Final
Chargers take advantage of Raiders' miscues
Sep 11, 2012 - 7:16 AM Oakland, CA (Sports Network) - The Oakland Raiders, who are the last NFL team forced to play home games on a baseball team's infield dirt, had their fair share of groundballs on Monday.Nate Kaeding made five field goals, three coming off Oakland special teams miscues, and the San Diego Chargers downed the Raiders, 22-14, to spoil Dennis Allen's head coaching debut in the season opener for both teams.
Philip Rivers completed 24-of-33 passes for 231 yards and a touchdown, while Malcom Floyd hauled in four balls for 66 yards a score for San Diego (1-0), which is coming off an 8-8 season.
Starting in place of starting running back Ryan Mathews, Ronnie Brown had five carries for just five yards.
"I thought our defense played very well...and obviously we were outstanding on special teams," Chargers head coach Norv Turner said. "Getting a win on the road was big for us."
Raiders standout long snapper Jon Condo left the game in the first half with a head injury. Reserve linebacker Travis Goethel took over the long snapping duties and hurled two into the dirt and was too slow on another, which led to a San Diego punt block. It was the first time that Raiders punter Shane Lechler was blocked in six years.
Carson Palmer threw for 297 yards with a touchdown on 32-of-46 efficiency and Darren McFadden carried the ball 15 times for 32 yards and added 86 yards on a career-high 13 receptions for the Raiders (0-1), who also went 8-8 a year ago.
Trailing 10-6 early in the third quarter, the Raiders lined up to go for a 4th-and-2 from the Chargers 48-yard line, but following a 12 men in the huddle penalty, they decided to punt it away. Goethel's snap rolled back to Lechler, who was tackled at the Raiders 39-yard line. This led to a 28-yard Kaeding field goal, which gave San Diego a 13-6 advantage.
On Oakland's next punt, Dante Rosario broke through the line of scrimmage and blocked Lechler for the first time since 2006. Once again, though, San Diego settled for a field goal, this one from 19 yards out for a 16-6 spread.
After Kaeding nailed a 41-yard field goal early in the fourth, Oakland lined up to punt on its ensuing series. Goethel put another snap into the ground and it gave the Chargers the ball at the Oakland 42-yard line, which led to Kaeding's career high-tying fifth field goal, this one from 45 yards out, which made it 22-6.
"(Goethel's) worked on snapping the ball, and he's done a nice job at practice. Obviously it's a lot different in a game situation," said Allen. "It hurt us."
Oakland finally scored a touchdown with 54 seconds to play when Palmer found undrafted rookie receiver Rod Streater out of Temple for a two-yard score. He also hauled in a two-point conversion, which cut the deficit to eight, but San Diego recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal the win.
Earlier, Sebastian Janikowski and Kaeding traded first-quarter field goals, 51 and 19 yards, respectively, before San Diego found the end zone late in the second quarter.
Rivers flipped a six-yard score over the middle to Floyd, which capped a 13- play, 90-play march that took just over eight minutes off the clock.
Janikowski booted through a 19-yard field goal right before the half, which pulled the hosts within 10-6 heading into the locker room.
Game Notes
The Raiders outgained the Chargers 321-258 ... Chargers outside linebacker Shaun Phillips had two sacks ... San Diego tight end Antonio Gates caught four passes for 43 yards.
- SAN DIEGO: 22
OAKLAND: 14
Final
Sep 11 1:31 AM - SAN DIEGO: 22
OAKLAND: 14
End of Regulation
Sep 11 1:31 AM - Carson Palmer pass to Rod Streater for the two-point conversion.
Chargers 22, Raiders 14 4th - 0:54Sep 11 1:30 AM - Oakland Touchdown - Carson Palmer pass to Rod Streater for 2 yards.
Chargers 22, Raiders 12 4th - 0:54Sep 11 1:23 AM - SAN DIEGO: 16
OAKLAND: 6
End of 3rd
Sep 11 12:42 AM - SAN DIEGO: 10
OAKLAND: 6
Halftime
Sep 10 11:52 PM - Oakland Field Goal - 20-yarder by Sebastian Janikowski.
Chargers 10, Raiders 6 2nd - 0:04Sep 10 11:49 PM - San Diego Touchdown - Philip Rivers pass to Malcom Floyd for 6 yards.
Chargers 9, Raiders 3 2nd - 3:10Sep 10 11:25 PM - SAN DIEGO: 3
OAKLAND: 3
End of 1st
Sep 10 11:01 PM - Oakland Field Goal - 51-yarder by Sebastian Janikowski.
Chargers 0, Raiders 3 1st - 4:56Sep 10 10:45 PM - SAN DIEGO: 0
OAKLAND: 0
1st Quarter - 15:00
Sep 10 10:25 PM
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