Raiders choke, lose to Chargers 28-18

The San Diego Chargers defeated the Oakland Raiders 28-18 at the Oakland Coliseum, after the Raiders choked and couldn’t hold their 4th quarter lead.

QB JaMarcus Russell completed 22 of 37 for 277 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown strike to TE Zach Miller but it wasn’t enough.

Wearing white jerseys at home, the Raiders won the opening coin toss and elected to receive. Starting quarterback JaMarcus Russell came out firing with three straight completions setting the Raiders up with 1st and goal. However, the Raiders were forced to settle for a K Sebastian Janikowski 22-yard field goal attempt. The successful kick capped a 7-play, 48-yard drive and gave the Raiders a 3-0 lead.

Later in the 1st quarter, Shane Lechler’s 70-yard punt was downed at the Chargers 5-yard. RB LaDainian Tomlinson and QB Philip Rivers botched the handoff and the ball hit the ground. Rivers jumped on it and the Raiders defense jumped on him for a safety. The Raiders took a 5-0 lead with just over 7:00 left in the 1st quarter. 

Later in the half Russell hit TE Zach Miller for a 63-yard touchdown strike. Janikowski’s extra point was good and the Raiders led 12-0 with 11:22 left in the 2nd quarter.

A few plays later, the Raiders got the ball back when CB Chris Johnson picked off a Rivers pass and returned it to the Oakland 48. The Raiders drove to the San Diego 13 before settling for a 31-yard Janikowski field goal. The kick was good but a San Diego penalty gave the Raiders first and goal. The Raiders drove to the San Diego 1 before facing 4th and 1. RB Michael Bush scored from a yard out but a holding call wiped it out. Janikowski came on and hit from 28 yards out to give the Raiders a 15-0 lead with 5:28 left in the 2nd quarter, which was the score at halftime.

Sproles returned the opening kickoff of the second half to the San Diego 15. Kaeding capped a 13-play, 75-yard drive with a 28-yard field goal to cut the Raiders lead to 15-3 with 7:34 left in the second quarter.

San Diego cut the Raiders lead to 15-10 with 14:12 left in the fourth quarter when Rivers connected with TE Antonio Gates for a 9-yard pass play for a touchdown and Kaeding added the extra point.

San Diego got the ball back when Russell was sacked and fumbled. The Chargers recovered at the Raiders 13. Tomlinson gave the Chargers the lead with a 13-yard TD run. The two-point conversion was good and San Diego took an 18-15 lead with 12:47 left in the fourth quarter.

San Diego held the Raiders to a three-and-out and took over after Lechler’s punt was downed at midfield. They moved into range for a 47-yard field goal attempt but Kaeding missed it and the Raiders took over at the 37. The Raiders marched 47 yards in 11 plays and tied the game at 18-18 with 2:47 left to play with a 32-yard Janikowski field goal.

Sproles returned the ensuing kickoff 67 yards to the Raiders 35-yard line. A few plays later Kaeding connected from 47 to give the Chargers a 21-18 lead with 1:51 left to play.

The Raiders were unable to mount a scoring drive and turned the ball over on downs. Tomlinson iced the game with a 41-yard touchdown run. The extra point gave the Chargers a 28-18 lead with 1:04 left.

The Raiders head into their bye week with a 1-3 record on the 2008 season and will face the Saints at the Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday, October 12.