TE Mychal River (81) set up a Raiders touchdown with the 37-yard catch. Photo by Tony Gonzales.
The Chargers won the coin toss and elected to defer their choice to the second half. WR Greg Jenkins fielded the opening kickoff and took a knee for a touchback. The Raiders started at the 20 with Matt McGloin at quarterback. The Raiders managed one first down before the Chargers forced a punt. CB Chimdi Chekwa downed the P Marquette King punt at the Chargers 9.
Despite a long, sustained drive, the Raiders defense forced a K Nick Novak field goal attempt. The 27-yard kick was good and the Chargers took a 3-0 lead with 2:42 left in the 1st quarter.
Greg Jenkins returned the ensuing kickoff 24 yards to the Oakland 20. The Chargers held the Raiders to a three-and-out and King came on to punt. WR Keenan Allen returned the booming 63-yard punt to the San Diego 36. A few plays later, QB Philip Rivers fumbled a botched shotgun snap and LB Miles Burris recovered for the Raiders at the Oakland 42.
A 37-yard pass play to rookie TE Mychal Rivera set up a 5-yard RB Darren McFadden TD run. The PAT was good and the Raiders took a 7-3 lead with 10:39 left in the 2nd quarter.
RB Ronnie Brown returned the ensuing kickoff to the San Diego 12. The Chargers promising drive came to an end when CB Mike Jenkins picked off a Rivers pass and was tackled at the Oakland 10.
The Chargers got the ball back when S Eric Weddle batted a pass in the air and intercepted it at the Oakland 20. The Chargers took advantage as RB Ryan Mathews spun into the end zone from 7 yards out. The PAT was good and the Chargers reclaimed the lead, 10-7, with 3:13 left in the 2nd quarter.
Greg Jenkins returned the ensuing kickoff to the Oakland 23. The Raiders drive stalled and King came on to punt. Allen muffed the punt and S Shelton Johnson recovered for the Raiders at the Chargers 16. The Raiders settled for a 20-yard Janikowski field goal which tied the game at 10-10 with 10 seconds left in the 2nd quarter. After the kickoff and a short return, Rivers took a knee and the teams went to the locker room at halftime tied at 10-10.
Janikowski's opening kickoff of the 3rd quarter sailed out of the end zone for a touchback. A penalty on 3rd down gave the Chargers one first down before the Raiders forced a punt. P Mike Scifres boot went out of bounds at the Oakland 26.
The Raiders went three and out and King punted it away. Allen called for and made a fair catch at the Chargers 23. The Chargers took the lead with a 4-yard TD pass to Allen. The extra point was good and San Diego led 17-10 with 5:00 left 3rd quarter.
Greg Jenkins returned the ensuing kickoff to the Oakland 17. The Raiders went three and out again and King came on to punt. Allen returned King's punt and started the next drive at the 28. The Raiders forced a field goal attempt. Novak's 48-yard attempt was good and the Chargers led 20-10 with 56 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.
After Greg Jenkins fumbled the kickoff return deep in Raiders territory, the Raiders defense forced a field goal attempt. The successful 28-yard kick gave the home team a 23-10 lead with 14:51 left in the 4th quarter.
Greg Jenkins returned the ensuing kickoff to the Oakland 25. The Raiders drive stalled at the San Diego 24 and Janikowski came on. The 42-yard FG cut the Chargers lead to 23-13 with 11:19 left to play.
An "up" man fielded the kickoff and gave himself up at the San Diego 26. The Chargers settled for a 33-yard FG, which gave the Chargers a 26-13 lead with 6:23 left in the game.
Greg Jenkins returned the ensuing kickoff to the Oakland 24. The Raiders drove all the way to the Chargers 1-yard line but were unable to score. The Chargers took over on downs, ran out the clock and secured the victory.
The Raiders fall to 4-11 on the season and finish the 2013 campaign next Sunday against the Denver Broncos at O.co Coliseum.
