Team Grades: Chargers, Oliver Survive Upset Alert In Oakland
By Dave Thomas
With dates in their next two games against Kansas City and Denver, it would have been easy Sunday for the San Diego Chargers to be caught looking ahead in their trip to the Bay Area.
Okay, while they probably were not looking ahead, the Chargers sure were playing for their lives, escaping Oakland with a hard-fought 31-28 victory over their long-time rivals the Raiders.
In a game that saw the San Diego injury list add a few more names to it (Eddie Royal, Brandon Flowers), the Bolts raised their record to 5-1, capturing their fifth straight victory after a disappointing 18-17 season-opening loss in Arizona.
Raiders Come Close Yet Again
In three of their five losses this season, the Raiders have been in the games (defeats at the New York Jets and New England), while getting manhandled by Houston and Miami. Still, the Raiders (0-5) are not looking for moral victories at this point.
This see-saw affair finally saw the Chargers take the lead for good late in the fourth quarter on a touchdown run by Branden Oliver, giving San Diego a field goal lead.
While it looked like Oakland would settle for a potential game-tying field goal with less than two minutes remaining in the game, rookie quarterback Derek Carr (four TD's, 282 yards passing) went for the home run ball, only to be picked off near the end zone by fellow rookie Jason Verrett. At that point, game over.
For San Diego (lost in Oakland 27-17 in 2013), heading north to play the Raiders never seems like an easy affair, proven yet again on this October afternoon.
Team Grades:
Offense (B)
San Diego continues to win despite having its top two running backs on the shelf (Ryan Mathews, Danny Woodhead). Oliver turned in his second straight stellar performance, finishing with 101 yards rushing on 26 carries (one TD). While the Bolts went out during the week and signed former San Diego running back Ronnie Brown, it was the youngster Oliver who flourished yet again, especially on the Chargers' game-winning drive. While he may not have all the ability of former Bolt Darren Sproles, he certainly reminds folks of the man who last wore number 43 on offense in San Diego.
Kudos also to Royal who missed part of the game due to an injury. Royal, along with Malcom Floyd (five receptions, 103 yards) and Antonio Gates, added touchdown receptions from Philip Rivers (313 yards passing, three TD's) on the day. San Diego's offensive line also gets some love for opening up some holes for Oliver to turn in back-to-back solid performances.
Defense (C+)
While the Chargers came away with the win (that's what matters at the end of the day), Oakland and Carr pushed around a defense for parts of the day that had put a lid on offenses for the better part of the last month (Seattle, Buffalo, Jacksonville, New York Jets). One could argue that Carr is an unknown commodity and he was playing in front of a friendly crowd.
That said, still too much offense was given up to a team that some say is the worst in the league right now. With tests upcoming against Alex Smith (Oct. 19) off a bye week and Peyton Manning (Oct. 23) on a short turn around, San Diego defense will need to play better in its next two contests. Donald Butler had a solid game with seven tackles, while Verrett had likely his best game of his rookie season with six solo stops and the game-winning interception.
For more Chargers news and updates, visit Chargers Central.
Dave Thomas has been covering the sports world since his first job as a sports editor for a weekly newspaper in Pennsylvania back in 1989. He has covered a Super Bowl, college bowl games, MLB, NBA and more. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
