By Jeremy Kahn

AP photo: The Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) and the San Diego Chargers cornerback Casey Hayward (26) talk during the post game meet and greet at the Oakland Coliseum on Sunday

OAKLAND-Could this finally be the year that the Oakland Raiders make their first playoff appearance since advancing all the way to the Super Bowl back in 2002.

If the offense continues to play like this, the Raiders will definitely see the postseason and they can thank the right arm of Derek Carr and the right foot of veteran kicker Sebastian Janikowski.

Carr went 25-for-40 for 317 yards and two touchdowns, as the Raiders came back to defeat the San Diego Chargers 34-31 before a crowd of 54,275 at the Coliseum.

It looked like the Chargers were going to send the game into overtime with just over two minutes remaining in the game, but rookie Drew Kaser was unable to hold onto the snap from Mike Windt and it was recovered by Chargers tight end Sean McGrath; however the Raiders took over on downs.

Unfortunately, the Raiders were unable to run out the clock and gave the Chargers one more shot at tying or winning the game.

Philip Rivers was able to complete a pass to Travis Benjamin, but after multiple laterals, the ball bounced out of bounds and the Raiders improved to 4-1 on the season and the Chargers fell to 1-4.

Rivers went 21-for-30 for 359 yards passing and four touchdowns on the afternoon, as he passed both Warren Moon and Johnny Unitas on the all-time list.

The downfall for both the Chargers and the Raiders was the fact that the two teams combined for five fumbles and two interceptions.

Not only did Carr throw two touchdowns to Amari Cooper, the first touchdown of the season for the second-year wide receiver, but Carr also found Michael Crabtree that gave the Raiders the lead for good with 1:09 remaining in the third quarter.

As for the 17-year veteran Janikowski, he was up to old tricks, as he made 4-of-5 field goals on the afternoon, missing a 50-yard attempt that went wide right.

Three of Janikowski’s four field goals came in the first half, including a 56-yard field goal as the first half came to a close and cut the Chargers lead down to 10-9.

Cooper caught six passes for 138 yards and a touchdown, while Jalen Richard, starting at running back in place of the injured Latavius Murray also caught six passes for 66 yards. Richard also carried the ball eight times for 31 yards, while DeAndre Washington led the Raiders in carries with nine and gained 23 yards on the ground.

Janikowski opened up the scoring in the first quarter, as the Raiders took 8:01 off the clock, as the left-footed kicker nailed a 20-yard field goal.

Tyrell Williams gave the Chargers a 7-3 lead in the second quarter, as he was on the receiving end of a 29-yard pass from Rivers.

Josh Lambo kicked a 36-yard field goal to give the Chargers 10-6, but Janikowski got the Raiders within one point at the half.

Rivers stretched the Chargers out to eight points in the third quarter, as he found Melvin Gordon for an 18-yard touchdown pass on the Chargers first drive of the third quarter.

Just 66 seconds later, Carr found an open Cooper for a 66-yard touchdown pass to get the Raiders within one point.

Following the Carr to Cooper 66-yard touchdown pass, Rivers drove the Chargers down the field and concluded when the veteran found Hunter Henry from a yard out.

Which meant in the first 4:50 of the third quarter, the two teams combined for three touchdowns and then on the Raiders next possession, Janikowski kicked a 48-yard field goal to get within five points.

On the Chargers next possession, Gordon fumbled the ball and it was recovered by rookie Karl Joseph that setup the Carr to Crabtree touchdown on fourth down that gave the Raiders the lead for good.

Joseph also came up his first interception of his career near the end of the first half that setup Janikowski’s field goal to send the Raiders into the locker room trailing by one point.