Oakland and the Los Angeles Chargers both come into Sunday’s game ranked in the Top 10 in total offence. The matchup between AFC West rivals is likely to come down to who has the greatest success running the ball.
Both teams had a 100-yard rusher in their wins last week. The Raiders’ Marshawn Lynch had 130 yards in a 45-42 overtime victory over Cleveland, while the Chargers’ Melvin Gordon gained 104 yards on the ground in a 29-27 win over San Francisco.
Lynch and Gordon are both ranked in the Top 10 in rushing. Lynch is fourth with 300 yards and has shown flashes of being back to the level he displayed in Seattle from 2011-14, when he had four straight 1,000-yard seasons. Gordon is seventh with 276 yards.
Both players are showing they are physical runners in different ways. Lynch has generated 77.3 per cent of his yards after contact according to SportRadar, the highest percentage among the top 24 backs. Gordon is tied for third in broken tackles with 12.
“There’s not a lot of backs that can say they run the football like he does. He still has elusiveness and speed,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said about Lynch. “This guy likes the physical grind and I think he feeds off of it.”
Gordon is also making an impact in the passing game as he is tied for the Chargers’ lead in receptions with 17. That has allowed him to lead the AFC in yards from scrimmage with 475.
“He’s really done a great job as a receiver and really been a factor to make huge plays for us,” Chargers offensive co-ordinator Ken Whisenhunt said. “I think he has been driven to get his game to another level, and I think we’re seeing the benefit to that. He’s worked hard. He’s studied it.”
Both teams are looking for a win to avoid falling to 0-2 in division games. Quarterback Philip Rivers said the Chargers need to start stringing together wins to avoid falling further behind unbeaten Kansas City.