Week four has the Raiders face their second division rival of the season. They slipped by with a 17-16 victory in Denver to open the season. This one proves to be a tougher task. And these matchups could be the key to whether the Raiders are able to get things on track.
Keenan Allen vs Nate Hobbs
Most teams’ best receiver is primarily an outside receiver. Not so with the Chargers. Allen lines up primarily in the slot and that’s Hobbs’s territory. The third-year cornerback once again looks like the best defensive back on the Raiders team, and this week he will get one of his toughest tests of the season in the five-time Pro Bowler.
Kellen Moore vs Patrick Graham
One of the hottest names in the league among offensive coordinators versus a DC who has made three QBs this season look better than they had in any other game they’ve played. Russell Wilson looked like he may have a resurgent season before facing any other defense, Josh Allen bounced back in a big way in week two after a rough season opener, and Kenny Pickett looked like an NFL starter.
Every week this season, Justin Herbert’s numbers have improved, so he doesn’t even need a bounce back game. All he has to do is continue on his current trajectory and if Graham can’t scheme to stop that momentum, this one will get ugly fast for the Raiders.
Jermaine Eluemunor vs Joey Bosa
Eluemunor looked like he was having a decent season over the first couple weeks. That was until he faced TJ Watt and gave up two sacks to him. Yeah, Watt has a way of doing to dudes, but so too does Joey Bosa. And the veteran edge rusher will be looking to get some of that action Sunday.
Andre James vs Chargers interior DL
The Chargers DL terrorized Vikings QB Kirk Cousins last week. When they weren’t getting the sack or the pressure, they were setting up the ends and linebackers to get theirs. Defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day had a sack on Sunday, and should have had two if the NFL would figure out that forcing an intentional grounding should be counted as a sack too.
The Intentional grounding sack was set up by Nick Williams dragging the center into the guard and Joseph-Day coming up the gut on the stunt. Last week we saw Andre James gets thrown onto his face on a swim move by Keanu Benton to give up a quick sack to the second round rookie. James is gonna have to work on facing that move, because you can bet a couple of Chargers DL are fixing to test him on it.
Justin Herbert vs Raider Nation
This looks like the first real home field advantage the Raiders will have this season. Heck, it could be their only home field advantage of the first half of this season. Which is crazy to say considering this is supposed to be in the Chargers’ house.
But really, LA has been the home of Raider Nation for the past 40 years. And with the Chargers still trying desperately to gain a foothold in the LA market, that will continue. The fan ratio is expected to be something along the lines of 65-35 in favor of the Raiders.
It has to be disheartening for the Chargers to lose their homefield like this. Much like the Raiders did last week in their supposed home opener where Steelers fans took over Allegiant. Herbert will have to deal with crowd noise more than Jimmy Garoppolo will in this one.
