Good analysis and I'm glad you picked us to win for a change. One note, I'm not sure Garay will play this game..... he's just started practicing again, so he's a question mark for Monday night. Ingram is a beast and will hound Palmer into mistakes.
Welcome to the regular season, Em! Agree with what Blue said above. In addition ... Stop McFadden. I think we can handle Oakland's passing attack, but the ground game concerns me a bit. Can't let McFadden get outside. I predict 4 sacks on Palmer, 2 by Ingram. Our OL is going to need help, most likely in the form of McMichael and/or McClain. Rivers will get a few shots downfield, but I see a lot of 3 step drops, dump-offs, & quick slants in the Chargers game plan this week. 24-17 Chargers
For me, the real wild card is McFadden. His first two seasons he looked like he may be headed for "bust." 2010 he ran much better...for 5.2 a carry, but continued to have injury issues. 2011 he looked like an all pro (5.4 ypc) but then suffered yet another injury...which was sold as minor, and the story was that he'd be back soon. His return date just kept getting pushed back, and he never stepped on the field again after their 7th game. So who is the 2012 Darren McFadden? If he returns to the form of early last season, well, I think the Chargers' D is improved, but not enough that it won't be a long, unhappy night, trying to catch a strong, speedy DM. But he hasn't shown yet that he is all the way back. And he still has a rep as a china doll... Ryan Mathews looks (durability-wise) like freakin' Emmitt Smith, by comparison. I think McFadden is the key...and I have no idea what to expect from him.
Liked your work Em... Except when you talked about the Raiders... I think there are a lot of unknowns in this game. For me the bigest one is how the restructured defensive mid field will handle the Raiders. If Ingram and the young LBs can get pressure and make hits the Chargers will win.
