Raiders Squander Upset vs. Divisional Rival Chargers

Alright, welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders’ divisional game vs. the San Diego Chargers where the Raiders gave the #1 power ranked Chargers all they can handle, but it wasn’t enough as a Derek Carr INT late in the 4^th put the game away for the Chargers, sneaking out with a 31-28 victory.

Damn! So freakin’ close. I’m having mixed feelings about this game because the Raiders kept this game competitive, putting up their best performance at home for the season. However this loss was against a division rival. It’s always gut wrenching to lose to a division rival, especially since the Chargers are one of the best teams in the division, behind the Broncos of course and they were riding a 4 game winning streak too. Talk about an opportunity squandered to shock the NFL world and the Raiders had a long history of competing toe to toe with the best teams and then foiling late. 

The Positives

Derek Carr, 18 of 34 passes, 282 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT. That INT in the final minute of the 4^th definitely shows that Carr will still create rookie mistakes, but he did keep this game alive and kept the game competitive. For the offensive playcalling, I’ll give it a pass. Olson added more vertical passing plays and Carr had the best game of his young NFL career, despite playing with an ankle injury. For those crucifying Carr for a 0-5 start and crying for McGloin, just stop. I’m not taking sides; we have a very capable franchise quarterback for the future and we have a very capable backup in the long run, so enough is enough with the Carr-McGloin comparisons. It took a significant change for Carr to turn loose and he turned loose this game.

Andre Holmes, 4 receptions, 121 yards, 2 TD. Nobody expected Holmes to explode this game, but he stepped up big time. This is the potential the Raiders see in Holmes is that he can be a big, strong receiver, like a poor man’s Calvin Johnson/Dez Bryant/Anquan Boldin. Holmes played a great game today and for sure Tony Sparano is going to challenge him to be consistent in putting up those kinds of statistics. 

Running game. Darren McFadden had 14 carries for 80 yards, Maurice Jones-Drew, 4 carries for 30 yards, and the Raiders combined had 114 rushing yards. As piss poor as the running game was early in the season, it definitely improved. Again, you can see the impact with Sparano at the helm, the running game is going to get an extreme makeover and this game, the running game showed huge improvement. The Chargers have been good in stopping the run because they’re physical and the Raiders countered with physical, smash mouth ball in the running game.

The Negatives

Defense. Dennis Allen may be gone, but the bend but don’t break philosophy is still there. The Raiders only managed one sack on Rivers, the C.J. Wilson sack and then after that, they couldn’t generate any pressure on him. He had a lot of time to throw in the pocket on 3^rd downs, it was frustrating to watch. Jason Tarver has to be on the chopping block as well, there were some good stops here and there, but the Chargers kept responding when the Raiders scored touchdown after touchdown. True, the Chargers had more TOP (time of possession), leaving the defense gassed at times, but they need to help themselves too by making critical 3^rd down stops to get themselves off the field.

Conclusion

Don’t get me wrong it was a close game, but I am absolutely sick and tired of these moral victories. The Raiders have to put up a W in the column, that’s the only end result that matters. Now the experts are going to start chirping away again about how Chargers are one of the best teams in the NFL and how the Raiders will go top 5 again in the draft. You have to prove these experts wrong by putting up a W. The Raiders start their series against the NFC West against the Cardinals. So much former Raiders returning for that game in a Cardinals uniform: Carson Palmer, Jared Veldheer, Matt Shaughnessy, Tommy Kelly. I’m sure they’ve been waiting for that game all season long. The Cardinals got a scare today against Washington, but it’s going to be a good test, especially since rumors are swirling in that if the Raiders move to LA, they might move to the NFC West. If the game sells out, I’ll see you guys for that game.