NFL Odds: Oakland Raiders Getting Almost 2 Touchdowns Against San Diego

Here come the San Diego Chargers. Since getting off to a poor 2-5 start, San Diego has rattled off four straight wins. Last week’s 36-14 win at Indianapolis was especially impressive.

The Chargers trail Kansas City by one game for the top spot in the AFC West.

The Oakland Raiders have been crushed by Pittsburgh and Miami the last two weeks, but perhaps a divisional matchup will get the silver and black going again.

Oakland is a perfect 3-0 against AFC West foes this season, including a 35-27 win over San Diego on Oct. 10.

NFL odds makers, however, expect Oakland’s recent struggles to continue, listing the Raiders as a 12.5-point underdog with the total set at 45.5.

Lengthy winning streaks are nothing new for San Diego. The Bolts ended the 2009 regular season with an 11-game run. They appear poised for another lengthy run to conclude their 2010 regular season campaign.

Philip Rivers saw his team-record streak of recording at least one touchdown pass in 23 straight games come to an end last week, but that’s okay with him given the result.

It takes offensive balance to win the Super Bowl more times than not, and running back Mike Tolbert provided that balance last Sunday. The big bruiser broke the century mark for a second straight week while running behind what is perhaps the best offensive line in football.

Rivers and the offense get most of the credit, but the San Diego defense has been downright dominant. The Bolts lead the NFL in total defense (273.5 yards per game), and they rank second and third respectively against the pass (192.5 ypg) and run (81.1 ypg).

Peyton Manning may go down in the record books as the best quarterback in NFL history, but the Chargers made him look plain bad last Sunday. They intercepted him four times, returning two for scores.

In all, San Diego forced five Indy turnovers ...

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