The Oakland Raiders made the most of their rare national television appearance, smothering the San Diego Chargers and dealing them a 28-13 loss. It was the Chargers’ first December home loss since the Drew Brees era in 2005.
Despite a late San Diego rally, the game was not even as close as it sounds. At halftime, this baby was 21-3, Raiders.
The Chargers couldn’t find their way into the end zone until five minutes into the fourth quarter. San Diego was held to a measly 21 yards overall rushing for the whole game, and five of those yards were on a Phillip Rivers scramble.
The Raiders, meanwhile racked up more than 200 yards rushing for the day. Even Jason Campbell had a rushing touchdown.
Campbell also iced the game with one of the prettiest play-fakes you will ever see that went for a 37-yard completion to Louis Murphy, and San Diego was even penalized for having too many men on the field. Then the Chargers had too many men on the field again on the very next play.
Darren McFadden scored a seven-yard touchdown shortly after. McFadden had 97 yards for the day.
Darren Sproles was knocked from the game by a helmet-to-helmet hit from Raiders’ linebacker Rolando McClain. McClain should expect a tidy fine from the league office for that one.
Sports
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who just now figured out why there are five drunken Santas in the living room.
