Who is playing Thursday Night Football in Week 15?

Thursday Night Football has had a much better second season on Amazon Prime than its first thanks to a concerted effort from the NFL to give them a higher quality schedule. The general parity of the league means that not every game will be a banger, however, and Week 14 certainly didn't deliver the goods as the New England Patriots won an ugly game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in a battle of backup quarterbacks.

The loss damaged the Steelers' playoff hopes, so there were at least some stakes for football fans who tuned into the game on Thursday. There are some bigger stakes on tap for Week 15's Thursday night game, which is essentially a de facto elimination game for two AFC West rivals.

Who is playing on Thursday Night Football in Week 15?

The Thursday night stage shifts to Las Vegas this week as the 5-8 Raiders play host to the 5-8 Los Angeles Chargers. Both teams enter the matchup two games out of a playoff spot and the loser is likely out of the hunt as it appears extremely unlikely a sub-.500 team can reach the playoffs out of the AFC.

Things took a bad turn for the Chargers on Sunday as they lost quarterback Justin Herbert in the first half of a 24-7 loss to the Denver Broncos due to a broken finger on his right hand. Head coach Brandon Staley said after the game that tests will be needed to determine how long Herbert is out but the quick turnaround to this game makes it likely that Easton Stick will make his first NFL start.

The Raiders are also coming off a bad loss as they fell 3-0 to the Minnesota Vikings in the lowest-scoring NFL game since 2007. All of the good vibes created from interim coach Antonio Pierce's 2-0 start appear to have evaporated as the Raiders have dropped their last three games to put them on the brink of disaster.

This is the second meeting of the season between the two rivals as the Chargers won 24-17 over the Raiders in Los Angeles back in Week 4. A lot has changed between now and then, however, as the Raiders had Josh McDaniels coaching while Herbert started at quarterback for the Chargers.