Raiders Rally Past Chargers to Move to 4-1

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

Amari Cooper, 6 receptions, 138 receiving yards, 1 TD

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!*

Week 5: Divisional Game #1 - RAIDERS vs. San Diego Chargers 2nd Half Open Thread and Discussion

The 2nd half of the Raiders-Chargers divisional home matchup. As usual, leave comments about the game below this post.

Q4

SD 31 OAK 34

What a big time win! It didn't go right in the first half of the game, but great adjustments in the 2nd half. Another 4th down call by "Black Jack" Del Rio was the deciding factor of the game to give the Raiders the lead. Crabtree "King Clutch" once again. Coop got his first TD of the season. And once again, the 4th quarter was unforgiving for the Chargers. More to come in the full recap.

Q3

SD 24 OAK 27

This is what we wanted in the 2nd half! Shake off the rust and play better! You couldn't have drawn it any better. AC/DC with their first TD connection of the season provided a spark plug to give the Raiders a little momentum. The Chargers quickly scored to get some of it back. Black Jack Del Rio. I'm lovin' that nickname. He decides to go for it on 4th and 2 and then a strike to Crabtree to get the lead. But, before that. Defense makes a huge turnover to set that up and all of a sudden, the momentum is back on the Raiders' side. Finish this game!

Week 5: Divisional Game #1 - RAIDERS vs. San Diego Chargers 1st Half Open Thread and Discussion

Welcome to the first half open thread discussion of the Raiders' Week 5 divisional matchup vs. the San Diego Chargers. Leave comments below the post during the game.


Q2

SD 10 OAK 9

Well that's one way to end the half on a positive note. Still, there's a lot of points left out there on the field that the Raiders couldn't capitalize on. This is the one knack I have on this team and this dates back to last season. When the offense is hot, the defense is cold. But when the defense is hot, the offense is cold. This Raiders team is taking bipolarity to a whole another level and it's frustrating to watch. The defense was a positive that first half. Aside from allowing that one TD from Rivers to Williams, the Raiders are holding their own and they managed to create three turnovers during the half. Perry Riley with the forced fumble on Antonio Gates, Sean Smith with an acrobatic INT, and Karl Joseph, playing center field, got his first INT of his young NFL career. The Raiders are gonna need more of those to try and get this offense to click. Which brings to my next point. No Jason Verrett, no Manti Te'o, no Denzel Perryman, and yet the Raiders offense are struggling to get points in the red zone. Credit where credit is due, the Chargers' defense are bringing all kinds of pressure and exotic looks on Derek Carr. Joey Bosa is showing some flashes for the Chargers and he's showing why he's the number 3 pick in this draft. However, remember the three things I said that stalls the Raiders' offense? O-line is having all sorts of pre-snap penalties, Crabtree is uncharacteristically dropping balls, and Coop just can't drag that last toe in the end zone. This offense was so good last week, they're dropping the ball here so far in this critical division game. Overall, the execution has to be better. I know Tay Train is out, Lee Smith is lost for the year, right tackle is definitely hurting again. It's critical for the offense to wake up in the 2nd half. The 2nd half post will be up shortly.

Q1

SD 0 OAK 3

How to describe this quarter? That was nauseating to say the least. The offense is having a lot of jitters out there. The O-line is not communicating, leading to a couple of pre-snap penalties. Carr, in that 1st quarter alone, got picked off and sacked. Even though this Chargers team is banged up, the Raiders should never underestimate them as long as Rivers is their QB. However, defense is doing its job forcing a fumble and an INT, but the Chargers are currently putting together a solid drive to start.