give San Diego Chargers a game but fall 24-20

No one expected the game the Raiders would give the Chargers. NFL analysts had the Chargers picked to shread the Oakland Raider's defense and in not so many words - "It'd be in the Raiders best interest to not show up." The stage was set - Tom Cable making his Head Coacking debut in the regular season without the interim tag, Jamarcus Russell under center, Richard Seymour getting off the bus and suiting up ready to play, McFadden and Bush to share the workload in the backfield, and 2 Rookie Wide Recievers to start the game ... at home ... on Monday Night.The first quarter came and the Raiders took the ball first. They began marching down the field, rushing full speed ahead with the 1-2 punch of McFadden and Bush. With the run working so well, the Raiders then took the leash off of Jamarcus Russell and on 1st and 10 from the Charger's 25, threw an interception. They then forced a 3 and out, and when Oakland took the ball back, they reverted back to what was working - running the ball down the Charger's throats. With a mix of 4 Brett Favre Purple jersey
2 passes to Raider tight ends, the Raiders ended the drive with 7 on the board on a 4 yard Bush run.After a 66 yard kickoff return by Sproles, the Chargers attempted to push to get on the board, but the Raiders stood strong and on 3rd and 7, Michael Huff scooped up a Tomlinson fumble. The Raiders appeared to be marching again until McFadden fumbled the ball back to the Chargers. With good field position at the Oakland 45, the Chargers looked to be stalling again until a 24 yard reception by Tight End Antonio Gates. From the 1 yard line, Tomlinson would put the Chargers on the board to tie the game at 7.After 3 and outs by both teams, the Raiders took the ball from their own 36 with 2:23 on the clock. Russell moved the Raiders down the field and on 3rd down with 50 seconds in the half threw the go ahead touchdown pass to rookie Louis Murphy... but then the refs came into play. Under two minutes, the review comes from upstairs and after a short break - returned to the field to say that Murphy did not control the ball when he hit the ground - Another controversial call that will surely be reviewed for weeks to come because Murphy had 2 hands on the ball, secured it, brought 2 feet down into the end zone and lost the ball only when he hit the turf and the ground caused him to fumble. The Raiders would have to settle for a Janikowski field goal to go up 10-7.With under a minute on the clock, the Raiders kicked off to Darren Sproles and allowed another big return of 59 yards. With little time on the clock, the Chargers were unable to move very far and Nate Kaeding came out to end the half on a successful 47 yard field goal to knot the game back up again.The second half began with the Chargers taking the ball from their own 15 and after managing to move past mid-field, Michael Huff picked off a Phillip Rivers pass to give the Raiders the ball at their own 37. The defense would get a short rest as the Raider offense failed to move the ball at all and punted. The electricity seemed to disappear on offense for both teams for the remainder of the 3rd quarter.The 4th Quarter began with the Raiders finishing off the carry over drive unable to move the ball after a 19 yard Higgins reverse that ended the 3rd Quarter, and settled for a 35 yard field goal to take the lead 13-10. The Chargers took the ball and looked to have been done. On 3rd and 12 Rivers took advantage of what he called after the game a "soft defense" as he dumped the ball off to Darren Sproles for a short pass and with the linebackers playing off the ball 10 yards, Sproles was able to extend the Charger drive with a 15 yard drive. On 2nd and 9 from the Oakland 15, Rivers was able to thread the ball to reciever Vincent Jackson in between Nmandi Asomugha and Stanford Routt for the touchdown to take the lead 17-10.The Raiders took the ball on the next drive and looked to be falling apart after a QB sneak that took Russell off the field for a short time. Gradkowski came in and moved the ball in small chunks, and after a holding penalty and Charger sack, the Raiders were faced with a decision on 4th and 15 from their own 43. Russell dropped back and threw the ball out to find a wide open rookie Louis Murphy who walked into the endzone uncontested. With 2:34 seconds on the clock, and the Raiders up 20 to 17, it seemed it was time to put the mark up for the Raiders - especially after RB Darren Sproles bobbled the kickoff and was only able to get the ball to the Chargers 11- yard line. But the Raiders continued to play the same "soft defense" and Rivers was able to go 7/7 moving the ball methodically and with the Raiders playing the pass with little time left in the game, Darren Sproles took the draw and walked left into the endzone to give the Chargers the win 24-20.The Raiders finished the game leading in nearly every stat category, holding the Chargers to a mere 77 yards rushing and though the defensive front looked to be much approved with the addition of Richard Seymour, they were unable to stop the Chargers when it counted and the stat category that mattered most - red zone % - the Raiders lost. (Chargers 3/4, Raiders 1/3).* 1st Rd Draft Pick Darrius Heyward-Bey finished the game with 0 catches.* 4th Rd Draft Pick Louis Murphy finished with 4 catches, 87 yards and a TD (Should have been 2 TD's)* Zach Miller proved to still be Jamarcus Russell's security blanket - leading all Raider recievers with 6 catches and Steelers 43 Polamalu jersey
96 yards.* 2 days in Oakland and Richard Seymour leads the Raiders with 2 sacks.* The Raiders defense proved to be improved against the run allowing only 78 yards on 22 carries. End note - it's the first game and the Raiders nearly upset who some analysts have picked as the AFC representative in the Super Bowl and that is without #1 WR Chaz Schilens, Javon Walker and Justin Fargas on offense. Have faith Raider Nation - the season is far from over and it looks like a new Raider team is about to emerge if they continue to play hardnose football like they did Monday night.