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The Raiders fired their coach before the duel against the

The guests won eight out of nine matches of the regular part of the season. They're enjoying in a series of four wins where they scored 20.9 points and 389.0 yards per game

Oakland Raiders are starting from scratch again. After they were crushed by the Dolphins in London two weeks ago, they fired the coach Dennis Allen whose leadership lead the team to start the season with four consecutive defeats, for the first time since 2006. Counting the last season, the Raiders lost 10 games in a row, so it's no wonder they decided to turn over a new leaf. Tony Sparano was made a temporary coach, he was an assistant coach and the offensive liners coach until recently. 

- I'm proud of the guys because of how they were this week. Obviously, this isn't an easy situation for anyone, but they're dealing with it like professionals. It's part of our job, but they managed to leave distractions aside and practice hard - Sparano stated.

There are no doubts about the starting quarterback. If his knee and ankle allow it, Derek Carr will be in the center tonight, but it's questionable whether that'll be good news for the Raiders since rookie completed only 63.2% of assists for 734 yards, four touchdowns with as many cut balls.

- If his injuries don't get worse or something like that, Derek will start. We take one day at a time. We'll see what will happen - Sparano said. His team score only 12.8 points. 

As soon as he got the job, Sparano promised dedication to the game on the ground, something Raiders couldn't really pull off this season. Actually, they're the last in the league with 61.5 rushing yards. Darren McFaden collected only 151 yards in 45 carries, and the injuries prevented Maurice Jones-Drew to get more than 11.

The Raiders were supposed to benefit from the free week, so they could consolidate the miserable defense that allows 25.8 points, but on Wednesday, they find out they won't be able to count on the linebacker Nick Roach till the end of the season. Since Kaluka Maiava is also on the injured list, Miles Burris will direct the middle of the second line of defense. Some positive news were that the outside linebacker Sio Moore might be back, he missed the previous two matches.

The Raiders lost six games in a row at home, and that tradition will hardly be ended tonight because the "hot" San Diego Chargers are coming to the O.co Coliseum. They won eight out of the last nine games of the regular part, counting the last season, too. The Chargers got their fourth consecutive win last Sunday when they crushed the Jets 31-0 at home, and it didn't take long before the experts started naming them the best team of the season so far.

- Maybe we'll get some new problems in the future, but I think we showed how tough we are through these first five weeks - Philip Rivers said. He completed 70.3% passes for 1.443 yards, 12 touchdowns with only two cut balls.

The great start by the Chargers means even more when you consider their injury problems. There are real chances that tonight, the fourth center will go out after Doug Legursky earned a knee injury against the Jets, one that will have him miss the rest of the season. The rookie Chris Watt should replace him, and if he doesn't prove himself, there's Trevor Robinson who was brought from Cincinnati on a short notice. 

- We're trying out a few of them. The healthiest guy who gives us the best chance to win will play - coach Mike McCoy commented. His team would have had a perfect ratio if they didn't miss the 11 point advantage (18-17) against the Cardinals.

The Chargers lost their running back Donald Brown last week, he took the role of the started after Ryan Mathews was injured in the second week. Since Danny Woodhead is also missing, the undrafted rookie Branden Oliver got his chance. He collected 114 yards in 19 carries, and had four receives for additional 68 yards and a TD. To have a plan B, they also signed the veteran Ronnie Brown who was fired from the Texans last week. The Chargers know his qualities well because he played 30 games for them 2012-2013.

Despite all the absences, the Chargers outplayed their opponents with the convincing 116-45 during the positive streak. In that period, they had 29.0 points and 389.0 yards per game. At the same time, they could rely on the tough defense the whole time, a defense that limited their opponents to 12.6 points and 290.8 yards this season.

History shows they shouldn't have problems with the lost guest team, they celebrated in the eight out of the last ten visits to the nearby Oakland.

I have to admit this margin surprised me. In the first four games, the Raiders scored 14 points three times and 9 once, and in the meantime, they lost the main coach and will start this game with a rookie quarterback who's got knee and ankle injury, and who wasn't brilliant even when he was completely healthy. As soon as he got the temporary coach job, Tony Sparano promised dedication to the ground game which means faster flow of time, and it's a big question if the offense will work at all since there's a very decent defense opposite of them. The Chargers aren't brilliant at anything, but they're good in everything at the same time. Only the current champions scored over 18 points (21) against them, while the other four opponents were limited to 18, 14, 10 and 0. Philip Rivers plays the best football of his career and I believe he'll keep the ball in his possession for a good part of the game, like he did in the previous weeks. With some bookmakers, there are odds on a number of touchdowns by the home team, with similar odds, but they'll hardly have more than two.