While San Diego coach Mike McCoy was lamenting a “pathetic” first half, Del Rio was elated that the Raiders gave a demonstration on the kind of team they could be.
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For what it’s worth, not having Eric Weddle in the lineup made a difference in the Chargers’ pass defense Sunday, in their 37-29 loss to Oakland. Had the Chargers been more aggressive earlier in the game, perhaps they wouldn’t have had to play catch-up from such a wide margin. But with Raider fans roaring, Rivers couldn’t get the defenders to jump and ultimately called timeout, and Josh Lambo came on to kick a 40-yard field goal.
Hey, hey, everything the Raiders did for three quarters worked and afterward the Raiders leaders looked as happy and confident as I can ever remember. The Raiders offense is averaging 24 points and 351 yards per game and they have a plus two turnover ratio. Wide receiver Michael Crabtree caught six passes for 65 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown.
The Raiders stopped the Chargers again and added a huge punctuation mark to the half. It was the first pick of the season and third of his career, with two coming against Rivers. Not that it definitely would have been different with Weddle in the lineup, but his absence might have contributed to the Raiders’ big day. Latavius Murray had 85 yards running on 15 plays. The total running yardage for the Raiders was 130. Carr has thrown at least two touchdown passes in four of the five games he’s finished this season – a matchup against Denver’s brutal pass D was the lone exception – highlighted by huge efforts against San Diego, Cleveland and Baltimore. Oliver fell down the depth chart when the Chargers moved up in the draft to get RB Melvin Gordon.
“A lot of that was errors on our part”, safety Charles Woodson said of the damage Rivers inflicted in the fourth quarter. “When you’re down 20, it’s hard to run it”. We’re not going to back way from that, but what we’re going to focus on every day is being a good football team.
The score could have been higher for the Raiders, if it hadn’t been for penalties, especially the stupid ones. In the last game in San Diego on November.
Back on the Raiders on a final note I think they are on a good path to being a great team, if the pieces stay and they start building it could be something special in the future that is for sure. Rookie tight end Clive Walford showed what he can do, too, with a pair of receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown.
The Raiders had14 penalties for 136 yards. The squad has 55 yards receiving, nine catches, no touchdowns. He threw two interceptions, one in the Titans end zone as Atlanta tried to salt the game away late.
But the best-laid schemes of McCoy and his men often go awry, which is exactly what happened in a 37-29 loss to the Raiders at Qualcomm Stadium.
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Both teams had over 400 yards of offense and the Raiders had control of the ball a little more than the Chargers. Cornerback DJ Hayden had an interception, which set up one of three field goals by Sebastian Janikowski. The Jets will not be an easy team to beat, they have one of the best defenses in the entire league and are playing extremely well this year.
