Chargers Start Season With A Win Against The Raiders

The San Diego Chargers beat the Oakland Raiders last night to end the first week of the 2012 NFL season.

I felt this game was essentially a coin flip as to who would win and was quite surprised that the second half was essentially dominated by the Chargers.

The key to this game was when the Raiders lost their long snapper and they then had 3 botched punts where the Chargers, who got excellent field position in each instance, was still unable to get anything more than a field goal in each instance but that was enough as neither offense looked too overwhelming.

My breakdown...first, the run game... Ronnine Brown was not that good.  He didn't seem to have a natural "instinct" to cut outside when it was open or cut back through the hole if it was closing...he seemed, to me, to take the ball and run the exact route that the play called for, even if it meant running right into the defense.  "Better" running backs see the hole collapsing or no opening and will alter their path to maximize their run...Ronnine Brown didn't seem to do that at all.  I think the Chargers had a total of less than 40 yards of total rushing...many analyst will cite that as a deficiency in the offense and could be the reason for losses later in the season.

Rivers did have time to throw the ball, so the offensive line was able to handle the Raider pass rush...but that doesn't mean the offensive line is good, it was just good in this game.  Rivers looked solid as he spread the ball to a number of receivers.  Robert Meachum, the Chargers big free agent pick up in the offseason has yet to be any sort of factor in games.  Malcolm Floyd made a few nice catches including the Chargers only touchdown reception.

The defense played well.  I thought the secondary did a good job and that is the area with the biggest concern for me...the secondary.  The Chargers did have a few sacks and were able to get some pressure on the Raiders QB, Carson Palmer, and that will certainly help the secondary out.  Atari Bigby, at safety, made a bunch of plays and is a solid defender, if his play continues at this level it will be a big plus for the Chargers.

The Chargers have their home opener this week against the Titans... The Titans took a beating in New England last week and their QB got banged up.  The Chargers, from my observation, didn't look like they had too many injuries and if they can improve, they should be able to handle the Titans at home.