Nate Kaeding hit a 47-yard field goal with under two minutes to play and the San Diego Chargers overcame a 15-point halftime deficit with 25 fourth-quarter points to clip the Oakland Raiders, 28-18.
Philip Rivers overcame a slow start to help lead five second-half scoring drives, finishing 14-of-25 for 180 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Rivers also fumbled on his own five and took a safety in the first quarter. LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.
Antonio Gates had five receptions for 58 yards and a score for the Chargers (2-2), who were coming off a 48-29 dismantling of the New York Jets last Monday.
"As I said to our football team, this league is about who's going to fight, scratch, and claw the hardest and then who's going to get better,"
Chargers head coach Norv Turner said.
JaMarcus Russell was a mirror image of Rivers, leading four first-half scoring drives while finishing 22-of-37 for 277 yards with a touchdown and a second-half interception. Zach Miller posted five catches for 95 yards and a score.
Michael Bush ran for 48 yards on 14 attempts and caught seven passes for 80 yards while rookie standout Darren McFadden was held to just 20 yards rushing for the Raiders (2-2), who dropped a heart-breaker to Buffalo last Sunday amid speculation that head coach Lane Kiffin would be fired shortly.
"What do you do if you are coaching for your job? Do you try harder?,"
Kiffin said when asked of the continual reminder of his supposed dismissal. "I don't do anything different than what I've done since the day I got here, and that's compete the best that I can, motivate our coaches every day, and our players to have a good practice, and prepare to have a really good game. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to finish it off here in the fourth quarter in the last couple of weeks."
The Raiders took the ball 49 yards in 11 plays and Sebastian Janikowski nailed a 32-yard field goal with 2:47 remaining to tie the game, 18-18, but San Diego got a 63-yard return from Darren Sproles on the ensuing kickoff to the Oakland 35. After gaining just six yards on three plays, Kaeding was true on the eventual game-winner.
"There's no panic at all in here,"
Rivers said of the Chargers' resolve. "Obviously it wasn't a good first half but by no means were we panicky or did we feel things were just reeling in a bad direction. We had a grasp on what was happening and that was just a matter of going out and executing and keep playing."
Oakland seemingly had one last chance and Russell hit Miller for 15 yards on the first play but three of his next four passes fell incomplete, including a 4th-and-5 attempt that gave the ball to San Diego on the Oakland 44.
Two plays later Tomlinson busted up the right sideline for a 41-yard score to further cement the outcome, but that did leave 1:04 on the clock. The Raiders used their timeouts and moved to the Chargers' 43-yard-line, but the final play went for just 16 yards.
The first half was all Raiders on all accounts and the home squad started with Johnnie Lee Higgins setting the tone with a 39-yard kickoff return. Russell moved the ball 49 additional yards in seven plays to the Charger three-yard line, but a sack on 2nd-and-3 stalled the effort and Janikowski wound up kicking a 22-yard field goal four minutes in.
A San Diego punt on its first turn with the ball was followed by a Rivers fumble on 1st-and-10 from the Charger five-yard line that resulted in a safety and a 5-0 lead midway through the opening quarter.
Both offenses bogged down over the next several possessions, failing to reach into the other's territory until Russell hit a streaking Miller on 1st-and-10 from the Raiders' 37 for a 63-yard score and a 12-0 advantage just under four minutes into the second quarter.
Rivers hit Chris Chambers for a 26-yard completion on the first play after getting the ball back but Chris Johnson picked off Rivers on the next play and returned the ball just shy of midfield. The Raiders moved to the San Diego 13, buoyed by a 25-yard catch from Bush, and Janikowski hit from 31 yards but the kick was wiped out by an illegal formation call on the Chargers.
Oakland then moved to the one-yard line and Bush forced his way into the end zone on a gutsy 4th-and-1 call. However, tackle Cornell Green was whistled for offensive holding and Janikowski had to kick a 28-yard field goal with 5 1/2 minutes in the half for a 15-0 game.
Rivers moved the ball to the Oakland 16 just before the two-minute warning but consecutive sacks on second and third down forced a field goal attempt from 44 yards, which was blocked with under a minute to go in the half and the score remained 15-0.
The second half was a different story for the Chargers as they opened with a 13-play, 75-yard drive capped with a 28-yard boot from Kaeding midway through the quarter.
Rivers tossed his second pick on the next possession but Russell returned the favor three plays later. The Chargers embarked on their first touchdown drive, which ended with Rivers finding Gates for a nine-yard score on the second play of the final stanza making it a 15-10 game.
Russell coughed up the ball on a sack three plays later and San Diego recovered on the Oakland 13, setting up Tomlinson for his first touchdown on the very next play. Rivers hit Sproles for the conversion to give the Chargers their first lead at 18-15 just over two minutes into the fourth.
