FLASH RECAP:
Philip Rivers throws for three touchdowns and 310 yards as visiting San Diego eliminates Oakland from playoff contention with a victory over the Raiders before an announced crowd of 58,721 at O.co Coliseum on Jan. 1, 2012 in their regular-season finale.
By losing to the Chargers, the Raiders (8-8) blow an opportunity to earn their first playoff berth since the 2002 season. With Denver (8-8) losing to Kansas City earlier in the day, the Raiders would have won the AFC West and advanced to the playoffs with a win over the Chargers (8-8).
After the Raiders narrow the deficit to 31-26 on a Kevin Boss touchdown catch with 9:37 left, the Chargers put a dagger in Oakland’s season and playoff hopes by driving 99 yards in four plays for a game-clinching touchdown. Rivers throws a 43-yard scoring pass to Malcolm Floyd to give San Diego a 38-26 lead with 6:48 remaining.
"If you can’t stop a team with everything on the line, you don’t deserve to be a playoff team,” defensive tackle Richard Seymour tells reporters after Oakland finishes its home season with a 3-5 record. “We didn’t get it done. So this one hurts. It stings for sure. It’s disappointing. It’s frustrating.”
Carson Palmer has 417 passing yards and two touchdowns and Sebastian Janikowski kicks four field goals for Oakland.
Floyd has seven catches for 127 yards and a TD and Antionio Gates has five catches for 106 yards and a TD for San Diego.
The Raiders set single-season records for penalties and yards penalized by committing eight infractions for 64 yards. They finish the season with 163 penalties for 1,358 yards, surpassing the totals of 158 for 1,304 set by the 1998 Kansas City Chiefs. The record-setting penalty was a hold by Rock Cartwright on the opening kick of the second half.
PRIME-TIME PLAYERS:
QB Philip Rivers — Is 19 of 26 passing for 310 yards with three touchdowns an interception. Her finshes with a 135.1 passer rating.
WR Malcolm Floyd — Has seven catches for 127 yards and a TD. His 43-yard touchdown catch and run gives San Diego a 38-26 lead with 6:48 remaining.
KR Richard Goodman — His 105-yard kickoff return for a TD gives San Diego a 21-10 lead in the second quarter. He finishes with 215 yards on six kickoff returns, averaging 35.8 yards per return.
QB Carson Palmer — Is 28 of 43 passing for 417 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He finishes with a 102.6 passer rating.
KEY STATS:
THEY SAID IT:
Raiders coach Hue Jackson
"We came into the game hoping and wishing and with your fingers crossed about other games. Then to find out it worked out the way you needed it to and to lose this one and the Detroit game. It’s going to be a long offseason.”
Raiders QB Carson Palmer
"It’s special because a lot of people think there’s nothing to play for. Every time you walk out of the locker room onto the field as a player or coach, there’s a lot to play for.”
Chargers coach Norv Turner
BY THE NUMBERS:
DID YOU KNOW?:
K Sebastian Janikowski — Is 4 for 4 on field goal attempts, including a 52 yarder.
TE Kevin Boss — His 22-yard TD catch with 9:37 remaining narrows Oakland's defict to 31-26. He finishes with three catches for 33 yards.
The Chargers do not allow a sack after surrendering six sacks against the Raiders in a 24-17 Oakland win on Nov. 10.
Oakland's Michael Bush has 66 rushing on 19 carries and 13 receiving yards on two catches. In the Raiders' win at San Diego on Nov. 10, Bush had 157 rushing yards and 85 receiving yards.
With 310 passing yards, San Diego's Philip Rivers finishes the season with 4,624 passing yards, 27 touchdowns passes and a career-high 20 interceptions. Rivers joins Dan Fouts (1980-81), Warren Moon (1990-91), Peyton Manning (2009-10) and Drew Brees (2010-11) as the only NFL players with 4,500 or more passing yards in consecutive seasons.
With three TD passes allowed against the Chargers, the Raiders finish the season with a franchise-worst 31 touchdown passes allowed.
Oakland gets only two touchdowns on six possessions inside the San Diego 35-yard line. On the other four possessions, the Raiders get field goals.
“At some point in time as a group of men, you go in the game, and you can say whatever you want about coaches, you win the game. Here’s your time. Here’s your time to make plays. We didn’t get them stopped. And we didn’t make enough plays, so yeah, I’m (angry) at the team. …. When you have those kinds of opportunities, you’ve got to do it, and we didn’t do it.”
2-8: Raiders record the past 10 games against San Diego in Oakland.
3-5: Raiders home record in the 2011 season.
6-3: Norv Turner's win-loss record against the Raiders as Chargers coach.
Turner had a 9-23 record in two seasons (2004 & 2005) as Raiders coach.
16: Carson Palmer interceptions in nine games with the Raiders during the 2011 season.
977: Oakland's Michael Bush's rushing total for the 2011 season. He has 66 rushing yards on 19 carries against the Chargers.
983: Combined total yards by the Raiders (520) and Chargers (463).
Carson Palmer's 417 passing yards against San Diego is the third-highest in Raiders history, behind Jeff Hostetler's 424 (Oct. 31, 1993 vs. San Diego) and Cotton Davidson's 419 (Oct. 25, 1964 vs. Denver).
In his past two road games against Oakland, San Diego’s Malcolm Floyd has 15 catches for 340 yards and two TDs.
The Chargers' Philip Rivers improves to 5-1 as a starter against the Raiders in regular-season games in Oakland. Rivers is 26-3 in December/January games.
