SAN DIEGO (-3) at OAKLAND -- Hogging the spotlight
Now are Randy Moss' comments about how everyone in Oakland is "walking on eggshells" with the arrival of head coach Art Shell, and that Shell is mismanaging the receiver corps. Well, about the "eggshells," that's a good thing. Intensity suffered under Norv Turner, and Shell has brought more discipline along with an added sense of urgency to the situation. Either you do it right, or you're going to be shipped out. Moss is chiefly referring to Jerry Porter's presence in Shell's doghouse, as well as the trade of wide receiver Doug Gabriel to the Patriots. The truth of the matter is, most Oakland players are very happy Shell is now on the scene, and to a man, have respect for the NFL Hall of Famer. It took only four pre-season games for this team to rack up more interceptions than it did all of last year. And Shell looks more committed to ramming the ball down people's throats with running back Lamont Jordan. No telling where all this is going to wind up, but at least the Silver and Black should take some more pride in playing at home, where they've gone just 5-11 SU and 4-12 ATS the last two years. Against the Chargers, Aaron Brooks, who can move around in the pocket, is a preferable alternative to Kerry Collins, who couldn't. And yes, count on Moss to be more productive. San Diego fans are boasting of a front seven that rivals anything in football, but the secondary needs to show improvement over its performance of last year, when it picked off just ten passes and ranked 28th in the league in pass defense. Ladanian Tomlinson did not get any action in the pre-season, and Charger receivers will find that Philip Rivers is a bit different than working with the heady Drew Brees. In this situation, we won't lay this many points on the road with a quarterback making his first NFL start.
THE PLAY: OAKLAND **
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