Vs. Oakland

The Chargers carry some positive vibes into Qualcomm Stadium for their second meeting of the season with the Oakland Raiders fresh off of their best performance of the year to date in Kansas City one week ago. As always this rivalry will most likely bring out the best in both teams even though the Raiders really looked quite miserable a week ago against the Jets. Some keys to the game will certainly be the Bolts ability to get some pressure on Jamarcus Russell or whoever the Raiders happen to put under center throughout the game. The improvement in that area against the Chiefs was a positive sign for San Diego that they need desperately to continue. If the Chargers can get up early and force the Raiders to abandon their run game and get one dimensional, they stand a great chance at emerging victorious this week.

Qualcomm is hopping with a high energy level as the game gets started and the Bolts run defense looks a bit flat. Oakland opens the game running the ball on the Bolts and gets two first downs doing so before Antonio Cromartie finally snags his first pick of the year off of Jamarcus Russell to turn the tables on the Raiders. On the ensuing Chargers drive, Norv Turner didn’t waste any time going deep as the first play dialed up was a deep strike to Malcolm Floyd who made a spectacular alley style catch over Oakland safety Michael Huff to set up a first and goal for San Diego. They cash in immediately on a 6 yard touchdown gallop out of the Wildcat (or more appropriately Wild Frog) formation from LaDainian Tomlinson to open up the scoring with a 7-0 lead for the good guys. Some sloppy play by both sides in the remaining minutes of quarter number one left many fans (me included) scratching their heads a bit with a really terrible turnover by Philip Rivers giving Oakland their best field position of the game and a chance to put some points on the board early in quarter number two.

Just two plays into the 2nd quarter, Oakland evens the game at 7-7 as Justin Fargas cracks the goal line and gives the Raiders something positive to build off of heading forward. The Chargers are giving up substantial gains on nearly every Oakland running play and that is a bit disconcerting as this game moves forward and the defensive linemen get more fatigued. If Philip Rivers and Vincent Jackson can maintain the rapport that the two showed on that follow up drive to answer the Raiders score there will be no worries for the Bolts. Every crucial situation Rivers looked to Jackson and on all of those occasions Jackson game through with a huge catch to help the Chargers progress down the field. That drive culminated in an 8 yard Rivers to Jackson touchdown to put the Bolts back on top of the Raiders 14-7. After another futile attempt from the Raiders to mount anything offensively, the Chargers took over after a Shane Lechler bomb of a punt ended in a touchback at their own 20 yard line. An 8 play, 80 yard march by Philip Rivers and company was a thing of beauty as LaDainian Tomlinson capped it off with his second score of the game this time from 10 yards out to give San Diego a 21-7 advantage. A huge return for the Raiders following the Bolts drive put them into scoring position near the end of the half as Oakland settled for a Sebastian Janikowski field goal to close the half trimming the Chargers lead to 21-10.

On the final Oakland possession, Shawne Merriman finally recorded his first sack of the season taking down Jarmarcus Russell and limiting Oakland to three points on the half’s final possession. For the Chargers, their defense is going to have to continue to pressure the Oakland quarterback so that their defense isn’t forced to cover receivers downfield for such an extended period of time. Outgaining the Raiders 253 to 80 in the opening half, the Chargers have to be pleased with the performance of their offense. Philip Rivers has been on the same page with his receivers thus far completing passes to five different players in the opening half with Vincent Jackson getting 6 of those looks. Following an opening drive to the 3rd quarter that went nowhere, the Bolts punted the ball back to Oakland who again ran on the Chargers weakened interior defensive line and posted another Janikoski field goal to close the gap to 21-13. The teams then exchanged punts and the Raiders began a march down the field grinding it out on the ground against the Bolts into the red zone to end quarter number three.

To get this stop early in the fourth quarter is going to be pivotal in the final outcome of this game and if the Chargers can again hold Oakland to three they will greatly improve their chances of winning this game. The bend but don’t break philosophy has been harmless thus far as the Bolts again surrender a field goal and the Raiders further narrow the gap to 21-16. This drive for San Diego is huge to establish some momentum on offense and get some positive plays for their psyche. The drive didn’t start off as the Chargers would have liked backed up near their own goal line, but the rhythmic passing from Philip Rivers to both Vincent Jackson and Antonio Gates quickly got the Bolts out of the shadows of their own goal posts. Some timely running in a solid, grind it out style gets the Bolts down into the red zone. After an untimely penalty the Chargers again found themselves in reverse and were forced to settle for three stretching their lead back to an eight point advantage at 24-16. 4:45 remaining in the game and the Raiders begin their last ditch effort to even the score. Some timely pressure from the Bolts Shaun Phillips and Shawne Merriman both record sacks and put Oakland into a nearly impossible situation with a little over one minute remaining on 3rd and 31. After picking up a portion of it to make the Bolts sweat, the Raiders come up empty on fourth down and the Chargers are finally above .500 for the season.

In spite of their best efforts not to, the Chargers emerged from another nailbiter victorious. The Raiders were a game bunch today sticking to their guns and running the ball right up the gut on the Bolts seemingly at will, but in the end, San Diego ran their winning streak against the Raiders to 13 games. Gap responsibility has to be a focus for the team over the upcoming week of practice with the Giants and their bruising running attack on tap next week. With the Broncos loss earlier in the day, the Bolts now find themselves just two games back of Denver who of course has the tiebreaker with San Diego via their win over the Chargers in October. The Bolts just need to maintain their focus on what they can control and that is winning the game on the schedule on a week to week basis. Even though it was a bit sketchy at times, this game can be used as a stepping stone for the Bolts down the home stretch.

Tags: Antonio Cromartie, Denver Broncos, Jamarcus Russell, Justin Fargas, Kansas City Chiefs, LaDainian Tomlinson, Michael Huff, New York Giants, Norv Turner, Oakland Raiders, Philip Rivers, Sebastian Janikowski, Shaun Phillips, Shawne Merriman, Vincent Jackson