were that the Chargers were a team being highly considered for a move that would place them as the NFL’s local brand in London. The organization made a blunt rebuttal to those reports.
That said, it’s another needless distraction for a team who is in open waters with no following in LA, and no promise for much better this season. Sitting one game under .500, football for the Bolts doesn’t seem promising.
Enter the Raiders. Oakland is something of an upstart after a disappointing if not predictable 2018. In year two of the Jon Gruden experiment, things look not just promising, but downright rosy. Rookie running back Josh Jacobs has been outstanding and quarterback Derek Carr might be winning Gruden over. The defense is solid and November could springboard them into January football.
Fortunately, the AFC West will serve up some winnable games for the Silver and Black before all is said and done. With three games against the division after Week 10, the Raiders may do better than just second place in the West, they may be a legitimate AFC Wild Card team.