Playoff hopes for Oakland Raiders end after 38-26 snub to San Diego Chargers – NFL Recap
The Oakland Raiders failed in their last bid to reach the playoffs after being handed out a 38-26 snub by the San Diego Chargers in their own home ground. The Raiders defence failed once again and proved to be the turning point by which the Raiders sustained
the defeat.
The Raiders had been driving help from other teams for their playoff chances but the only reason why the season ended for them was of their own. Raiders’ quarterback Carson Palmer completed 28 of 43 passes for 417 yards with two touchdowns while giving in
one interception. The touchdowns proved futile as a failed Raiders defence could not help prevent the Chargers’ offence from delivering.
"To find out it worked out the way you needed it to and to lose this one," Carson Palmer said. "It's going to be a long offseason."
Philip Rivers delivered the major blows that lead to a Chargers victory. He completed 19 of 26 passes for 310 yards and went to score three times with just one interception.
The first quarter of the game initially saw the Raiders taking the lead with a touchdown scored after Darrius Heyward-Bey took a 3-yard touchdown pass from Carson Palmer. Six minutes later, the Chargers hit back with a 38-yard touchdown pass taken by Antonio
Gates from Rivers to equal the score. The second quarter saw a lot of action from both the sides but the Chargers succeeded in taking charge of the game. The first to score was Mike Tolbert as he ran one-yard for a touchdown. The Raiders struck back with a
52-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski to lessen the trail. However, just seconds later the Chargers extended the lead with a touchdown by Richard Goodman off the kick return. Janikowski struck again with a 43 yard field goal only to be replied with a
51 yard field goal by Nick Novak.
The Raiders tried to lessen the deficit with yet another field goal by Janikowski in the third quarter, only to be followed with a touchdown by Chargers five minutes later as Rivers threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson. Janikowski then came
up with his fourth field goal of the day to lessen the deficit to 12 points.
In the fourth quarter, Palmer hit back with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Boss drawing the score closer to 26-31 and the Raiders looked nearing to take the lead. However, their hopes were dealt a blow as Rovers threw another 43 yard touchdown pass to
Malcom Floyd to extend the lead by 12 points.
The Raiders had looked strong contenders hoping to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2002. However, they could not cope with the loss of key players including running back Darren McFadden to injuries.
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