San Diego Chargers dominate Oakland Raiders in season opener – NFL Recap
San Diego Chargers made the most out of floppy offensive play by Oakland Raiders as they won Week 1 game, 22-14, on Monday, September 10, 2012, at Alameda County Coliseum.
Chargers looked spectacular on Monday night as their quarterback Philip Rivers clicked to form at the right time.
It was not a memorable debut as a head coach for Dennis Allen, whose team showed diminishing performance, especially in the second half of the game.
The loss of Pro Bowl long snapper Jon Condo proved to be a determinant factor in the Raiders loss. Condo got his head injured in the second quarter after which backup snapper Travis Goethel took the charge. The backup was unable to perform well and missed
a few chances.
Chargers offence was phenomenal as rookie Mike Harris did a great job in his debut. Moreover, kicker Nate Kaeding had a superb night on the field as he kicked five field goals. Giving his views about Chargers performance, Rivers said:
"The situation today was our defence was playing good, our special teams is getting the ball. ... If you go back since I've been playing here and we don't turn the ball over, it's 90-something percent we win. That was the key for the offense tonight."
On the other hand, Raiders offence looked rudderless, badly feeling absence of many of their main players. Without Denarius Moore and Jacoby Ford, quarterback Carson Palmer was left with limited options.
Palmer made most of his throws to running back Darren McFadden, who got an astounding 13 carries. Talking about the game, the Raiders coach said:
“Well, we have to eliminate the self-inflicted wounds. That’s the thing that has hurt us in the preseason and obviously hurt us tonight and we’ve got to find a way to get those things eliminated because really, when you look at it, we did some good things
in the game.
Chargers defensive performance was dominated by defensive end Shaun Phillips, who got three sacks during the game.
The score was 3-3 at the end of the first quarter as both teams scored a field goal each. Then things started to change as Rivers threw a six-yard pass to wide receiver Malcom Floyd for a touchdown.
Raiders then came back during the dying seconds of the second quarter with a 19-yard field goal by kicker Sebastian Janikowski, making the score 10-6.
In the third quarter, Chargers stretched their lead to 16-6 with two field goals. Kaeding scored two field goals, both over 40 yards, in the final quarter.
Raiders managed to score a touchdown with less than one minute left on the clock, but it was too late as the game ended at 22-14.
Tags: