Raiders (0-0) AT Chargers (0-0)
When: Sunday, 1:05 p.m.
Where: SoFi Stadium
TV: KCBS-2 (Los Angeles), KLAS-8 (Las Vegas), KFMB-8 (San Diego); KPSP-38 (Palm Springs); Paramount+ (streaming).
Radio: Los Angeles: KYSR-FM (98.7): Las Vegas: KRLV-AM (920); KOMP-FM (92.3); LA Spanish: 105.5 FM/94.3 FM (LA Spanish)
Line: Chargers by -3
Notable injury designations: Chargers: Questionable: CB Tarheeb Still (hip), CB Asante Samuel Jr. (shoulder). OUT: WR DJ Chark (hip)
Raiders: Questionable: Tommy Eichenberg (knee). OUT: CB Decameron Richardson (hamstring), DE Malcolm Koonce (knee), OG Jackson Powers-Johnson
What's at stake? For both teams it means starting the season off with not only a win but a divisional victory that could be crucial in December/January. But individually…
Chargers: It means that the Harbaugh era is off to a good start with a victory and a much needed divisional game in which they haven’t done well in quite some time.
Raiders: The Antonio Pierce era is starting the way they ended the last season with a big victory. There is questions surrounding him that could be answered if he beat Harbaugh’s Chargers.
Who's better? Hard to say because both teams have question marks. The Chargers have questions at receiver, tight end, defensive line, and secondary. The Raiders are at quarterback, secondary, offensive line, and head coach. The Chargers have Justin Herbert and Jim Harbaugh while the Raiders have Maxx Crosby, Davante Adams, and Christian Wilkins. Slight lean with the Chargers.
Matchup to watch: Joe Alt vs. Maxx Crosby. The rookie right tackle is starting off his professional career against a top 3 pass rusher. Having been to Raiders camp, their offense couldn’t get anything done because of how disruptive he was, so Alt has his work cut out for him.
Chargers win if: the offense can put points on the board and sustain drives to tire out the defense. On defense, if they can slow down the run, something they didn’t do well last season, and disrupt Minshew.
Fantasy sleeper: JK Dobbins. There are questions about the Raiders run defense and Dobbins is on a mission to show the league that his previous injuries are a thing of the past. He could have a big day on Sunday.
Prediction: It is the return of Jim Harbaugh to the NFL, his team will come out playing tough on defense and in the words of former coach Mike McCoy, scoring more points than their opponent. Chargers, 24-17.