The Oakland Raiders haven’t done much to get fans excited so far in 2014, but the firing of Dennis Allen at least offers promise for change. Interim coach Tony Sparano buried a football in practice to symbolize the team leaving a rough start in the past. Looking ahead to Week 6, Oakland at the very worst brings value to the table for their fans, as Raiders tickets are some of the least expensive in the league on the secondary market. The average price for Raiders vs San Diego Chargers tickets is currently $104.69 with a get-in price of $31. The average is 19% below the season average at O.co Coliseum this year.
While Oakland will be pumped up to topple the Bolts this week, Raiders fans may not truly appreciate the value unless the Silver and Black actually get the win. It’d be their first of the year, too, and could give a faint sign that the Raiders could still turn things around.
To do so, their top-five pass defense will have to show up in a big way. Philip Rivers has been borderline flawless in just about every game this year, so it will take a great game plan and execution to rattle him early and force him into mistakes. On top of worrying about Rivers going off, though, Oakland also has to figure out a way to contain the tiny and shifty Branden Oliver. The undrafted rookie went nuts on a stout New York Jets run defense last week (180+ total yards), and that’s not something Oakland’s 31st ranked run defense can afford to let happen.
On offense, Derek Carr simply needs to take more shots down the field. Oakland’s offense to this point has been rather vanilla, leading to defenses easily predicting plays and stopping the Raiders from putting up many points. Suddenly bursting out against San Diego’s third ranked overall defense won’t be easy, but if the Raiders are going to have a chance at home this week, that’s exactly what will have to happen.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
