The Oakland Raiders pulled out a come from behind gutsy win this Sunday against division rival San Diego. The Chargers didn't make it easy as the Raiders played through mistakes, injuries and penalties that could have sidetracked their comeback.
San Diego came into the Oakland Coliseum with a 13 game winning streak against the Raiders that dates back to 2003. Raiders special teams started the game out with a blocked punt for a safety followed by a blocked punt for a touchdown. I'd never seen my team do that before.
The Raiders defense was sliced up by Philip Rivers passes while stuffing the Chargers running game. All hope seemed lost for the Raiders when QB Bruce Gradkowski left the game in the 2nd quarter with a shoulder sprain. In comes backup Jason Campbell who took a few series to get on target but once he felt his rhythm was more than adequate in filling in for Bruuuuce.
My boy Nick Miller had a nice punt return that he almost took to the house. TE Zack Miller was a receiving juggernaut making plays at critical times. RB Michael Bush ran like a beast as he grinded out short yardage. FB Rock Cartwright saw action and did well on special teams (1 blocked punt) and as a blocker for Bush.
The big play came with the Chargers driving for the go ahead/winning score in Raiders territory. Raiders defensive coordinator Marshall finally decided it was time to blitz Rivers and the decision paid off in points. On the play, Rivers goes back to pass and Raiders defender Michael Huff gets a hand on the ball just before Rivers can begin his forward motion. Upon review it was decided that the ball was a fumble and the long return by Raiders Tyvon Branch would stand as a touchdown. The Raiders defense, after being shredded throughout the game by Rivers passing, had sealed the deal for the team and given them a 34-27 lead that would hold up for the win.
Final Score
Chargers 27
Raiders 35
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San Diego came into the Oakland Coliseum with a 13 game winning streak against the Raiders that dates back to 2003. Raiders special teams started the game out with a blocked punt for a safety followed by a blocked punt for a touchdown. I'd never seen my team do that before.
The Raiders defense was sliced up by Philip Rivers passes while stuffing the Chargers running game. All hope seemed lost for the Raiders when QB Bruce Gradkowski left the game in the 2nd quarter with a shoulder sprain. In comes backup Jason Campbell who took a few series to get on target but once he felt his rhythm was more than adequate in filling in for Bruuuuce.
My boy Nick Miller had a nice punt return that he almost took to the house. TE Zack Miller was a receiving juggernaut making plays at critical times. RB Michael Bush ran like a beast as he grinded out short yardage. FB Rock Cartwright saw action and did well on special teams (1 blocked punt) and as a blocker for Bush.
The big play came with the Chargers driving for the go ahead/winning score in Raiders territory. Raiders defensive coordinator Marshall finally decided it was time to blitz Rivers and the decision paid off in points. On the play, Rivers goes back to pass and Raiders defender Michael Huff gets a hand on the ball just before Rivers can begin his forward motion. Upon review it was decided that the ball was a fumble and the long return by Raiders Tyvon Branch would stand as a touchdown. The Raiders defense, after being shredded throughout the game by Rivers passing, had sealed the deal for the team and given them a 34-27 lead that would hold up for the win.
Final Score
Chargers 27
Raiders 35
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Meanwhile, about the same time the Raiders were wrapping up their win the San Franciso Giants were closing out a 9th inning come from behind victory over the Atlanta Braves in their NLDS game 3 matchup. Atlanta was leading the game 2-1 in the inning when the Giants began sprinkling their bats and balls with magic dust. A few errors later the Giants were pinching themselves to make sure the 3-2 lead they'd taken wasn't just a dream. It wasn't. Giants lead series 2-1.
Final Score
Giants 3
Braves 2
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The Stanford Cardinal football team took out one upstart southern California team in the last seconds of a seesaw battle while the Cal Bears trampled over the other sister from the south. Both games were played here on Northern California home turf.
Final Scores
USC 35
Stanford 37
UCLA 7
Cal 35
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Why even the heartbreaking Golden State Warriors got into the winning act as they won two games over the weekend with ease. It might be too early to crown the Warriors NBA playoff contenders, but if the magic dust floating in the Bay Area air this weekend continues to pay visits throughout the winter, we just might be pulling out our "We Believe" t-shirts come spring time.
Final Scores
Clippers 87
Warriors 127
Warriors 95
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And then there's the winless San Francisco 49ers who capped off the weekend with an NFL Sunday Night game appearance. Oh, well, all good things must come to an end and this is where Bay Area magic lost its luster. The 49ers, next week's Raiders opponent, showed the football world just why they haven't won a game up to now. They competed against the Philadelphia Eagles minus Mike Vick, as if they were being watched by the football critics. They looked decent one moment and sloppy the next. They are the 2009 Raiders with Jamarcus Russell, beating themselves and no answer in sight for recovery. They may want to take a page from the Raiders notebook and bench starting quarterback Alex Smith. You can't win games when your QB is fumbling and throwing interceptions at critical times. See Jamarcus in Wikipedia for details.
Final Score
Eagles 27
Forty-Niners 24
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Go Giants!
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