Raiders Wide Receiver Ford Expects To Play Against Chargers
Raiders wide receiver Jacoby Ford made it through a third straight practice without any setbacks and expects to play in Oakland's regular-season finale against San Diego.
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Raiders wide receiver Jacoby Ford made it through a third straight practice without any setbacks and expects to play in Oakland's regular-season finale against San Diego.
Despite plenty of effort to cure the Oakland Raiders age-old penalty problem, this year's team is on pace to shatter the NFL record for penalties and yards penalized in a season.
A season that has featured its share of emotional wins, crushing losses, the death of longtime owner Al Davis and a series of debilitating injuries comes down to this for Oakland: If the Raiders beat San Diego in the season finale and get some help, they'll end an eight-year playoff drought.
The Oakland Raiders got a big boost for their offense heading into their must-win season finale when big-play receiver Jacoby Ford practiced for the first time in more than a month Wednesday.
Linebacker Patrick Willis, defensive end Justin Smith, cornerback Carlos Rogers and tackle Joe Staley will start for the NFC from the San Francisco 49ers (12-3), who had only Smith and Willis make the Pro Bowl last year.
With a win at home in the finale against San Diego and a little bit of help from some other teams, the Raiders (8-7) can make the playoffs for the first time since their 2002 AFC championship season.
Heyward-Bey beat safety Kendrick Lewis down the left side and Palmer hit him for a 53-yard gain, setting up Sebastian Janikowski's 36-yard field goal 2:13 into overtime Saturday for a 16-13 win that kept the Raiders' playoff hopes alive and eliminated Kansas City from contention.
After spending most of the first two months of the season as Darren McFadden's backup, Michael Bush seemed to have little chance to reach the 1,000-yard milestone coveted by NFL running backs.
Darrius Heyward-Bey has been the target of criticism ever since the Oakland Raiders surprisingly drafted him seventh overall in 2009 ahead of more accomplished receivers, but he's finally showing signs of why the Raiders liked him so much coming out of college.
Oakland Raiders running back Darren McFadden did some light jogging Tuesday but it remains uncertain whether he'll play again this season after being sidelined with an ankle injury since mid-October.
