Raiders keep playoff hopes alive with win over Chargers
CARSON, Calif — The Raiders’ playoff hopes will live to see another day after they held on to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 24-17 on Sunday.
The Oakland win, in front of a decidedly Silver and Black crowd at Dignity Health Sports Park, coupled with losses by the Steelers and Titans and a win by the Colts, ensured that the Raiders will wake up next Sunday in Denver against the Broncos with a chance to advance to the postseason as an AFC wild card.
Raiders coach Jon Gruden said he didn’t know the outcome of the other games involving the Raiders’ playoff chances before kickoff in Southern California. He called the chance to still make the playoffs an indication of the strides the team has made.
“We have a long way to go, but today is an obvious step in the right direction,” Gruden said.
Quarterback Derek Carr said, “I really hope the message is: That’s the culture that we have now. Let’s not sugarcoat it — we’ve been through a lot of crap. And to say that we’re still playing Week 17 for something — that’s unbelievable. That’s really a good thing.”
“It’s crazy,” rookie defensive end Maxx Crosby said, “crazy that we are still alive.”
Here are three observations from the Raiders’ win over the Chargers:
Raiders show ability to battle
Football is nothing if not a battle of attrition, and certainly the Raiders have battled as much as anyone dealing with a massive number of injuries. That frustrating trend continued Sunday as they started the game without rookie running back Josh Jacobs, linebacker Marquel Lee, tackle Trent Brown and guard Richie Incognito. Then, as the game wore on, they lost cornerbacks Lamarcus Joyner, Trayvon Mullen and Nick Nelson.
Despite that, the Raiders barely batted an eye while continually plucking players off the bench or moving players around to fill holes.
One such player was Darryl Worley, who started the game at safety only to to move to nickel corner to replace Joyner and then to perimeter safety when Mullen twice left the game with head and neck injuries.
“I can’t say enough about what Worley did today,” Raiders head coach Jon Gruden said.
Despite losing four straight games to put their playoff hopes on life support, the Raiders have not given up.
“That’s what great teams do. That’s what great pro football teams do. That’s what the Raiders are supposed to do,” Gruden said. “They find a way.”
Carr finds another gear
A lot has been made about Carr not being willing to tuck the ball and run when needed. But for the second week in a row, he became a runner on a run-pass option play.
As opposed to last week when a blown call by the game referee negated the impact of Carr’s late-game sprint for a first down, there were no such mistakes on the 3-yard touchdown sprint to put the Raiders up 14-7 near the end of the first half.
Carr punctuated the score by throwing the ball into a sea of Silver and Black-clad Raiders fans sitting in the back of the end zone.
“That was something we are really looking for and excited about,” said Gruden. “He is a much better athlete than people know about. We have been trying to encourage him to do more of that.”
For Carr, the decision was easy.
“When I came around the corner, obviously I went through my progression and I was like, oh, shoot, I can run it in,” Carr said. On the play, Carr said if Chargers safety Derwin James had come up to stop him, he “would have dumped it over the top.” When James did not, he ran it in.
Second half finally kind to Raiders
After being outscored 34-0 over their last four third quarters, the Raiders finally got untracked by scoring a touchdown on their opening drive of the second half to complete a 14-0 run that began with their last possession of the first half. In the process, they turned a 7-7 tie into a commanding 21-7 lead and were able to unleash their defense in a way they haven’t been able to do the last four games.
“We always talk about doubling up,” Carr said. “The goal is to always get that last possession of the (first) half, score, and then score again, however you get points. And we were able to do that and help our defense have a cushion. … It was huge.”
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Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjokurnal.com. Follow @Vinny Bonsignore on Twitter.
