Oakland Raiders, 28 – San Diego Chargers, 31
Coming off a bye week, Oakland looked to be rested and ready to post their first win of the season. In fact, in their very first possession, it took only three plays (and 52 seconds) for Derek Carr to find Andre Holmes for a 77-yard touchdown pass. With the extra point courtesy of Sebastian Janikowski, the Raiders had a seven point lead. The hometown fans were elated.
The Chargers are no doormat, so there was no surprise when on their first possession, they answered with a Philip Rivers to Eddie Royal 29-yard TD pass plus Nick Novak extra point to even things up with 9:44 on the clock. San Diego next found its footing in a drive which spanned the first/second quarter. Beginning at their own 15, they used smart passing and their running back, Branden Oliver, to punch holes in Oakland’s defense and end with a 5-yard Rivers to Malcolm Floyd touchdown pass to up the ante, 14-7. Oakland answered right back with an 11 play, 76-yard drive topped by a Derek Carr to James Jones 7-yard TD score to stay in the game, 14-14. Late in the second quarter, Oakland misses an opportunity to go ahead when Janikowski’s 53-yard attempt veered left. If only we had known what was to come.
The Raiders offense and defense units appeared fired up for the third quarter. The defense brought the Chargers to a halt at the Oakland 46 and forced a change of possession on downs. The offense took the gift of excellent field position and repeated their first quarter feat of three plays to a touchdown. Derek Carr connected with Brice Butler on a 47-yard touchdown pass.
San Diego again came back using slightly less than five minutes to even the score at 21 all. A 44-yard catch by Malcolm Floyd drove the Chargers to Oakland’s 9 yard line. From there, the short TD toss to Antonio Gates seemed like an afterthought.
Raiders fans could smell that a victory was within reach. When Derek Carr connected with Andre Holmes on a 6-yard score in the 4th quarter, the stands erupted. This was the day they were waiting for. It was 28-21 Raiders with 10:06 left. San Diego fought from their 20 to Oakland’s 12 on the next drive and chose to settle for a field goal. Oakland still held the lead, 28-24.
5:56 remained on the clock when San Diego kicked off to Oakland. Raider TJ Carrie returned the ball to the Oakland 25. All that was needed were a few first downs to run out the clock. Instead, Carr was called for intentional grounding which forced a Raider punt…a 29 yard punt…which placed San Diego dangerously close to the silver and black’s end zone. It took just six plays for the Chargers to exchange this gift for another touchdown via a Branden Oliver 1-yard run. The Chargers were now in the lead, 31-28, with 1:56 remaining. Would this be enough time?
On the first play, Raider QB Carr was sacked by Charger linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu who forced a fumble… but also committed a facemask foul…so that bullet was dodged. First down was run again, this time from the Oakland 35. A 9-yard pass to James Jones followed – progress was being made – but a big play was still needed. Carr’s second down pass intended for Brice Butler and the first down instead found San Diego’s Jason Verrett for the drive-ending interception. It was over. San Diego kneeled out the clock to take the win.
The Raiders are now 0-6.
