Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders' week 5 divisional matchup vs. the San Diego Chargers where the Raiders take advantage of the Chargers' 4th quarter woes and pull it out 31-34 for their first home win this season in "The Town," Oaktown.
Who wants to start a Raiders chant? I feel like starting a Raiders chant right now. RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAIIIIIIDERRRRRRRSSSSSSSSS! Big win today and the fact that the Broncos lost today too makes this divisional win a lot sweeter (also makes the loss to the Falcons even less painful). Also, this year marks the 5 year death anniversary of Al Davis and this team did what they did: just win baby. I didn't like the slow start from the Raiders early on. I thought they overlooked the Chargers a little bit, but a win is a win and the Raiders are 4-1 for the first time since 2002. How about the Chargers blowing yet another 4th quarter? That and injuries have been the story of their season so far.
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Turnovers. Thank goodness for the turnovers or the outcome would've been different. Perry Riley, Jr. had some good first impressions forcing the fumble of Antonio Gates in the first quarter. Sean Smith and Karl Joseph had interceptions. The critical fumble by Melvin Gordon III, allowing Joseph to recover that fumble. Though the defense did surrender 31 points, the turnovers pretty much saved their performance.
Derek Carr, 25-40 passes, 317 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT. Carr's 2nd INT of the season was a result of great pressure from the Chargers' defense. He got sack a couple of times, but you can't deny this fact that quarterbacks find ways to will their team to a victory. I wouldn't say Carr had a great game, but he did enough, especially in the 2nd half to rally the Raiders from a 17-9 deficit and later 24-19. "Carr-diac kid." That should be D.C.'s nickname.
Amari Cooper, 6 receptions, 138 yards, 1 TD. For any Fantasy owner that drafted Coop in the 3rd round on their Fantasy teams (I know I did), it was well worth the patience. This was the perfect game for Coop to break out. The Chargers lost their Pro Bowl corner in Jason Verrett. They don't have Brandon Flowers. Coop would've had a couple more TDs if he had his other foot inbounds. I think if there's one thing that Coop needs to work on, it's dragging the other toe inbounds or keeping the other foot inbounds. But this game, he showed his big play capability. 64 yard touchdown from Coop. That was much needed to give the Raiders offense a spark.
Michael Crabtree, 3 receptions, 47 yards, 1 TD. Crabtree dropping balls is something you don't see every game. He had one pass that bounced off his helmet and dropped an easy dime on a 3rd down play. But why is he on the positive? Because he comes up big in the clutch. Talk about another gutsy 4th down call by Coach "Black Jack" Del Rio. When the game is on the line and you need the lead, just throw it to Crab and he'll do the rest. "King Clutch!"
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O-line. If there was big negative this game, it was the offensive line. They allowed all kinds of pressure. They allowed a sack on Carr three times. If I remember, Donald Penn, Kelechi Osemele, and Rodney Hudson, three key cogs on that O-line each had a pre-snap penalty. To make matters worse, the right tackle continues to be the Achilles heel of the O-line. Vadal Alexander and Austin Howard interchanged on the line and Joey Bosa beat both of them to sack Carr twice. The O-line just didn't have a great game today, keeping Carr clean and communicating on the LOS (line of scrimmage).
Reggie Nelson. I think we should try considering putting Nelson in the box at strong safety or that could make matters worse. I don't know. Even though he's been around the game for a while, he looked out of position the whole game. As a result of that, the Chargers were able to execute a lot of explosive plays over the middle. I'm hoping he gets it together and figures out the coverage schemes in Ken Norton, Jr.'s defense. Luckily Reggie [McKenzie] signed him to a 2-year deal and he can always be cut if he becomes a liability.
MVP
Coooooooop! We were waiting for Amari to break out and score and it happened today. Like I said, he could've had more TDs if he knew how to keep his other foot inbounds, but we'll take a 64 yard touchdown and a 2-point conversion score from him.
Conclusion
Raider Nation, this is exactly the best scenario we can think of: Broncos losing and getting this division win. The Raiders are now tied with Denver for 1st place in the AFC West. However, since they own the tiebreaker by getting this divisional win against the Chargers, by virtue they should be in 1st place. The Broncos do have the Chargers on Thursday Night and they could immediately take it back. But, the Raiders have the Chiefs coming into Oakland and they could up the stakes by going 2-0 in the division. This is exciting. We are seeing meaningful football being played early from the Silver and Black. The Chiefs will be a tough test. We've seen it last year, after the bye week, they start to play hot and Andy Reid and Alex Smith have the Raiders' number. We also get to see how Marcus Peters fares against a healthy Amari Cooper. That should be a fun matchup to watch. But, 4-1. Time for some celebration. I'll see you guys next week for the game against the Chiefs.
*Your tears are delicious Charger fans!*
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