Chargers Can't Overlook Winless Raiders

As the Chargers look on the schedule and see a winless Oakland Raiders squad coming up, the easy thing to do would be to look past their last-place division rivals and toward a brutal stretch of the upcoming schdule.

To their credit, the Bolts give the impression that their focus is clearly on Sunday's game against their in-state foe.

“They play us tough every year,” said safety Eric Weddle. “It’s a divisional game. They have weapons on offense, defense and special teams. We just gotta play our ball together.”

The Chargers have won five of the last six meetings, including a 31-28 victory in Oakland earlier this season. But that game was much closer than expected, as have a few of the Raiders’ other losses.

That includes a near-win against the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks two weeks ago and a close shave against the New England Patriots at the end of September.

Still, the 0-9 record sticks out to just about everyone – except Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who threw out a classic sports cliché when talking about the AFC West rival.

“I really believe you throw the record out the window and as players we don’t get caught up in all of that,” Rivers said. “It’s the NFL.”

After dropping four straight games, including an embarrassing 37-0 loss to the Miami Dolphins going into last week’s bye, safety Eric Weddle wants to get the nasty taste of defeat out of his mouth.

“Any team right now would be a great team to play,” he said. “We need to get a win. Guys are more excited to get back on the field.”

He said the defense’s top priority is getting to rookie quarterback Derek Carr, who torched the Bolts for 282 yards and four touchdowns in their first meeting this year. Carr is completing 61.1 percent of his passes for just over 205 yards a game -- certainly not All-Pro numbers, but not bad for a rookie.

“We just have to play better defensively. We have to hit him,” Weddle said. “We have to make things as difficult as possible with our four-man rush and make him second-guess himself. That’s where we’ll make some plays.”

While fans may put an added emphasis on playing the in-state rival, Rivers said he doesn’t feel that much more pressure with the Raiders rivalry.

“It’s a division game,” he said. “I don’t feel it any more than with the Chiefs or Broncos, to be honest with you."

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