Oakland Vs San Diego: Two Teams, Looking For Direction

On Thursday night, these two teams are playing for second place in the AFC West. Normally, this would be a game with far-reaching implications, because normally the teams in question would be, say, 6-4, or 5-5, jockeying for position in the division. Oakland, is at 3-9, while San Diego is 4-8, one game ahead. Both teams couldn't imagine this, at the beginning of the year. Oakland was looking at advancing a record, that was 4-12 last year but had added Darren McFadden, Javon Walker, DeAngelo Hall, and several others. They would also have the services of JaMarcus Russell for his first full season, after missing most of a rookie year. San Diego, meanwhile was one game from the Super Bowl, and picked by many to go all the way. They had an emerging star in Philip Rivers, a run threat in LT, and a great tight end in Antonio Gates. And the Defense was solid with Shawne Merriman, Antonio Cromartie, etc. Instead, Injuries hit both teams hard. Expectations never panned out, and aside from some ... (link)