The Raiders have some crippling injuries in the secondary. It has reached the level that the recently signed from his living room Lito Sheppard will be starting at corner.

The situation at safety is looking as grim as the one at corner. Huff is really banged up. He will likely play, but be somewhat limited. Giordano should play, but he also has injury concerns.

Mike Mitchell may or may not play, and Ndukwe was not going to be able to back him up. The Raiders needed some healthy body to be available. So....

The Raiders have to blitz their way through this. They can't allow Rivers time to pick apart their battered secondary. They found great success blitzing Rivers last year, and teams are finding success blitzing him this year.

As for injured players that are attempting to go.....

We already knew McFadden wouldn't be playing. And that puts the burden of the ground game into the capable hands of Michael Bush. The big question is: who will be blocking for him?

Needless to say, the Raiders enter this pivotal game in less than an optimal position. It is time to see if they are ready to quit, or ban together and elevate their play because of it.