Raiders vs. Chargers 2013, Week 16: Philip Rivers keeps San Diego’s playoff hopes alive

Mathews injured his ankle in the third quarter and left the stadium after the game in a protective walking boot. In between those two moments, the former first round pick out of Fresno State propelled San Diego with tough running, bringing his rushing yards to 1,111 for the season, a new career-high.

Coach Mike McCoy was appreciative of Mathews’ effort, per the story:

Both teams seemed to escape without any serious injuries.

The Chargers were 10-point favorites, according to OddsShark.com, so they did manage to cover.

Both coaches have a lot riding on their Week 16 matchup in San Diego; it’s only the stakes that are different.

Nobody has coached in Oakland for three full seasons since Jon Gruden from 1998 to 2001. Allen has only 30 games under his belt, but the quick trigger of the Raiders to say “out with the old and in with the new” doesn’t seem to bode well for him at the moment. A win on Sunday would at least give Allen more wins in Year 2 than he had in Year 1.

Game Date/Time and Location: Sunday, Dec. 22, 4:25 p.m. ET at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, Calif.

TV schedule and distribution map: CBS; The506.com

The Chargers are listed as a 10.5-point favorite by CBS Sports. For three of the five CBS Sports panel members, the spread is far too large. However, when picking straight up, the entire crew went with the Chargers for Sunday’s game. The two-man panel on Showtime’s “Inside The NFL” is a clean sweep with Cris Collinsworth and Phil Simms picking San Diego.

SB Nation’s six-man panel voted 5-1 in favor of the Chargers. Former NFL defensive end Stephen White was the only panelist to pick the Raiders.

The Chargers are, as expected, heavy favorites. San Diego opened as the 9.5-point favorite for the matchup, but the lines have only moved further in its favor throughout the week. Some sites have the Chargers favored by as much as 11.5 points, according to OddsShark.

San Diego is definitely benefiting from home-field advantage when it comes to the lines, but they’d be favored by at least a touchdown even on the road. The over/under for the matchup opened at 50.5 points. That total has gone over in six of Oakland’s last seven games and under in seven of San Diego’s last 10.