How does a team that lost an NFL game 3-0 four days ago show up and show out with a team-record scoring victory? Against a division rival team? Well, as Chris Berman always says, "This is why we play the games."
The Raiders and Chargers, both sporting 5-8 records coming in, played an NFL Thursday Night Primetime game that I'm sure non-fans of the two teams weren't rushing home to tune into. With both teams coming off losses and looking to keep their longshot playoff hopes flickering, the stakes were mild. Surprisingly, by the end of the first quarter the hometown Raiders had a 21-0 lead. By halftime they'd doubled it with a 42-0 shutout of the Chargers.
As a card-carrying Raiders fan, I was mostly elated. But the one stab I kept feeling in my side was memory of Sunday's 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. I love my Raiders, don't get me wrong. But how can a team get shutout 3-0, then turn around four days later to put up record points? It felt like a smack in the face. But dammit, I'll take the friggin smack and live with this incredible Raiders win. It was truly a beautiful Silver & Black beatdown of an opponent.
Granted the Chargers were missing quarterback Justin Herbert, out for the season with a fractured finger, along with WR Keenan Allen. Meanwhile, the Raiders were missing RB Josh Jacobs and C Andre James due to injuries. Also tackle Kolton Miller did not play. This game though, was determined not by the better roster, but a hungering "Will-to-Win" attitude. The Raiders had that attitude, a fire in the belly burning bright, from opening kickoff to the final tick of the game clock.
They won it by scoring on 5 passing touchdowns, 2 rushing touchdowns, a strip sack returned 44 yards by big, rumbling defensive tackle John Jenkins, and a pick 6. Nine touchdowns and No Field Goals.
The big guy's touchdown would have been a game-defining "cherry on top" of a dominant Raiders night, but for the interception made two plays later when cornerback Jack Jones read the offense like a book. Jones jumped the screen, intercepted the ball one-handed, and raced sixteen yards untouched for the score. That right there! was the Ed Sheeran PERFECT execution moment of the game for me.
Baby, I'm dancing in the darkWith you between my armsBarefoot on the grassListening to our favourite songWhen you said you looked a messI whispered underneath my breathBut you heard itDarling, you look perfect tonight
Win, Lose, or Tie
"The Fire that Burns Brightest is the Will to Win!"
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