Monday Night Football: Ravens, Chargers Get Easy Wins in Week 1
By Josh Hill
Chargers at Raiders — 10:15pm ET on ESPN
On the other hand you have the Oakland Raiders, who are worse than the Bengals. Cincinnati actually has a chance to compete this year if they try really hard, the Raiders are just trying to stay relevant. No one knows who their head coach is, people barely remember that Carson Palmer is their quarterback and their only claim to fame is Darren McFadden. When he went down last year, the Raiders faded into oblivion even after getting Palmer.
The Chargers can very much lose this game though, because at their heart they’re really not a spectacular football team. If they were, Phillip Rivers would be like the other two guys taken in his draft class and have a Super Bowl ring by now. Rivers is like that kid in high school who always talked about doing bigger and better things, the I can’t wait to get out of here and be someone kid. But like most of those kids, he’s a little fish in an ocean and he’s been eaten alive more than once.
Look at that MNF game against the Cheifs last year where he imploded. Case and point in a career chalk full of those moments.
He’s lucky the Raiders are so bad, and for some reason we’re all still giving Rivers the benefit of the doubt, like the girlfriend that not only goes back to but openly defends her abusive boy toy.
Rivers is that boy toy. River is a boy toy, not a quarterback. And he has yet to prove otherwise.
I can flail my arms and shout really loud at people too, but no one is mistaking me for a quarterback and I throw less interceptions than Rivers. It takes a bad thrower to make Jay Cutler blush, but Rivers is trying his hardest to do that. If Rivers doesn’t shape up this year, I wouldn’t be against the Chargers cutting ties with not only Norm van Loses Every Meaningful Game, but Rivers as well.
Look it’s not like the Chargers gave away the farm to get Rivers, they were the ones who got everything from New York to give up Eli. Matt Barkley is coming to the NFL next year and it’s not a far drive from the Coliseum to San Diego. Get a new coach, get Barkley and the Chargers are set. They have a young running back in Mathews, tanking this year gives him a full season to rest up and get his bearings before exploding next year with Barkley under center.
It’s a long shot, but if the Chargers are going to be mediocre anyways, why not suck hard for one season and ensure you’re competitive in the future rather than getting bit players with mid to late first round picks?
Whoa, sorry I blacked out there for a second. Yeah, the Raiders are no good and if the Chargers are at all respectable as a football team, or want to be perceived as such, they’ll win. Besides, Boomer is calling the game so that’s bound to scare off 90 percent of the country who will choose a full night of sleep over Berman’s announcing.