San Diego Chargers' LaDainian Tomlinson, right, fumbles the ball and is brought down by Oakland Raiders' Greg Ellis during the first quarter on Monday in Oakland. (Paul Sakuma/Associated Press)Trailing the Oakland Raiders in the fourth quarter is not something the San Diego Chargers expected.
Not holding a lead until seven minutes into the fourth quarter is something they didn't expect, either.
But losing to the Oakland Raiders, a team they have beaten 10 straight times, dating back to Week 4 of 2003? Impossible.
It came closer than anyone would've thought as the Chargers' Darren Sproles ran in a touchdown strike with 18 seconds left to emerge with a 24-20 win on Monday.
Oakland quarterback JaMarcus Russell, facing a last gasp 4th-and-15, hit Louis Murphy with a 57-yard strike to give the Raiders a 20-17 lead with 2:34 to go.
Russell finished 12/30 for 208 yards passing including one touchdown and two interceptions.
The Chargers didn't pick up their first lead in the game until the late stages of the fourth quarter on a 10-play, 77-yard drive capped off by a 15-yard Philip Rivers touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson. That gave San Diego a 17-13 lead with under eight minutes to go.
Rivers threw for 252 yards, going 24/36 with a touchdown and one pick. Included in this is his calm, cool and collected winning drive where he went six for seven, passing for 79 yards before Sproles quieted the rowdy crowd at the Oakland Coliseum.
Raiders overwhelm Chargers early
The Raiders hit the ground running in the first quarter as they out gained the Chargers 135-17 in the first 15 minutes. In fact, their first play - a Michael Bush 17-yard run - equalled the Chargers total over the whole period.
Bush gave Raider Nation something to cheer about in the first quarter finishing off a 10-play, 84-yard drive with a 4-yard rushing touchdown to open the scoring six minutes in.
The Raiders new-look defence got the ball back from the Chargers on their next possession. Defensive lineman Richard Seymour, acquired in a trade with the New England patriots prior to the start of the season, sacked Rivers for a 5-yard loss before fellow new Raider Greg Ellis forced a fumble by LaDainian Tomlinson that was recovered by Michael Huff.
LT made amends for his first fumble since October of 2006 by tying the game with 4:45 to go in the first half, punching the ball in from the Oakland one-yard line.
With 45 seconds to go in the first half, Russell appeared to connect with wide receiver Louis Murphy on a 19-yard, 3rd-and-5 pass to put the Raiders on top by a touchdown.
A video review concluded that the ball came loose from Murphy when he hit the ground and the Raiders were forced to settle for a Sebastian Janikowski field goal. That was quickly matched by San Diego's Nate Kaeding who nailed a 47-yard kick as time expired in the second quarter.
Oakland defence gets to Rivers
Huff haunted the Chargers offence all game, halting San Diego's first possession in the second half. A Rivers pass glanced of the intended receiver's hands and was caught by Huff for his second turnover recovery of the game.
The Raiders defence seemed to get into the head of Rivers in the third, who was tagged with a taunting penalty with under five minutes to go in the period and was sacked on 3rd-and-8 for a loss of five yards.
A 35-yard Janikowski kick put the Raiders up 13-10 early in the fourth quarter before Rivers found Jackson in the endzone to pull the Chargers ahead 17-13.
Russell completed the incredible 57-yard pass to before the Chargers marched up the field to seal the win with the Sproles strike.
