Gästearea / Bannertausch » Five key match-ups for Raiders vs Chargers

The more I think about this game Cheap Johnny Townsend Jersey , the more crucial it seems. The Raiders desperately need a win and they desperately need to show last week was the start of something, not a flare up that fizzles out. And this is a division rival, which makes it doubly important. These match-ups will be key to the outcome.Brandon Parker vs Melvin IngramMaking his first start for the Raiders will be third round rookie Brandon Parker. Just a few months ago he was at North Carolna A&T. Now he’s tasked with protecting Derek Carr at the right tackle spot. He will do that against one of the league’s premiere pass rushers. Ingram will play a fair share of snaps on both sides, so Kolton Miller isn’t out of the woods here. But you can bet the Chargers will put their best pass rusher against the more vulnerable Parker to try give themselves their best chance to get home.Ingram has 1.5 sacks through the first four games, but even without his partner in crime Joey Bosa on the other side, he still wreaks havoc. Just last week Derwin James got to the quarterback twice. The first was a sack and Ingram was right there as well, giving 49ers QB CJ Bethard nowhere to go. Ingram may have deserve half a sack for that. When James got to the QB again, it was as he threw and there was Ingram to get a hand on the pass and tip it into the arms of teammate Isaac Rochell. Parker will have a tough match-up to start his career.Amari Cooper vs Casey HaywardLate last week, Coop got over on former Raiders’ cornerback TJ Carrie. That had a lot to do with the fact that the Browns lost cornerbacks Terrence Mitchell and EJ Gaines, thrusting Carrie into covering the boundary. Prior to Gaines’ departure in the third quarter, Coop had just 3 catches for 37 yards and none of those came on outstanding rookie Denzel Ward.The Chargers lost one of their top cornerbacks before the season with Jason Verrett being lost for the season. That leaves current 2-time Pro Bowl cornerback Casey Hayward to stop Coop. We have seen Coop step up with big games twice this season. We’ve also seen him disappear in the other two. His performance vs Hayward will be key.Derek Carr vs Derwin JamesJames has been a revelation for the Chargers. Not that anyone should be surprised. The only surprise was that he was actually still on the board after the Raiders traded down from 10 to 14 in the first round and the Chargers were able to snag James with pick right after. James is a certified baller at the safety spot. He does pretty much everything well. It’s why you see him wherever the ball is on any given play. He even has 3.0 sacks in four games this season, which is impressive for anyone and is downright unheard of for a safety.Carr’s targets will all be affected by James’s presence. Whether it’s looking for a receiver deep – he was intercepted by Browns’ safety Damarious Randall last week on a deep ball attempt to Martavis Bryant --- trying to get the ball to Jared Cook, or keeping from getting sacked on a blitz. Carr will have to keep an eye out for James on any given play.Marquel Lee vs Melvin GordonGordon is the Chargers’ top weapon on offense. He is a threat out of the backfield either as a runner or a receiver, leading the team with 475 yards on 78 touches from scrimmage (6.1 yards per touch) and 5 touchdowns. Tahir Whitehead was supposed to be the Raiders’ top linebacker this season www.oaklandraidersteamonline.com , but he has not done well so far. While Lee was expected to see few snaps behind Derrick Johnson and has thus far stepped up as probably the best hope the Raiders have at the linebacker spot. It didn’t seem to matter much who was at linebacker last week against the Browns. Rookie Nick Chubb had 105 yards on three carries (!) including two long touchdown runs of 63 and 41 yards, while Carlos Hyde added 82 yards and a touchdown. Gordon has proven more talented than either of those players.Arden Key vs Sam TeviIt’s time. Key has shown improvement over the first four games, and had his best game last week. But he still has yet to put up a sack. Rivers is not easy to sack. He has a quick release with very minimal drawback in his awkward delivery. But he’s not as elusive as Baker Mayfield was last week. The rookie third round rookie pass rusher (87 overall) is unlikely to face off against former Raiders third round (92 overall) tackle Joe Barksdale. Barksdale is doubtful for the game after having missed the past three games for the Chargers. Replacing Barksdale again is expected to be 2017 6th round pick Sam Tevi. Rivers has been sacked four times in the past three games, and Tevi gave up two of them along with a pressure that led to a third. That should raise the chances of Key getting that elusive first sack. With just five sacks on the season, the Raiders could certainly use it.Follow @LeviDamien The shelf life for running backs in the modern NFL is short. Get drafted, start playing and hope to get a second contract. By the time most backs reach their 30s, they're typically out of the league living in retirement.Frank Gore and Marshawn Lynch are defying those odds, still producing at the respective ages of 35 and 32. The two will share a field on Sunday when Lynch's Oakland Raiders (0-2) visit Gore and the Miami Dolphins (2-0)."That's my man. Marshawn is my man," Gore said this week. "I know him. He's a friend of mine. I love the way he plays the game of football. I'm happy that he came back because I knew that he still could play the game. I'm happy that a dude who came in back when I came in is still going. That's a plus for us."Gore has carried 18 times for 86 yards this season. He moved into fourth place on the career rushing list last week, passing Hall of Famer Curtis Martin with 14,112 yards in his career.Only Hall of Famers Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and Barry Sanders are ahead of Gore, who has never led the NFL in rushing but has 12 straight seasons with at least 800 yards. Only Smith was more consistent in his career with 13 straight 800-yard seasons."He is one of my favorites," said Raiders coach Jon Gruden Oakland Raiders T-Shirt , who faced Gore twice when he coached in Tampa Bay more than a decade ago. "He has been able to adapt and prove that he can play in any offense. He's been one of the great two-back I (formation) runners that I've seen in my time as a coach. Then (QB) Alex Smith came along and they morphed into a shotgun operation. He played with (QB Colin) Kaepernick, he proved that he could play in that style of offense. Did some really good things, quietly, in Indianapolis, I think. It's really cool to see him back in Miami where it all started."Lynch, who sat out the 2016 season, has 29 carries for 106 yards the first two weeks and has scored touchdowns in each game. On Oakland's opening drive of the season, Lynch scored on a 10-yard run against the Rams. He was stood up at the 3 but still managed to bowl his way into the end zone with help from a rugby-style push from his offensive linemen."I know this, he's extremely hard to tackle still," Dolphins coach Adam Gase said. "He almost popped out a big one last week again. He's a dangerous guy to deal with. He's a big man that does not like to touch the ground. I've seen him way too much it seems like."The Raiders want to see even more out of Lynch this week as they try for their first win of the season. He went from 11 carries in the opener to 18 last week in Denver, but still has only one run longer than 10 yards.Right tackle Donald Penn said that's more of a reflection on the way the line has blocked than how Lynch has run."We need to help him out a lot more," Penn said. "We have to be more consistent. We kind of have that roller-coaster thing going again, like we have in the past. But when we're consistent he's looking really good. But he is doing a lot of good things for us. Our main thing is to just try and get him to the second level. When he gets to the second level, I would bet on him against anybody."The only other running back age 32 or older with more than five carries the first two weeks is 33-year-old Adrian Peterson Oakland Raiders Hats , who has 37 carries for 116 yards in Washington so far.This is not new for Gore and Lynch, who were the two most productive running backs in their 30s last year, with Gore leading the old-timers with 961 yards and Lynch close behind at 891.Gore has rushed for 5,273 yards since turning 30 in 2013, a total topped only by Smith (5,789) and John Riggins (5,683). Gore has a chance to top that list by the end of this season."I still want to have success," Gore said. "I still feel good. I still feel I can play with the young guys. Like I said, when my number gets called, I try my best to make some plays."NOTES: Raiders DT P.J. Hall is out for Sunday's game with an ankle injury. ... CB Nick Nelson is questionable with an injured hamstring.AP Sports Writer Steven Wine in Miami contributed to this report