Opening the Raiders’ division schedule is the Chargers who come to Oakland in weeks five. The Raiders swept the Chargers last season. They will face them again in week 15 which is a pretty good time for a nice trip to San Diego.
Chargers 2015 numbers
Record: 4-12
Offense rank: 9th
Defense rank: 20th
In the hopes of upgrading their rushing attack, the Chargers drafted Melvin Gordon. His 3.5 yards per carry meant their rushing attack was going nowhere. Much of that can be attributed to having one of the worst offensive lines in football.
Philip Rivers is still carrying the Chargers offense. He was good enough that even with the anemic rushing attack, their offense was still top ten. The passing offense was top five in yards but still couldn’t put points on the board, finishing 26th in the league in scoring.
The defense was not great either, finishing 24th in sacks (32), and their combined 22 turnovers was among the fewest in the NFL as well.
To give us the update on the Chargers, we look to our fellow SB Nation bloggers over at Bolts From the Blue.
Notable free agent additions: NT Brandon Mebane, CB Casey Hayward, WR Travis Benjamin, S Dwight Lowery, OG/C Matt Slauson
Notable free agent departures: TE Ladarius Green, CB Patrick Robinson, S Eric Weddle
Trades: None
Draft picks expected to contribute as rookies: DE Joey Bosa will start at the 5-tech in the base defense, TE Hunter Henry will see a ton of time in 2 TE sets, LB Joshua Perry will challenge Manti Te’o for playing time
Biggest offseason addition: OG/C Matt Slauson
Biggest storyline heading into training camp: Not football-related, it’s still "will this be the Chargers’ last season in San Diego?" Slightly more football-related, it’s "will Joey Bosa get signed in time for training camp or will he continue to holdout?"
Under-the-radar storyline heading into training camp: The return of Ken Whisenhunt as offensive coordinator should see a return to the quick passing game that allowed Philip Rivers to flourish previously.
Notable injuries heading into training camp: OG/C Chris Watt will miss time due to surgery (roster spot could be threatened). RB Melvin Gordon is still recovering from offseason surgery (though appears on schedule).
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