Unfazed by yet another deficit in the fourth quarter, Philip Rivers entered the huddle poised and ready to prove why he was the Chargers $93 million man.

The Chargers quarterback was able to answer two Raiders go-ahead scores with two drives for touchdowns while the game winner was scored by Darren Sproles on a run from 5 yards with just 18 seconds to go in the game to provide San Diego with their 12th win in a row over Oakland on Monday night, 24-20.

This win might have been the hardest one yet. With just 2:34 left to play JaMarcus Russell had provided the Raiders with a lead of 20-17 on a touchdown pass of 57 yards to the rookie Louis Murphy. However Rivers, despite having a pair of backup linemen on the field, led the Chargers calmly down field to score the winning touchdown.

Rivers said, one thing that I do know is that there isn’t any team in this league that can practice as much with 2 minute situations as we do. It’s different executing that in Oakland than at Murphy Canyon Road. I just said, we have done this already a million times. We just need three. Let’s go score.

On the Chargers winning drive, Rivers went 6 for 7 for a total of 79 yards before the crowd was silenced by Sproles with his run down the middle. It was the 11th loss in a row for the Raiders in prime time. Considering how close Oakland came to winning, this might have been the most painful defeat of all.

Cornell Green, offensive lineman for the Raiders, let the frustration out for Oakland with an outburst laced with expletives while leaving the field as he screamed that San Diego was lucky for getting the win.

Tom Cable, Raiders coach said, the bottom line is we played our guts out but did not finish the game.

Early fourth quarter the Raiders took a lead of 13-10 on a field goal from 35 yards by Sebastian Janikowski. Rivers then drove San Diego down field and on a touchdown pass of 15 yards to Vincent Jackson to give the Chargers the lead. The fourth down pass from Russell to Murphy appeared that it would give the Raiders a decisive end to two different losing streaks. It ended up being just a footnote to their league leading 73rd lost game since the 2003 season.

For a majority of the night, San Diego’s offense appeared to be over matched against the Raiders defense and recently acquired Richard Seymour. During the third quarter injuries to Louis Vasquez, guard, and Nick Hardwick, center, made it even tougher for the Chargers to move the ball. Rivers got so frustrated that he committed a personal foul which thwarted one of their drives.

However the final two drives were why San Diego last month granted Rivers the six year $38 million contract extension. He went 24 for 36 on a total of 252 yards and played his best at the times when it counted the most.

Norv Turner, Chargers coach said, people like talking about quarterbacks who can handle pressure and can respond to lead their teams when they are behind. He has continuously done it and in some very tough situations just like tonight. It is great getting the win here.

With his one pass over to Murphy, Russell almost overcame his rough night. Russell went 12 for 30 for a total of 208 yards with two interceptions that included one that was in desperation following the touchdown by Sproles.

The Raiders received a huge lift from Seymour, who only arrived two days ago from New England and hadn’t gone through even one full practice with the team yet. During the first half Seymour sacked Rivers two times, helping the Raiders keep LaDainian Tomlinson, longtime nemesis, in check.

Coming into this game, Tomlinson was average 119 rushing yards per game versus the Raiders. He only managed to get 55 yards in 13 carries, while rolling his ankle. However Sproles was able to help out with his two very long kickoff returns, along with 43 yards on five catches as well as scoring the winning touchdown.

Nnamdi Asomugha, Pro Bowl cornerback for the Raiders said, with the beginning and last two drives it seemed like two entirely different games. We were good on run and pass, but during the fourth quarter is when we had a few breakdowns. That is what hurt us.

During the first half Oakland dominated play. They out gained San Diego 217 to 74 yards. However, due to two turnovers along with a replay review which went against the Raiders, the score was still tied 10-10.

The offensive line was able to create holes, allowing Michael Bush and Darren McFadden to run the football down field during the opening drive. However Russell threw a pass on San Diego’s 25 yard line that was intercepted by Quentin Jammer.

During their second drive, Oakland was able to finish the job. Russell connected with Zach Miller on a pass of 30 yards to set up a 4 yard run by Bush. During the next drive McFadden fumbled the football, which set up a 1 yard run by Tomlinson to tie the score. It was the 20th rushing touchdown of Tomlinson’s career against the Raiders.

A replay review near the end of the first half went against Oakland. An apparent touchdown pass of 19 yards over to Murphy got overturned when it was ruled that the football got loose as Murphy hit the ground. The Raiders had to settle for a field goal of 37 yards from Janikowski with just 40 seconds to go in the first half.

Carl Cheffers, referee, told a reporter after the game that by the definition in the rule book that the player has to maintain possession of the football as he is going to the ground during the entire act of catching the ball. In this particular case, the ball hitting the ground means he lost possession. So it was incomplete.

The ensuing kickoff was returned 59 yards by Sproles, which set up a field goal of 47 yards by Nate Kaeding on the first half’s final play.

Notes
The first quarter fumble by Tomlinson was his first fumble since October 22, 2006 versus the Chiefs. Michael Huff, former first round draft pick, had a fumble recovery and interception for Oakland. It matched the total from his entire first three seasons.