The Oakland Raiders need an awful lot of things to happen to make the 2012 NFL Playoffs. While they need teams like the Bengals, Titans and Broncos to lose their games in Week 17, they also have to beat the team that's in front of them: the San Diego Chargers. There's a couple different ways to look at this game, and it starts with the Chargers and their motivation.
San Diego is out of the playoff race and that could mean they're not going to play hard. Then again, the Raiders are rivals, and the Chargers might enjoy spoiling their shot at a playoff berth. The NFL has set up the final weeks of the season with division games with the hopes that they could be significant to two teams battling for the division, but it creates an equal opportunity for a last ditch-effort to screw the other team.
Though San Diego might actually be a better team on paper suffering through a down year, Odds Shark has the opening lines for the game - with the Raiders being favored by a field goal. That line is maintained through most of the odds sites. They also suggest betting the over due to Oakland's strengths there in December.