It's that time of year again. Time to make that trip to QualComm. Nobody's in the mood for kool aid right now, so let's just be blunt. There's NO reason to think we're going to beat San Diego on Thursday night. Not after the way they played Green Bay so tough yesterday.  Two pick sixes for Rivers, and they still only lose by a TD? And not after the performance we just witnessed at the Coliseum. They don't make kool aid strong enough to overcome that. Or when they do, they usually call it something like "screwdriver"or "rum punch".

I'm a Raider Homer, but not so much of a homer that I'm predicting victory on Thursday, however...

I have a question for you all. Did any of you go Christmas shopping on Dec. 5, last year? I did. I was trying to get it out of the way, and the Raiders were playing at QualComm. I figured they'd already spent their quota of good fortune vs. the Bolts in week 5, and well, probably more important to get that shopping done then watch what was going to happen when our guys got to San Diego. No doubt the Chargers would be wanting revenge. We'd fought tooth and nail in that one. And in the final seconds:

"Philip Rivers fumbled. Tyvon Branch recovered fumble and returned for 64 yards (Sebastian Janikowski made PAT)"

Oakland 35
San Diego 27

At the Coliseum

Yes, you remember that one. Grad started, got hurt, and Campbell came in and put up a respectable 10-17, 1 TD, 0 INTs. Which of you expected to win that one, before the game? If you seriously did and are not just saying so then good for you. But going to SD and playing them in their house is a different thing, isn't it?

So I stopped in a coffee shop after fighting my way through lines, while trying to stay in the budget and not come up with the lamest gifts possible. Terrible coffee, but good donuts. And lo and behold, they're watching the Raiders game. I didn't want to look up at the screen. It was Christmas time, it'd a been a long day and I was no mood for bad news. Then the guy behind the counter flat out tells me, "the Raiders are winning."

What?? But yep, they're up 21-3. I couldn't hang out at the coffee shop all day, but I did watch some of it. And when I finally got home:

The Yahoo recap: "Raiders stun Chargers 28-13"

In San Diego

And damn, I should have stayed home and watched the game. Except the shopping had to get done.

Now seriously, did any of you predict victory before that one? No, I said seriously. If you did, then you're a bigger homer than I am. Or you're flat out lying because the Chargers had just beaten the Colts the week before WITH Manning. Rivers didn't even throw a TD pass, and they still put up 36 points.

So what's the moral of the story? Who said there was a moral, this is football. Actually there is a moral. It's that anything can happen, and while I won't get your hopes up for Thursday, just remember than anything can happen. Even at Qualcomm.