The Oakland Raiders improved to 5-4 Thursday night with an impressive victory over their arch-rival and AFC west foe San Diego Chargers 24-17 in an exciting milestone victory for the silver and black. The win marked the third straight win for the Raiders over the Chargers, after losing 12 straight games to the Bolts.
Oakland’s newly acquired quarterback Carson Palmer finally looked comfortable running the Raider offense, going 14-20 for 299 yards with two touchdowns to rookie wide out Denarius Moore. Palmer struggled in his previous two games in an Oakland uniform, throwing three interceptions against Kansas City, after replacing Kyle Boller in the third quarter in his first outing, and having an up and down performance in his first start against Denver in a loss last week.
Thursday, Palmer threw the ball with a confidence that hasn’t been seen since before he injured his knee playing for the Cincinnati Bengals. After Palmer demanded a trade or retire, the Raiders gave up first round draft picks to acquire Palmer to replace an injured Jason Campbell.
The move finally started to pay off against the Chargers, as Palmer had command of the offense and looked like a real leader. The Raiders are now the odds-on favorite to win the AFC west after the Chargers have imploded following a 4-1 start.
Most impressive of the night was an electrifying performance by Oakland running back Michael Bush, who rushed 30 times for 157 yards, and caught three balls for 85 yards to become the first Raider since Bo Jackson in ’87 against Seattle to gain more than 235 total yards from scrimmage.
Bush rumbled, juked and showed his unparalleled speed for a 245-pound back- as the Oakland offensive line exposed the weak San Diego run defense. With Darren McFadden injured, Bush has stepped up big, amassing 253 rushing yards in the last two weeks. When McFadden is back healthy, the Raiders have the best one-two punch rushing attack in the league.
The Raiders defense was tenacious, even with starting safety Michael Huff out with injury. Linebacker Kamerion Wimbley came up huge with seven tackles, four of those for sacks. The Raiders sacked Rivers six times on the night, as defensive end Tommy Kelly was a major factor- applying pressure to the struggling quarterback all game long with a sack and forced fumble.
After going three and out on the Raiders’ first drive, San Diego kicked a field goal to take its only lead of the game. The Raiders came right back, marching down the field with superb blocking and hard running up the gut from Bush on eight of 11 plays on the drive to go up 7-3.
After stifling the Charger offense, Palmer found Moore for a big gain- as Moore made an excellent grab to put the Raiders in field goal position and take a 10-3 lead. Wide receiver Jacoby Ford sprained his foot on a 41-yard reception from Palmer, and is currently on crutches. That will be a big blow to Oakland, as Ford is an electrifying, big play threat.
On the next Raider drive, Palmer found Moore again for a 31-yard touchdown- putting the Raiders up 17-3. Palmer was bouncing around in the pocket, showing great presence and precision with his throws. In the first half alone, he went eight of 10 for 169 yards and a touchdown.
The Chargers came out after halftime to cut the lead to 17-10 when Rivers found rookie Vincent Brown in double coverage to go up and make a great catch. Just as quick, on Oakland’s next possession- Palmer found Moore again for a 26-yard touchdown strike to go up 24-10. Moore caught five balls on the night for 123 yards.
The Chargers tried to come back, but the Raiders defense held strong. Palmer was eventually forced to fumble and hit as he threw deep in Charger territory- causing an interception, but overall he looked great. It would be a miracle at this point if Campbell got his starting job back in silver and black.
After a Jacob Hester touchdown, the Chargers had one last shot- but Matt Giordano intercepted Rivers in the endzone, as Vincent Jackson didn’t even go up for the ball. It was all the Raiders would need, improving to 5-4 and snapping a two game losing streak.
With a half game lead on the Chiefs going into Sunday, the Raiders have a shot to make it back to the playoffs for the first time since 2002, when they eventually lost in the Super Bowl to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It will take a consistent effort from Palmer and the offensive line to continue on in a positive direction. If you didn’t already know about Denarius Moore, this was his coming out party- stepping up huge in a must win game.
