Oakland, CA - After donning white jerseys for the first time since
anyone can remember and being introduced by positions instead of
individual announcements to exhibit team unity, the Oakland Raiders
looked to make a statement early in the game when they hit the field
first. Oakland’s Johnnie Lee Higgins ran back the opening kick off to
mid-field. The Raiders opened up with passes to march down the field.
Initially, the Chargers looked caught off guard, but would manage to
hold Oakland’s opening drive to a field goal attempt making it 3-0.
Oakland’s defense was aggressive and blitzed the seemingly hapless
Chargers, forcing them to go 3-and-out on their first drive. After the
Raiders posted a reciprocating 3-and-out, Oakland’s defense went back to
work and worked over Charger running back LaDanian Tomlinson as Raider
safety Gibril Wilson hit Tomlinson on their goaline, causing a fumble in
the endzone as Charger quarterback Phillip Rivers fell on the loose ball
and was touched down for a safety to push the Raider lead to five.
The Oakland Raiders remained aggressive by utilizing more passing plays
compared to their last three games where they ran the ball the vast
majority of the time. This time, Raider quarterback JaMarcus Russell
finally connected deep to his safety valve tight end Zach Miller for a
63-yard touchdown to further put the Chargers behind the eight ball with
a 12-0 score in the second quarter. Oakland continued to apply pressure
with an interception by defensive back Chris Johnson and ran it back 13
yards to set up another Sebastian Janikowski field goal to make the
score 15-0. Despite being able to points on the board and shutting out
the Chargers in the first half, Oakland left too many points on the
field. Twice in the first half, the Raiders failed to punch the ball
into the endzone and had difficulty protecting Russell as he was sacked
six times; many of them coming on third down. In fact, Oakland’s third
down offense was woeful for most of the entire game.
In the second half, Oakland’s once interesting passing attack
evaporated; causing it’s defense to spend a lot of time on the field and
was exhausted by the 4th quarter. Up until that time, the Raiders held
the Chargers to a meager 3 points, but as with last week’s Buffalo Bills
loss, Oakland was gassed as its defense gave up a Charger touchdown
following a sack/fumble by JaMarcus Russell on his own 18-yard line.
The Raiders would manage to muster up one last offensive drive late in
the game to tie the score at 18-18. However, its special teams, who
have been very good up until now, gave up a 67-yard return that
automatically put the Chargers in field goal range. This time Charger
kicker Nate Kaeding split the uprights, (unlike his two previously
missed field goals), to go up by three with just under two minutes left
in the game. Oakland’s offense once again looked non-existent as they
would turn over the ball on downs. The Chargers would put the nail in
the coffin on another run by Tomlinson (two on the day) to give San
Diego a 28-18 lead to close the game.
The Oakland Raiders, by all accounts in the first three quarters should
have won this game. Unfortunately because of a lack of play makers on
offense, a conservative coach, or an overly-simplified play book,
Oakland could not compete for four full quarters making them one of the
best three quarter teams in the NFL. At least this time, defensive
coordinator Rob Ryan did not play any soft zone defense that allowed the
Chargers to amass 25 points in the 4th quarter. They simply were out of
gas because the offense couldn’t give them a break. At least the players
played hard for embattled Lane Kiffin. And judging by lockerroom
comments by the Raider players, they WANT to play for Kiffin.
