Lakers Hammered by Warriors on Klay Thompson's Magnificent Night

Back to this old format to say the least until November 7. The Lakers go in on back to back games; after a statement opening win against the Clippers, the Lakers traveled to the East Bay and came out real flat. Pau Gasol was the Lakers' top performer scoring 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists, but that kind of performance was overshadowed by the Warriors' Klay Thompson. Thompson lit it up for the Warriors' opener scoring 38 points on 5-7 shooting beyond the arc as his spectacular performance put the Lakers away early on in the game leading to the final score of 94-125. Steve Blake and Jodie Meeks were the other two Laker starters that joined Pau in double figures with 10 points by Blake and 14 points by Meeks. The bench came out strong again, but not as strong as last night rather flat, I assume most of their points came from garbage time because I was keeping track on the score and they didn't do much this game. Nonetheless, Xavier Henry lead the bench with 14 points, Jordan Farmar chipped in 12 points, and both Chris Kaman and Wesley Johnson chipped in 11 points.

Final Score: @ Golden State 94-125 [L]
Full recap: http://www.nba.com/lakers/gameday/131030_gameday_warriors

Highlights

Next Game: @ San Antonio (11/01) < Again it's a nationally televised game, but due to my Programming lab, I won't be watching it.

Lakers Still Own LA, Stun Heavily Favored Clippers in Opener

Alright so welcome in to the full recap as the day of the NBA opener ends. The Lakers remind the Clippers that the city of LA is not theirs yet and man am I proud how much the Lakers shut up all critics picking the Clippers to beat us in a painful and embarrassing blowout and how LA is shifting towards Clipper town. No LA still belongs to the Lakers.

Let's start off with the positives. I am crying right now because we finally have a bench. Thank you bench mob for showing up to play your hearts out. In one night, this Laker bench has scored more points has than our their previous predecessors the last two seasons. 76 points, that's right 76 points all coming from the bench. There's a reason why our duo of Steve Nash and Pau Gasol have played sparingly in the 2nd half because our bench dominated the night. I mean, they just flat out beat the living heck out of the Clippers starters and they didn't have an answer.

I should stop about raving about our bench and talk about the stars: Jordan Farmar and Xavier Henry. Farmar, 16 points, 6 assists, 6-10 from the field, 2-3 from beyond the arc, Henry, season-high 22 points, 6 rebounds, 8-13 from the field, 3-4 from beyond the arc. These two lead the charge for our bench, I mean both of them were splitting the Clippers' defense like crazy, the Clippers just couldn't hang around with them. I mean they were completely gassed, they had no idea how to contain these two. Not to mention they have guys like Jodie Meeks and Wesley Johnson spreading the floor and Jordan Hill coming off of pick n roll. Even though Johnson is a negative (which I'll elaborate later), Meeks big time, stepped up to make plays scoring 13 points, as one dimensional as Meeks is, he stepped up when we needed it the most and especially when Farmar and Henry were playing their hearts out. As usual, Jordan Hill, Mr. All-Out Hustle, his hustle on both ends was the difference maker that 2nd half, he was fighting like crazy against guys like a Blake Griffin, a DeAndre Jordan, Hill brings out that spark and when he hustles, the team gets into it to try and make a play.

Another positive, Pau Gasol's double-double: 15 points, 13 rebounds. I mean Gasol didn't do much, but he put the team on his shoulders. Credit to him, he did not play soft against DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin's physicality, although he did move out of the way to avoid another poster dunk. Gasol held his own, minus a Bynum, minus a Howard, I tip my hat to him he stepped up big time as the team's alpha dog in Kobe's absence.

Onto the negatives, Wesley Johnson, Shawne Williams, Steve Nash, and Nick Young. I understand most players have off nights in a game. Both Johnson and Williams scored on whopping 3 points, both only made one field goal out of many attempts and that happens all the time and I expect their game to get better as the season rolls on. Steve Nash, I hate putting him in this category and I understand that he's playing injured. He was basically a non-factor in this game although he dished out some nice assists and an off balance 3, I think he should continue drawing defenses, even though age is catching on to him and the players should continue to help spread the floor. If Nash can't step up with his shooting, continue to be that play maker setting the offense and calling the picks and the plays. Nick Young 13 points, but 3-10 shooting, credit to the Clipper defense because they know Young's game in and out considering he played there before, which is why he didn't drive to the lane very often. Other than that, not too mad on the negatives, but it shouldn't happen on a consistent basis.

It's only one game, this is not "WE'RE GOING TO WIN IT ALL" sign of victory. But this game proves that this Laker team, as long as their players on, will compete their hearts out. We got a back to back game tomorrow against Golden State, another team that is projected as the team to beat in the west. It's gonna be difficult to contain the back court of Curry and Thompson, not to mention the addition of Iguodala, puts this team in another dimension. As long as we played like we played tonight, the game could be close.

Announcement: If you guys looked at my announcements that first announced the changes to my blog, you'll notice that I won't do Wednesday or Friday games, I have Computer Science and Programming night classes on those days. So no Q-by-Q or halftime for tomorrow's game or Friday against the San Antonio Spurs. I will still recap the game in my old format, just reading off the stat sheets, the full article from lakers.com, and post up the highlights if they're ever up on YouTube. If you're new to my blog and don't know what old format I'm talking about here's a sample: http://trueraiderlaker.blogspot.com/2013/04/lakers-outlast-rockets-claim-7th-seed.html

I'll see you guys back on the November 7th Thursday showdown against the Houston Rockets. For Laker Nation who are also a part of the Raider Nation like myself, I'll see you guys on Sunday when the Raiders take on the Philadelphia Eagles.

10/29 2013-14 NBA Season Opener (BATTLE: LA): LAKE SHOW vs. Lob City Q-by-Q Reaction

4th Quarter:

Score: LAC 103 LAL 116

Call in the bench mob. Call in the bench mob. Slap the taste out of little brother. Clippers were just outplayed this quarter and our bench just ran the hell out of them. Proud of how this team competed opening night, a lot of experts expected the Clippers to steamroll us, but surprise, surprise. No Kobe? No Gasol? No Nash? No problem. Stay tuned for the full recap.

3rd Quarter:

Score: LAC 79 LAL 75

A sloppy 3rd quarter to say the least. We can't finish playing defense, rebounding the ball, giving the Clippers' 2nd chance opportunities. The note I point out, turnovers; they played an integral part in this 3rd Quarter and the Lakers committed a lot this quarter and that's just completely unacceptable. We're lucky to be down by 4 after that debacle of a quarter because with Farmar, he's speeding up that game and stretching the floor for his team to make shots.

2nd Quarter:

Score: LAC 57 LAL 55

This is closer than most experts expected and that's a good thing. Like I said, the Lakers are hanging around against the athleticism of the Clippers and Nick Young started to get going. Overall, pace is still good, I'll elaborate more on the halftime report.

1st Quarter:

Score: LAC 30 LAL 28

Alright welcome in to the first post of the 2013-14 NBA Season between the Clippers and the Lakers in the Battle of LA. I like how the team is hanging around against this young and athletic Clippers team. Pau Gasol I believe is leading the team as the top performer and he found his form early on in the game, scoring inside and even outside, we know at times Gasol can shoot the 3 ball. One thing I don't like, we can't defend J.J. Redick. He's like near perfect this game and just burning Steve Blake on all corners. So far, pace is good and we're hanging tight with the roster we have right now.

LAKERS vs. Clippers Half Time Post

Score: LAC 57 LAL 55

Alright welcome in to the first halftime report for the new format where so far Lob City breaks the deadlock against the Lake Show at the half. So far, the Lakers are just trying to keep pace, they know they can't run with the athleticism of the Clippers, but they're competing without Kobe Bryant.

Let's start off with positives: Pau Gasol, at the half 13 points, 9 rebounds, almost a double-double shooting 50% from the field. Gasol said that he's gonna put the team on his shoulders while Kobe's on the sideline still healing with the achilles and he's backing up his talk. The departure of Howard certainly is making a difference and Gasol is getting what he wished for, more touches in the paint and he's holding on his own against more athletic guys like Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.

Another positive, the bench. Oh how we missed Jordan Farmar the last 2-3 seasons and he's helping this Laker bench tune up the tempo and doing a good job keeping CP3 in check. However, the star of the bench, Chris Kaman. Caveman Kaman doing all the cleanup in the paint, scored 10 points, 6 rebounds off the bench. Aside from the embarassing DeAndre Jordan block on his jump shot, Kaman is doing a good job filling in and lining up along with Gasol. Xavier Henry, Shannon Brown 2.0, perfect highlight reel dunk in the first and he's the second leading scorer on the bench with 8. The bench are giving the starter's real breathers and that's a good sign.

On with the negatives, the transition defense. When the Clippers are on the break, 99% all the time it's over either from a 3 ball or a lob and jam. Lakers have got to race back on D and not turn the ball over. Aside from the transition, pick n roll, but what can you expect from CP3? The pick n roll has killed us over the years since Shaq left and it's no surprise especially against an elite point guard like Paul. Overall, we gotta make Lob City not Lob City and it starts with the transition or controlling the ball.

Overall great way to start the 2nd half, trailing by two. The Clippers will be looking to turn on the jets, but if we competed like we did in the 1st half, this could go down to the wire in a very close one and hopefully the Lakers can be on that end for a victory.

Raiders Edge Steelers, Snap Bye Week Hangover

Alright welcome in to the full recap of the Steelers-Raiders game where the Raiders elude a near 2nd half meltdown as they beat the Steelers 18-21. First off, I'm happy we won, the first win after the bye week in a longtime, but at the same time, I am just absolutely livid at how this game turned from a comfortable game in the first half to a down to the wire type of game in the 2nd half. You can't let a team like the Steelers hang around especially when Big Ben has a resume of game winning drives around his belt.

First off the positives and the negatives here are all over the place considering how the game went on. But one of them is the running game. All of our TDs came from a run play of course with Pryor shattering the rushing TD record for a QB. To run all over this Steelers defense in the first half is a testament and it's apparently obvious that Pryor is now the primary option with McFadden as a secondary. Either one way or another, they're gonna get you if you sleep on either TP or D-Mac.

Another positive, the defense. Negate the 15 unanswered points and poor penalites, the defense played great creating turnovers and sacking a very strong and elusive QB like Roethlisberger. A coming out party for rookie Sio Moore, he managed to get after Big Ben twice. Our front seven wrecked havoc on their offensive line to an extent considering we don't have the best defensive line, but yet they caused a lot of pressure because of our secondary playing tight man coverage and our secondary created two turnovers. You can make a case for our special teams as a positive too because they disrupted Suisham in short field goal positions and made a blocked punt of Mesko, if our special teams didn't make those kinds of plays of the kicking game of the Steelers, the Steelers would've rallied considering how the final sequences of the game went.

The negatives, I'm just going to shout it out: FINISH THE FREAKIN' GAME! Offensive play calling was too vanilla in closing situations and a couple of boneheaded turnovers in the 4th, including that Jacoby Ford fumble that helped the Steelers cash in the first 7 out of 15 points to make this game close. Not happy with those, especially if our defense played great for 3 straight downs and they have to go back on the field again because the offense turned the ball over. If I were DA, I'd spend this whole week of practice making this team learn how to close out a game. This game almost reminded me of the game against Detroit in 2011 where we were up 14-27 in the closing minutes of the 4th and Detroit came back to score 14 unanswered to win the game. Close out a game, end of story.

We won 1/2 against the Pennsylvania teams, we got Philadelphia coming in next week. So far, the Eagles have been playing disappointing football considering Chip Kelly wants a high octane offense and they have a QB controversy of their own, well you can add Michael Vick into the equation considering he was injured when Nick Foles and Matt Barkley were switching in between QB roles. We gotta contain LeSean McCoy in the run and DeSean Jackson in the pass and if we can do that, we can win that game too.

For Raider Nation, I'll see you next Sunday, for Laker Nation, basketball season is starting Tuesday! I'll see you guys on Tuesday for the LakeShow's season opener against Lob City. Remember same format.

Week 8 The Historical AFC War: RAIDERS vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Q-by-Q Reaction

4th Quarter:

Score: PIT 18 OAK 21

Finish the game, finish the game, finish the game, finish the game, finish the game, finish the game. Damn it's like I'm in detention writing that phrase over and over again. We finally got a win after the bye week, but this game clearly shows that we can't close a game out the right way. Stay tuned for the full recap.

3rd Quarter:

Score: PIT 3 OAK 21

Not too much action here in the third, considering the Steelers offense took a chunk of the whole quarter off. However, I like how our defense is hanging in there, just like DA's philosophy, bend but don't break. The defense is doing exactly that as well as special teams forcing Suisham to miss twice now, this time on a 32 yard field goal.

2nd Quarter:

Score: PIT 3 OAK 21

The Raiders performing a blitzkrieg on the Steelers. Dumb mistakes by Jacoby Ford and Brice Butler, but lucky we get a break with a TD by McFadden and a missed field goal by Suisham. Onto the halftime report.

1st Quarter:

Score: PIT 0 OAK 14

Terrelle Pryor, first play of the game scores on a 93 yard TD run, setting the NFL record for a QB rushing TD. What a way to start out. Faked out the whole Steelers defense as they were zeroing in on McFadden and forgot about Pryor's speed and athleticism. Overall, good start aside from the Pryor INT to Troy Polamalu almost at the end of the first quarter. We just gotta keep this tempo up because the Steelers have been playing better football the last two games and we gotta keep the foot on the gas. Other than that, great, explosive start to the game for the Raiders.

RAIDERS vs. Steelers Half Time Post

Score: PIT 3 OAK 21

Alright so welcome to the halftime report of the game between the Steelers and the Raiders in a new chapter to this historical AFC rivalry. So far, the Raiders have come out of the gate and punched the bully in the mouth.

Some of the positives so far, the running game is bringing their A game so far behind a really banged up O-line, even though we got Wiz back. 93 yard run by Terrelle Pryor out of the gate setting the record for the most rushing TD yards by a QB, followed by back to back TD runs by Darren McFadden. Credit to the O-line creating as much holes as they can against the stingy D. Another positive, the defense, defense, defense. They just held the Steelers to double digit yards and who knows, our defense is knocking on the door to be one of the most underrated defenses in the NFL. Defense managed to get Ben Roethlisberger 2 times and he is so strong to evade tackles and that's a good sign.

Negatives, just dumb decisions overall and special teams on the receiving end of the ball. Taiwan Jones muffed a kickoff and Jacoby Ford almost muffed twice on punt returns. The Steelers are so good when they create turnovers and we gotta eliminate those. Pryor, I know he threw two picks, but one is not his fault and the other was actually his fault. Pryor should've thrown it away during that INT to Polamalu and he just needs to continue his decision making, the second one, Brice Butler should've caught, but it ricocheted off his body leading to another pick. We're playing a complete game on all 3 phases, we just continue to play smart football.

As usual, no lead is safe in the 2nd half, the Raiders have a tenacity to take the foot off the gas and as long as we keep going with the tempo in the first half, we'll be fine. Hopefully we learned a thing or two from the late night game against the Chargers to finish up the game and not let the opposing team hang around, especially against a Steelers team that is playing in desperation mode.

RIP Bill Sharman 1926-2013

Sad news around the Laker Nation and the NBA world. Bill Sharman, and NBA legend in his own right as a player and a head coach passed away today this morning in his private home in Redondo Beach, California. He was 87 years old.

Laker Nation, for any of you who are sports history lovers like myself or youngsters who are fans, but don't know the rich history behind the franchise also like myself in a way, Coach Sharman was the head coach when the Lakers undergone a historical winning season during the 1971-72. Under Sharman, the Lakers lead by Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Gail Goodrich compiled a 69-13 record, of course broken by Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the 1995-96 with a 72-10 record. The 1971-72 Lakers also set the record of the best regular season winning streak in the NBA at 33, which still stands as the best winning streak in NBA history. Sharman coached the Lakers to two NBA Finals in 1972 and 1973 where the Lakers won the franchise's first title in Los Angeles in 1972 and lost in 1973 both against the New York Knicks. Coach Sharman will be sorely missed by all.

Los Angeles Lakers 2013-14 Season Preview

Alright Lakers fans, welcome in to the first post since implementing the changes in my blog, well for those who are still up since it's 11:00 pm in Pacific time. I will be talking about my thoughts about the upcoming Lakers 2013-14 regular season campaign.

Honestly, I didn't find any time to watch any highlights in the ongoing preseason action, although I did promised I was gonna watch before this preview, so this one's on me. But as the old saying goes, the show must go on.

So there's a lot of stories to talk about as the Lakers head into this season. Obviously Dwightmare II: Escape From LA. The whole Dwight Howard fiasco during this off season just basically left the Lakers' front office personnel in shambles. They even put up a sign for Dwight to stay in front of the Staples' Center, in my opinion the most stupid idea and ruins the credibility of a historical franchise such as the Lakers like they were running for a campaign and what happened? Dwight signed with the Rockets.

Since Dwight's departure, Mitch Kupchak had to work with what he had because of the high luxury tax and low salary cap room. Signings like Chris Kaman, Xavier Henry, Wesley Johnson, Jordan Farmar, and Nick Young don't spell a championship team. Probably, the signing of Nick Young and the comeback of Farmar were our decent signings. I've read a lot that Farmar improved his lock down perimeter defense while playing overseas and personally I thought we shouldn't have let him go in the 2010 offseason because he speeds up the tempo of our offense. Signing the hometown kid, Nick Young, in my opinion was my favorite signing of this season because he's athletic, young, he can score and drive to the basket and when he's on, he's on, his only problem is consistency to perform at a day to day basis. Other than that, most of the other players we signed were leftovers from a dinner plate. Since I'm a Raider fan, Kupchak did his best impression of Reggie McKenzie signing serviceable free agents with whatever cap space he had.

The biggest questions for the Lakers heading into this season are these: Will they recover from the disastrous Dwight Howard experiment? Can Kobe Bryant still play at a high level despite suffering a career threatening achilles injury? Is Steve Nash still an elite point guard even though he's almost 40? Will Pau Gasol ever rekindle his 2009-2010 form again after 3 disappointing seasons? And the biggest question is this: is Mike D'Antoni the long term answer as the Lakers' head coach now heading into his first full season? The first question has been answered because apparently every Laker that was on the 2012-13 roster moved on and from I heard, the team bonding has improved, both on and off the court without Howard.

Looking at the schedule, the Lakers are gonna their hands full early: Clippers, Golden State, San Antonio, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Denver, Memphis, Detroit, and Golden State again. Tough sled early on, consider what kind of roster the Lakers have and with Kobe out for a long indefinite period of time. Brutal start for the season, unless they can get in sync with D Antoni's system and one of our guys step up. If Kobe's in the lineup, at least there's a fighting chance to snatch a few wins, if not we may win at least one or two of those games considering we still have Nash and Gasol as part of the main corp, but it's still a brutal mountain to climb.

Overall, I have no expectations with this team, although we are not worst roster in the NBA. Next season we have all the salary cap in the world, but realistically what alternative do we have if we flop in the LeBron/Melo sweepstakes? This franchise is not screwed yet. I think this season, the Lakers will still sneak into a playoff spot as long as they compete their hearts out. It's a dark time for us Laker fans, more darker than 2004-2007. No matter, the Lakers will find ways to come back and compete for a championship sooner or later because this franchise is too defiant. Every season is a championship or bust season, this season is just a wait and see. Until then, GO LAKERS!

The Number 6: Chiefs End Raiders 6 Game Winning Streak at Arrowhead and Go 6-0

Alright so welcome to the full recap where it's a bitter end to the 6 game winning streak at Arrowhead for the Raiders as they fall to the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs, who remain undefeated at 6-0 to keep pace with the Broncos in the AFC West.

Like I said, this is a game to forget about. I mean we drew first blood and I thought that the Pryor drive to Denarius Moore for a 39 yard TD would be a key to upset this team. The Chiefs' offense was not great, but the defense couldn't give our offense any room to breathe.

Which brings me to my first point. The defense is not to blame for this game. There are two parts of the offense that are to blame, the O-line and Pryor himself. Terrelle Pryor outplayed Alex Smith for a majority of the game finishing 18 of 34 for 216 yards and 1 TD, but in the second half 3 INTs. That's right 3 INTs, two that gave the Chiefs good field position and 1 for a pick 6 to pretty much put the game away. This game shows that Pryor still has a long ways to go, I was impressed with his poise last week, but this week, reverted back to form, lack of awareness on the play clock and some of his throws were wobbly that just were really low percentage throws and this game showed that Pryor is still a young QB making rookie mistakes and poor decisions and reads.

The 2nd half of my point, the offensive line. Personally I'm sick and tired of talking about the growing pains of our O-line, but these stats summarizes how pathetic this O-line is: 10 sacks allowed and 5 pre snap penalites. The pocket just keeps collapsing and guys like Tamba Hali, Derrick Johnson, and Justin Houston were just having a field day with our O-line. This is pretty much where we miss Veldheer and Wisniewski a lot. Veldheer has done a helluva job shutting down Hali and we missed that because Khalif Barnes, embarrassingly was getting beat by the pass rush and it was frustrating to watch that.

Luckily we have the bye week up ahead and likely it's best to forget about this game and move on and take the bye week to adjust, take a little R&R from football.

Miscellaneous Announcements: With the bye week up ahead, I will be doing my preview for the 2013-2014 Los Angeles Lakers season. So Laker Nation stay tuned.

THE OLD WEST RIVALRY: RAIDERS @ KC Chiefs Week 6 Q-by-Q

4th Quarter:

Score: OAK 7 KC 24

This is a game to forget about. Just an awful showing. Stay tuned for the full recap.

3rd Quarter:

Score: OAK 7 KC 14

These refs seriously are giving this game to the Chiefs. WTF?

2nd Quarter:

Score: OAK 7 KC 7

Both offenses started to find their groove here this quarter. Obviously we drew first blood first with a Pryor strike to Denarius Moore for a 39 yard TD. Chiefs got it going with a Jamaal Charles run after a pass interference by DJ Hayden. It's a defensive battle still and I think, we're winning that battle because the secondary is showing tight coverage on the receivers. Onto the halftime report.

1st Quarter:

Score: OAK 0 KC 0

A fitting beginning to a new chapter of this intense rivalry. Both defenses are coming out flying, but our O-line has to do a better job on protecting TP on 3rd down situations, 2 sacks on him already. But our defense is countering with 3 sacks on Alex Smith. Tight game, we're still driving, gotta start fast against this Chiefs team.

RAIDERS @ Chiefs Halftime Post

Alright, so welcome in to the Raiders-Chiefs halftime post where it's all even at 7 after the first half. Obviously if you like defensive, low scoring games, this game is the right game to tune into.

Where to start off? The defense, the secondary is giving the Chiefs' passing game a run for its money, aside from the PI from Hayden. Smith couldn't find Donnie Avery, Dwayne Bowe, had a couple of catches, but couldn't find any confidence with this offense. The defensive line did a good job getting to Alex Smith early, 3 sacks in order by Sio Moore, Nick Roach, and Vance Walker and just completing 36% of his passes mainly due to the defensive line pressure and the tight bump and run, man to man coverage from the Raiders' secondary.

Obviously on offense, Terrelle Pryor is making plays as usual as a dual-threat quarterback. Perfect 39 yard strike to Denarius Moore for the first TD of the game and it was a good way to build momentum after this game was deadlocked at 0 for 1 and a half quarter. However, the offensive line can't protect him at all on 3rd down situations. We're just dinged up on offensive line with Gurode out with a knee injury and Brisiel starting at center. Watching the O-line on the road just scares me Mr. False Start, Khalif Barnes is at it again and he encouraged his Jaguar buddy, Tony Pashos to join in. The pocket keeps collapsing immediately against this swarming front 7 of the Chiefs.

There's still a lot of football to go and this game is far from over. The Raiders have the ball first, I mean it's frustrating to see Pryor play with this O-line because he negates some of the obvious errors. It's a chess match and so fitting for an ancient rivalry.

Raiders Hold Off Chargers Despite Fast Start

Alright welcome to a special late night full recap of the game between the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders in which the Raiders pulled away for a big win 17-27. First off, what a game, what a freakin' game. I'm still recovering from the screaming after the C-Wood TD on a Danny Woodhead fumble and from another potential heart attack after the Chargers scored 14 unanswered. So I'm still in recovery mode, it's 5 mins until midnight, by the time I post this up, it's gonna be Monday already.

Alright so the positives, I mean holy sh*t where to begin while recovering from a crazy game like this. Terrelle Pryor, he got cold in the 2nd half, but the guy is still a positive in my books. Pryor completed 18 of 23 passes for 221 yards, 2 TDs, no INTs adding 31 rush yards to his stats category. TP came out hot this game scoring points off turnovers with the long bomb to Rod Streater off a Usama Young INT and a TD to Denarius Moore. I thought Moore and Streater really stepped up this game respectively as the No. 1 and No. 2 go to guys and they made a lot of big plays when it mattered as TP was trying to make plays as the pocket was collapsing around him. Another positive, I thought Rashad Jennings and Marcel Reece filled in the void McFadden left behind well, obviously the hamstring injury hit Jennings also at the end of the game. If it's serious, pretty much our running game is screwed next week if both him and McFadden are out against KC. So Pryor will see a lot of action and Reece as well in the run game and the Chiefs' run defense is tough as hell.

The defense and special teams, aside from the conservative play calling from Jason Tarver, they won the game for us when the Chargers found out the Raiders' number on offense. Obviously the last points scored was off a Charles Woodson fumble recovery and a Sebass field goal on 50 yards. And later Hayden and Woodson sealed the game for us on back to back INTs to Philip Rivers. Going back to DJ Hayden, he probably made the best play of his rookie career after being sideline off football for 1 year since his life threatening heart injury and it's a sight for sore eye that he made the play we needed the most on an end zone INT was the penultimate play to seal the game. And we all know C-Wood, tying fellow Raider Rod Woodson on the defensive TD category all-time, there's not much to say, he gets it done in all of his 16 years in the league.

The negatives, all we have to do is close out a game. Jason Tarver's play calling on defense when the Chargers were on the run were pissing me off as well as conservative play calling on offense on Greg Olson's side of the ball. There's no room to slow down, especially if it's a team like the Chargers, I mean it felt like Tarver handed over the play calling to Chuck Bresnahan with the prevent, cover 3, and tampa 2 defensive calls giving the Chargers big yardage and almost breaking our hearts. This is a team and a coaching staff that needs to remind themselves that games are played on two halves and after a fast start like this game, we have to close out and finish the game, failure to do that makes everything worthless.

Anyway it's still a big win, every divisional game is always big win. We got another one up next against the undefeated Chiefs and we know they're thirsting for a win against the Raiders in Arrowhead since Oakland has won like 5-6 straight games there. Until then since it's a divisional win, time for some shenanigans since we beat the Chargers!

BLACK SUNDAY: RAIDERS vs. Chargers Special Late Sunday Night Division Showdown Q-by-Q

4th Quarter:

Score: SD 17 OAK 27

Sebass, Hayden, Woodson, stepping up in the clutch when we needed it the most! Man almost had a heart attack like it's 2011 all over again considering how much points the defense gave up in the 2nd half. A win is a win though and it's a big one as we head over to Kansas City to put our Arrowhead streak on the line against the undefeated Chiefs. Stay tuned for the full recap.

3rd Quarter:

Score: SD 3 OAK 24

C-Wood's bringing the wood, he brought the wood son! Ties another Raider great, Rod Woodson all-time for TDs off turnovers. Even though the Chargers are in our end zone right now, really really impressed that this Raider team is coming out to play and hitting the bully in the mouth. Just one more quarter, keep fighting! Tough, hard-nosed, put em in a world of hurt!

2nd Quarter:

Score: SD 0 OAK 17

2nd Quarter in the books with the only score by a Sebastian Janikowski field goal, but other than that, great first half for the Raiders came out jumping as I said on both sides of the ball and Terrelle Pryor staying comfortable in the pocket with a really banged up O-line and running when needed, I am impressed so far. Nothing else to talk about, so onto the halftime report.

1st Quarter:

Score: SD 0 OAK 14

Terrelle Pryor welcome back man! Excellent way to start the game overall on both sides of the ball starting with the INT by Usama Young. TP just lighting up the night so far, perfect in the pass and throwing 2 TD passes already. Some say I shouldn't get my hopes up considering what happened last week when we had this kind of lead against the Redskins, but man am I fired up with the kind of poise Pryor has leading this team.

Late Night Sunday: Raiders vs. Chargers Halftime Post

Score: SD 0 OAK 17

Welcome to the late night Sunday special of the halftime report between the Raiders and the Chargers where the Raiders jump into an early lead leading 0-17 in the half.

Where to start out? Terrelle Pryor, welcome back man! Welcome back! Pryor completed 13 of 18 passes for 141 yards and he started perfect 10/10 including 2 TDs, the quick long ball to Rod Streater after the Usama Young interception and 1 to Denarius Moore to give the Raiders a 14 point lead. I've heard a lot of critics over the years since he got drafted that he's just another Tim Tebow, his throwing mechanics and accuracy sucks. Well TP is bringing it and he has improved dramatically and I'm impressed with the poise he has, calm and collected.

Another positive, Rashad Jennings filling in for the injured Darren McFadden. Rushing for 41 yards on 8 carries. He's taking it to the defensive line and the linebackers of the Chargers. He's tough, hard-nosed runner since Michael Bush and hopefully he keeps it up, even though he's gonna get a lot of touches in the run game.

Defense and special teams, when you shut out a high powered offense like the Chargers, that says something. Like I said the long ball INT by Usama Young, the stop on 4th and goal, the fumble by Eddie Royal setting up a Sebass FG, impressive sequences and they are taking it to the Chargers offense so far. Another positive I need to point out, for now, the offensive line. Credit to the offensive line, banged up without Wiz, Pashos, they are stepping it up so far and credit goes to Tony Sparano for preparing them well to step up in the absence of Veldheer, Wiz, and Pashos.

Like I said, I shouldn't get my hopes up. We had a lead like this last week and we blew it and there's no room for error against this Chargers team. For sure, they will regain composure and respond back because it's a game of two halves, the team who plays well in the 2nd half usually wins. Some keys, control the clock, keep calling aggressive plays and we can win this game.

Quick Announcements:

Alright Raider and Laker nation just wanted to clean things up on the blog as we're drawing close to basketball season and two more weeks after this week we'll be nearly halfway into the football season.

- Raider Nation, most of you already know that the Raiders home game vs. the Chargers has been moved to Sunday night with kickoff starting at 8:30 pm on the NFL Network due to the Oakland A's playoff matchups against the Detroit Tigers in the Coliseum in which both the A's and Tigers are tied 1-1 as they change the scenery to Detroit. Just to clarify, I will still do the Q-by-Q instant reactions, halftime report, and full recap. That doesn't change even if it means I'll stay up until midnight to cover the game and post my thoughts, which I don't have a problem with.

- Laker Nation, basketball is just around the corner. Most of you saw the Lakers' preseason opener vs. the Golden State Warriors today and I did stick around for a few quarters before I turned the game off so I can focus on other stuff. But other than that, I was impressed with how our backup players responded to the Warriors' starting lineup without Nash and Gasol playing and Kobe obviously going to Germany for a knee procedure. Just a reminder I won't be doing preseason games and I won't spectate on the preseason games much, although I will look at certain tape and highlights to do my regular season preview. I won't wait till preseason's over. As I look at the preseason schedule, I'm targeting October 18 to do my preview after the Lakers play the Warriors, which I won't stay up to tune in on because it's in China and a 4:30 am start time. Like how I cover the Raiders' games for football, the same format will be followed for me covering Laker games, except it's only going to be on National TV games and Warriors games because I have CSN Bay Area, every other game that is not televised will follow the same format as I've done since I created this blog.

Anyway these are just two quick announcements and stay tuned tomorrow for my coverage of the Raiders vs. Chargers game. GO RAIDERS and GO LAKERS!