Raiders Weekly (Chargers and Jets games)

Raiders vs Chargers

The struggling Oakland Raiders finally got a win, a much needed win, against the hated San Diego Chargers. This rivalry took another twist to it between the two division foes, and it started between Raiders Defensive Captain Lawrence Timmons and Chargers Offensive Captain (and self proclaimed probowler) Vince Young. The Raiders were prepared for Vinces legs, containing him for the majority of the game, however that didnt stop Vince from marching down on their teams first drive of the game for a TD. After the Raiders 2nd possesion went 3 and out and the Chargers up 7-0 late in the 1st quarter, one play swung the momentum and it was made by the Raiders Special Teams. A booming punt inside the 20 was kicked to SD, and instead of calling for a fair catch, the returner decided to try to make something happen, little did he know he would........for the other team! STs Gunner and backup CB Pat Lee made contact with the returners chin almost immediately after he caught the punt, resulting in a fumble that was recovered by the Raiders on the 12 yard line. San Diego's goal line defense played with fire, but a 4th and goal on the 1 yard line resulted in the Raiders forst score, tying the game at 7 a piece.

The game would go back and forth, a struggle between two hated rivals on the west coast with similar playing styles. The Raiders Defensive Captain, Lawrence "The Villan" Timmons made a huge INT mid 2nd half to set his team up inside the red zone. The Chargers DLine and Raiders OLine were slugging it out, and once again it resulted in a 4th and goal at the 1 yard line, with the Raiders up 21-14 in the 4th quarter. Coach PaPZ made another gutsy call, electing to go for a TD instead of making the game a sure 10 point lead midway through the 4th. Raider FB BJ Askew banged it in for 6 and the Raiders now had a 14 point lead over the streaking Chargers, coming off a 6 game win streak, with just minutes left in the game.

Vince "Vote for me.....PLEASE" Young took his squad up field in a hurry with his arm and feet and got the Chargers just on the brink on the Red Zone. On a 2nd and 10, Vince dropped back and read the zone coverage and found the open man inside the 10 yard line. Just as he was throwing however, The Villian Timmons came through the B gap, bullrushed a back and made a clean, solid hit on Vince, planting him into the San Diego turf. The trainers came rushing onto the field as the crowd held the breathe in shock, praying their leader would get back up on his own power. Unfortunatly for San Diego fans, Vince suffered a Broken Collarbone from the vicious hit and will be out atleast the remainder of the regular season. Charlie Whitehurst came into the game for the Chargers and got his team in the endzone immediatly to cap the current drive and bring the Super Chargers within 1 score, trailing 28-21 with just under 2 minutes left in the game. It was too little too late however as the Raiders recovered the onside kick and took a couple knee downs, bringing another clash between the two California titans to an end. The Raiders won 28-21 and swept the season series, however are still trailing the 2nd place Chargers in the division by a couple games. Final Score: Raiders 28 Chargers 21.


Raiders vs Jets

The Raiders, coming off their first win in over a month, were riding high into their match up with the New York Jets, lead by their young, talented rookie quarterback. This was a slug fest from the first play with big hit after big hit, pushing and shoving between two teams hoping to make a run at a Wild Card spot in the extremly competitive AFC Confrence. The Raiders started the game with the ball, and surprisingly drove down field against that tough, aggresive Jets defense. However, the drive stalled around the 30 yard line and the Raiders had to settle for a field goal. On the following posession, the Jets moved the ball into Raider territory and eventually capped off their first drive of the game with a TD to give them a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter. After both teams moved the ball extremly well on their first drives it was looking like this game was going towards a shoot out, but both defenses werent having it. The ball was becoming increasingly difficult to move in the Meadowlands Rain and Wind with WRs slipping through routes and passes being dropped, Im sure the big hits being landed had something to do with this as well.

Fastforward to the 2nd half where the Jets started the half off with another stalled drive. The Raiders pass attack was up and down to this point, and despite getting away with an interception earlier in the game, this time Raiders QB Joe Flacco was going to pay for his next INT, which was taken to the house for a TD and a 14-3 Jets lead midway through the 3rd quarter. It was now or never for the Oakland Raiders offense if they were going to get back into this game, and lead by some timely running by Reggie Bush and some great throws by Joe Flacco to WRs Greg Jennings, Steve Breaston, Nate Washington and TE Tony Scheffler, the Raiders were able to get deep into Jets territory and get a much needed TD. A converted 2 point conversion cut the Jets lead to 14-11 late in the 4th quarter. The Raiders got a huge 3 and out against a tough, physical Jets ground attack and would get the ball with one last chance to get them back in the game. The Raiders marched down the field, with a key 3rd down conversion by TE Tony Scheffler, and made it to midfield with less than 40 seconds remaining. Flacco found his favorite target, Jennings, over the middle and got the Raiders to the 25 yardline with only seconds remaining for an attempt at a game tying FG. Despite the bad weather and Meadowland winds, the Raiders made the FG to tie the game at 14 and force Overtime!

The Jets won the coin toss in Overtime and put together a time consuming drive, moving all the way to midfield and only 15-20 yards out of FG range before having to punt the ball back to the Raiders with only a couple minutes remaining. Flacco lead his team through the air, converting 3rd down after 3rd down, and with just seconds left in OT the Raiders had a FG attempt from about 40 yards away. As a quite Meadowlands crowd looked on, the Raiders Kicker and Special Teams as a whole came through and the Raiders won a long, tough battle 17-14 on a windy, rainy night at the Meadowlands and kept their playoff hopes alive for the time being. Final Score: OT - Raiders 17 Jets 14.

to big wins...wow, good read

Yeah...excellent post PAP!

good reads

Thanks guys. I'm making my playoff push, time to kick it up a notch!

I still think that hit by Timmons should be investigated.

It was a vicious hit, caught him right under his shoulder as he was throwing. Its gunna be a hell of a rematch next season, if Vince is healthy by then

Well it may have been career ending. He hasn't progressed very well after surgery and with the way Freeman got that ugly win up in New England last week, he's looking like the QB of the future. We have quite a few players looking for some revenge though.

Nice....looks like this division is full of rivalrys. I just battled it out with Mblammers yesterday and he gave me a run for my money....I snuck out a 10-0 win in KC.