Week ten of the 2011 NFL season is upon us and that means the return of Thursday Night Football. The Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers will square off tonight in a game that has significant ramifications in the AFC West. The Chargers, Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs are all 4-4 and looking to gain some ground on each other. This week features Raiders-Chargers tonight and Chiefs-Broncos on Sunday. We could have two teams tied for first by Sunday afternoon, or we could have one team in first and three teams tied for second.
Short weeks are always difficult to handle for teams given recovery time needed following a brutal Sunday football game. But of course it provides another prime time revenue opportunity for the NFL, so these are not going away anytime soon. Tonight's game features the announcing duo of Brad Nessler and Mike Mayock. I have to say I'm looking forward to this duo. Nessler is a solid college announcer and Mayock knows plenty about football to provide some sound insight.
I think the Chargers end up with a ten or so point victory over the Raiders, but you never know what can happen in a short week. The Raiders are trying to get Carson Palmer on track and I actually think he could have a solid game tonight. Whether it's enough to beat the Chargers is another question entirely. Philip Rivers and the Chargers could have a field day against the Raiders defense. I think we could be looking at a potential shootout.