Oakland Raiders beat San Diego Chargers, Second half
In the first quarter the Oakland Raiders defence snubbed the Chargers continuously and didn’t let them into the end zone. The defence also produced a safety and touchdown from two blocked punts.
In the second quarter the San Diego Chargers came back stronger and scored two touchdowns and a field goal to edge into the lead by 2 points.
The Raiders continued an offensive drive from the second quarter into the third but could not take it past their 20 yard line against the Chargers defence and took the punt. The Chargers offense was no more successful. Quarterback Phillip Rivers was sacked
in the very first play of the third quarter for 8 yards but made up for it with 11 and 10 yard passes in the next two plays. In the end though, the drive had to be abandoned in a punt on the Raiders’ 47 yard line.
When the Raiders offence came back on the field they appeared to be a bit helpless and desperate to make headway. Chargers’ 42 yards punt was returned 46 by Nick Miller to put the Raiders quarterback on the 46 yard line as the drive began.
However, Campbell was just not able to push through the Chargers defence. In three plays the Raiders acquired 8 yards. On the 4th and 2nd the Chargers defence stopped the Raiders just two inches shy of the 36 yard line to take the ball
back.
San Diego didn’t miss the opportunity. After a penalty the Chargers offense began on the 42 yard line and started with a 17 yard Rush by Ryan Mathews. Rivers then followed it up with a 41 yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Floyd to extend their lead.
After the touchdown the Raiders returned Nate Kaedings 71 yard punt just for 4 yards to start on the 3 yard line. The offence managed 18 yards in the first 5 plays then came out strong with a spectacular 58 yards pass by Campbell to Louis Murphy. The Wide
Receiver moved in from the left to the dead centre of the field to receive the pass and continued running down and left to be pushed out of bounds by free safety Eric Weddle. After another 4 yards rush, the Raiders had broken through to the red zone.
The Raiders moved up 16 yards to the one yard line in 5 plays and then Campbell threw the final 1 yard pass to Zach Miller for a touchdown. The third quarter ended while the Chargers were on the offense and the scores stood at 24 against 22 in San Diego’s
favour.
The Chargers opened the drive with a 28 yard pass from the 20 yard line. 3 plays later the Ryan Mathews put in 15 more yards into the offence taking the Chargers inside the red zone. However, that was as far as the offence would go and in the end the Chargers
made a field goal attempt which was good.
The Raiders had fallen behind and needed to get back in the game. 12 minutes remained in the quarter and Oakland knew there was no room for error. Their offense made sure they made no mistakes. They took it slowly and carefully forward from the 27 yard line
after the Chargers’ field goal.
It took the Raiders 13 plays to get from the 27 yard line to Sandiego’s 3 yard line, averaging just over 5 yards per play in the drive. Michael Bush pushed his way through the middle just barely making it through the line for a touchdown.
The touchdowns’ six points put the Raider in the lead but they tried to cement it further with a two-point conversion. However, the attempt failed as Campbell’s pass towards Johnnie Lee Higgins failed to connect.
Three minutes remained as the Chargers tried to score one more time. A successful drive would have probably meant a victory for San Diego but the drive failed on Oakland’s 33 yard line.
Quarterback Rivers was sacked by free safety Michael Huff moments before Rivers was about to release the ball. However, the play was not ruled as an incomplete pass but instead as a fumble. The ball was recovered by Tyvon Branch, who carried it into the
end zone for touchdown. With the touchdown the scores stood at 35 against 27 for the Raiders as the final quarter almost came to an end.
The Chargers had time for one more drive but they didn’t get far before losing the possession. Campbell took the knee with 22 seconds on the clock and the Raiders won the game.
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