Game Grades: San Diego Chargers 24 – Oakland Raiders 20

QUARTERBACK – C-

JaMarcus Russell’s accuracy problems were on display on Monday night. On a few occasions, he overthrew or sailed passes that were nowhere near his intended targets. The hefty passer was 8-of-18 in the first half for 111 yards, one interception and a 41.7 rating. Some of his highlights include; an 11-yard pass to Zach Miller on 3^rd and 7, and on the Raiders second drive, Russell scanned the field after play-action, finding Miller for 30 yards. He even showed some out of pocket awareness, rolling away from pressure at times to rid himself of the football and running for 4-yards on a 3^rd and 3. Russell ended 12-of-30 for 208 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. The offense was stagnant because of his wild throws at times, but to his credit, on 4^th and 14 with over 2 minutes remaining in the game, he hit his rookie target for a clutch 57-yard touchdown pass that gave the Raiders a 20-17 lead.

RUNNING BACKS – B+

Darren McFadden almost showed his whole repertoire. The speedster had 17 carries for 68 yards; running with power between the tackles, showing his burst through lanes and to the edges and even laying some vicious blocks. His fumble in the 2^nd quarter led to a San Diego touchdown. Michael Bush scored the game’s first touchdown and ended with 55-yards rushing. The product out of Louisville keyed a big play on Oakland’s second quarter scoring drive. On 3^rd and 10, Bush picked up a blitzing linebacker, allowing Russell to connect with Louis Murphy for 15-yards on 3^rd and 10. Six plays later, Oakland took a 10-7 lead.

WIDE RECEIVERS & TIGHT ENDS – C

If not for Louis Murphy and Zach Miller, this would be an ‘F’ grade. Miller was in pro-bowl form, tallying 96-yards on 6 receptions. Murphy was shafted out of his 2^nd quarter touchdown. But he bounced back to finish with 87-yards on 4 grabs. His touchdown late in the game would have been one of the more memorable moments in recent Raiders history if not for the collapse of the defense. Darrius Heyward-Bey was non-existent. The first-round draft choice dropped a nice gainer on a 1^st and 10 after the Chargers tied the game at 7. His speed down the field did facilitate an illegal contact infraction on Quentin Jammer on 3^rd and 10, who locked in on the receiver throughout the route. Heyward-Bey is clearly not ready to contribute on a consistent basis. Tony Stewart’s 13-yard reception showed some fight after making the grab, hitting the turf and picking up extra yardage. Johnnie Lee Higgins dropped what would have been a 1^st down on a 3^rd and 14 play, but he was clobbered and could not hold on to the pass. His 19-yard run on a reverse was a highlight, especially with Russell getting out in front to block for him.

OFFENSIVE LINE – B+

For three quarters, the Raiders mauled the San Diego front-seven. Mario Henderson, Robert Gallery. Chris Morris, Cooper Carlisle and Cornell Green were assertive, faster and more explosive at the point of attack, and played with a physical nature not seen in years along the trenches. But in the 4^th quarter, they couldn’t sustain their dominance and the production on the ground dropped off substantially in the second half. Green was flagged for a false start in the opening drive, then again in the 4^th quarter on a 3^rd and 4, and then a holding infraction a few plays later on 1^st and 10. Carlisle played his best game as a Raider and Henderson made a nice first impression as the teams left tackle.

DEFENSIVE LINE – A-

Richard Seymour aligned himself all over the line of scrimmage and was a disruptor on all night recording 2-sacks in his debut. Greg Ellis, another acquisition this off-season, also notched a sack and played equally as well versus the run and when chasing down Philip Rivers. He stripped LaDainian Tomlinson on a 3^rd and 8 deep in their own territory, as Oakland stopped the Chargers in the red-zone after the big kickoff by Sproles. The run defense looked nothing like the abysmal group of recent past. They held the Chargers to 77 yards rushing (21 in the first half), with physical play, disciplined gap control and linebackers and safeties that jolted through San Diego’s blocking schemes. Gerard Warren was steady all evening, while Tommy Kelly has flashes of total control in his game. Trevor Scott had a non-stop motor all night, and surprisingly, defended the run very well, a glaring deficit in his game all pre-season. The front-four was able to put pressure by themselves, allowing John Marshall to drop his linebackers in coverage; a move that ultimately hurt them as the game wound down.

LINEBACKERS – C-

Thomas Howard was the best performer of the night on this unit. On consecutive plays in the 4th quarter, he darted across the line of scrimmage to tackle Darren Sproles for a 3-yard loss, then lined-up in front of him out wide and clobbered the little rusher on a screen to force an incomplete. Ricky Brown had his ups and downs, but shined in the first half in run defense. Inexplicably, this got too much depth in coverage late in the game, allowing the Chargers to pick up chunks of yardage on their march to the game-winning drive.

SECONDARY – B+

Nnamdi Asomugha was stellar all evening, showing off his tackling abilities in run support and blanketing the field, as rarely did Rivers attack the pro-bowler. One of the few times he did, Asomugha was beat by Vincent Jackson on a 15-yard pass for a score. Asomugha had late help from Stanford Routt on the play. Chris Johnson had his moments; mauling Sproles on a dump off on a 2^nd and 12 in the first half and jumping underneath a slant route and almost getting a pick. But with Asomugha on the other side, Rivers attacked the riskier cornerback and got most of his 252-yards on him and safety Tyvon Branch. Branch was exceptional tackling around the line of scrimmage and to his credit, did an admirable job against one of the better pass catching tight ends in the NFL. But Antonio Gates did amass 83-yards on 5 receptions and when San Diego was successful moving the ball, it was when they attacked everyone in the secondary not named Asomugha. Michael Huff had a fumble recovery, handled Gates on a few tosses that went incomplete and on a 3^rd and 3 as San Diego moved into field goal range, the safety recorded an interception of a deflection. Even Hiram Eugene got in on the act, showing toughness on a few tackles and holding his own in deep coverage. This group helped a lot in run defense.

SPECIAL TEAMS – D-

Sproles had some momentum swinging returns, as he finished with 170 yards on kickoffs. Trevor Scott looked lively on the coverage units, as well as Todd Watkins and the rookie Mike Mitchell who had a nice stop in the second half on a punt. Louis Rankin was a non-threat on kickoffs and Higgins was quiet. Shane Lechler had a solid punting game (48.8) and Sebastian Janikowski booted both of his field goal attempts cleanly.

COACHING – A-

Tom Cable and his staff did a wonderful job preparing for the Chargers, playing it safe throughout the game, corralling the team as needed, opening up the playbook at times and ultimately getting this club primed for the opener. Cable made the right call on that 4^th and 14 touchdown to Murphy, as they got San Diego crossed up on the play, and changing the pace of the stagnant game with the reverse to Higgins. On the 3^rd and 5 prior to the nullified Murphy score, Cable called a time out, composed the team and ran a nice play that should have been a score if not for the referees overrule. John Marshall should have stayed in attack mode late in the game, as Oakland was more imposing and physical than the Chargers throughout the game. Schematically, dropping back the linebackers and giving Sproles and Rivers the shorter routes was their undoing. Nonetheless, this coaching staff did a nice job. They weren’t at fault for Russell’s wildness and the team not being able to sustain their physical play over four quarters.

Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist