***SWAMPACLAUS XMAS EVE TNF SPECIAL - SD @ OAK***
***SAN DIEGO CHARGERS @ OAKLAND RAIDERS***
HO HO HOOOOO SwampaClaus in the house baby! Tonight is Xmas Eve and the NFL has been kind enough to schedule a fun AFC West division battle between the Chargers and the Raiders. Both of these teams no longer have any playoff hopes but a man's pride is always on the line, especially in the spotlight! That being said Swampy is thinking Christmas is a little Black and Silver this year with the home team Raiders possibly playing their last home game ever if they are indeed the franchise to pick up and move to L.A. While that all remains to be seen, we already witnessed how the other two teams in this same exact situation, the Rams and Chargers channel the motivation to send their fans off the right way with one last home win just in case the move does take place. Tonight I expect the same maxiumum effort to come from the Raiders who are also going to have the fact that 1st Ballot Hall of Famer Charles Woodson just announced his retirement to feed off of for some bonus energy as well. That all being said, I really like the Raiders to play their best game tonight on the big stage and beat the Bolts. As I just mentioned the Chargers are coming off of a HUGE emotional win at home against the lowly Dolphins squad who I think pretty much just laid down after exerting all of their energy in an effort to beat the Giants on MNF at home the week prior and failed to do so. That being said, although the Chargers were able to capitlize on this and stomp the Phins last week, I think one must take this win with a grain of salt. San Diego has had offensive line struggles all year and their run game has been pretty much anemic. I expect the young stud ProBowl LB Khalil Mack to take full advantage of this. I see him having a big night and being in QB Phillip Rivers face all game long limiting the Charger passing game. Young Raider QB Derek Carr really has come into his own this year and definitely let us all know that he and his young WR core are going to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. I do believe the Chargers defense will come to play as they are finally getting healthy and this is a Prime Time game afterall. Despite the fact that the Bolts got whooped by Oakland in their last go round, Carr will eventually find his targets through the air to hand the Chargers a loss, and send the Black and Silver faithful off with an early Christmas present tonight!
DAAA RRRAAAIIIIIDAAAAZZZZZZZZ -5.5
