Raiders at Chargers
THE STORY: The Oakland Raiders need help to reach the postseason for the first time since 2002, but they also must take care of business themselves when they host the AFC West rival San Diego Chargers on Sunday. Oakland, which has lost three of four at home, kept its playoff hopes alive when it ended a three-game losing streak with an overtime win at Kansas City in Week 16. It now must defeat San Diego and have the Chiefs knock off the Denver Broncos to capture the division title. The Raiders also can clinch a wild-card berth with a victory, a loss by Cincinnati and either a win by the New York Jets or a loss by Tennessee. The Chargers saw their postseason chances end last week when their three-game winning streak was halted in Detroit. They look to end a three-game skid against Oakland and avoid their first sub-.500 season since 2003.
TV: CBS, 4:15 p.m. ET. LINE: Raiders -3; O/U: 49.
ABOUT THE CHARGERS (7-8): San Diego had won 13 straight meetings with the Raiders prior to its current slide. It has captured six of its last seven games in Oakland. However, the Chargers have lost four of their last five overall on the road. Philip Rivers, who shares the league lead with a career-high 19 interceptions, needs 186 passing yards to become the fifth player in NFL history to record at least 4,500 yards in consecutive seasons. The others are Dan Fouts, Warren Moon, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees.
ABOUT THE RAIDERS (8-7): Oakland, which held a lead with two minutes remaining against Detroit on Dec. 18 only to lose, nearly had it happen a second straight time last Saturday as Kansas City tied the game with 62 seconds remaining and lined up for a winning field-goal attempt on the final play of the fourth quarter. But Richard Seymour blocked his second kick of the day, and Sebastian Janikowski booted the winner in OT. While running back Darren McFadden is likely to miss his ninth straight game, receiver Jacoby Ford could return from his foot injury as he participated in practice on a limited basis Wednesday. Ford suffered his injury in Oakland's 24-17 win at San Diego on Nov. 10. Cornerback Stanford Routt is likely to be targeted by Rivers as he has been called for pass interference or holding seven times in the last two games.
EXTRA POINTS:
1. The Raiders have won 10 of their last 12 divisional games.
2. Oakland's Michael Bush is 89 yards away from becoming the 11th running back in franchise history to gain 1,000 in a season.
3. Chargers safety Eric Weddle is tied for the league lead with seven interceptions.