Author: jhawkes51

Warriors remain perfect, shutdown Clippers

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Stephen Curry led the way with 28 points, seven assists, and six rebounds, helping the Golden State Warriors to a 121-104 victory over their Pacific Division rival, the Los Angeles Clippers in front of 19,596 fans Wednesday night at Oracle Arena.

Five players finished in double figures, including Draymond Green who had a career-high 24 points and eight rebounds. Green was red-hot from the field, especially from deep, connecting on 4-of-6 from behind the arc.

“I thought we got out to a quick start,” said Green postgame, “I thought our energy was great and we just stayed aggressive.”

Klay Thompson scored 19 points after getting into early foul trouble. Harrison Barnes finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Andrew Bogut scored just six points, but grabbed 14 rebounds. Golden State out-rebounded Los Angeles 39-30. Leandro Barbosa led the “Dubstitutes”with 13 points.

David Lee, playing in his first game of the season due to a pulled hamstring, scored six points in seven minutes of action before re-aggravating his hamstring in the first quarter. Lee did not return to the game.

“It was good win, but we can definitely get better,” said Curry, who shot 9-of-18 from the field (4-of-8 from 3-point range.)

Jamal Crawford scored 24 points and DeAndre Jordan finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers, who drop to 3-2 on the season.

Blake Griffin scored 14 points, and mustered only one rebound.

Chris Paul scored 15 points and dished out 12 assists, but was clearly frustrated for much of the night after shooting just 6-of-15 from the field. Paul also picked up a technical foul in the third quarter after complaining to officials after an apparent elbow from Curry.

Golden State shot a blistering 58 percent from the floor and nailed 15-of-25 3’s, but it was the ugly 23 turnovers that soured the team’s first 4-0 start since the 1994-95 season.

That season, Golden State won their first five games in a row to start the season.

Thompson’s career-high 41 points paces Warriors past Lakers

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — It’s official: Klay Thompson loves to play the Los Angeles Lakers.

Thompson scored a career-high 41 points, guiding the Golden State Warriors to their first home win of the season with a 127-104 victory over Los Angeles in front of a sellout crowd of 19,596 at Oracle Arena Saturday night.

“We got into a great offensive flow tonight,” said Thompson, who also grabbed five rebounds. “I thought if we could stay aggressive and play well, we could win.”

Stephen Curry scored 31 points and dished out 10 assists (turning the ball over just twice).

“We wanted to come out and be aggressive and feed off this crowd,” Curry said. “It was a collective win.”

Golden State found themselves down by 43-33 in midway through the second quarter, but went on a 25-4 run to take a 61-55 lead at halftime. After Los Angeles shot 63% from the floor in the first quarter, Golden State limited the Lakers to just 50% shooting in the second quarter.

Harrison Barnes added 15 points, and Draymond Green chipped in nine points and five rebounds while starting in place of injured power forward, David Lee.

Andre Iguodala and Leandro Barbosa scored nine points each to the lead the Warriors’ scoring off the bench.

“We got a lot to work on, but when you have Thompson and Curry in the backcourt, with the versatility of a [Harrison] Barnes and a [Draymond] Green, its fun to coach,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.

“I thought our energy didn’t really show up until the third quarter, but I liked how we responded and continued to play hard and executed  the game plan better.”

After shooting 3-of-10 from the field and scoring just eight points in the first half, Kobe Bryant scored 19 of his 28 points in the third quarter. Bryant and Thompson put on a show in the third quarter, trading baskets and playing each other aggressively. The Lakers’ legend also finished tied for the team lead with six rebounds.

“He’s [Bryant] is such a great player that’s done it all in the league,” Thompson said, “He’s amazing.”

Jordan Hill scored 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting, and Wesley Johnson added 15 points. Ed Davis had 13 points and six rebounds for the Lakers.

Los Angeles has dropped their fourth game in five nights and at 0-4, it’s the first time that the Lakers have started a season 0-4 in their history in Los Angeles.

The Warriors had their way with the Lakers down low, outscoring Los Angeles 62-42 in the paint. Golden State smothered Los Angeles’ 3-point shooting, handcuffing the Purple & Gold to 4-of-14 (28%) from beyond the arc.

The real story was the play of Thompson, who finished 14-of-18 shooting from the field, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Thompson’s previous career-high of 38 points came in Golden State’s home opening win last year against, coincidentally, the Lakers.

Many wondered after Thompson and Golden State agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $70 million if Thompson is even worth such a large financial commitment. I think with Thompson’s performance tonight, he’s answered the question that the money that Golden State has committed into keeping the “Splash Brothers” together, will be well spent.

“We had some great flow tonight…It’s always fun playing the Lakers,” Thompson said.

At 2-0, Golden State heads to Portland to take on the Trailblazers and Oakland native, Damien Lilliard, Sunday before returning home to take on their bitter rivals the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.

Game Notes:

The Golden State Warriors announced Thursday that the team has exercised the fourth-year contract options on forward Harrison Barnes and center Festus Ezeli, which are for the 2015-16 NBA season. The team did not exercise the third-year contract option on guard Nemanja Nedovic.

 

Oakland to face tough test in Seattle for win No. 1

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Still in search of win No. 1 this season, the Oakland Raiders heads to the Pacific Northwest Sunday to face the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. Kickoff is at 1:25 p.m. PDT.

The Silver & Black are coming off a disappointing 23-13 Week 8 loss to the Browns in Cleveland.

Raiders (0-7) quarterback Derek Carr completed 34-of-54 passes for 328 yards and a touchdown with 7 seconds left in the game, but three costly turnovers (highlighted by running back Darren McFadden’s third quarter fumble) that sealed Oakland’s 13th straight loss dating back to last season.

Worse, it was Oakland’s 16th straight loss in the Eastern time zone dating back to 2009.

“Anytime you come out on the road and you turn the ball over three times, you’re not going to win,” interim coach Tony Sparano said. “You’re not going to win anywhere.”

Seattle (4-3), are coming off a tough 13-9 victory over the Carolina Panthers, led by quarterback Russell Wilson.

Wilson didn’t have the greatest of games (completing 20-of-32 passes for 199 yards and an interception), but engineered a nine-play, 80-yard drive, that ended with a 23-yard touchdown strike to tight end Luke Wilson (no relation) down the middle of the field with 47 seconds left to play in the game.

“He truly is an extraordinary player in the fourth quarter,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “He finds a way to make the play that we need to make.”

The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for Seattle.

Oakland’s 31st ranked offense  will need to limit the turnovers against a Seahawks defense that ranks 5th overall in total defense if they even think about having a horse racer’s chance at knocking off Seattle at CenturyLink Field. The Silver & Black have only gotten into the red zone 11 times all year, so scoring opportunities need to be taken advantage by Carr and the offense.

This is the defending Super Bowl champs at their house with great players all over the field. It’ll be a challenge and something I’m looking forward to.”

Players to Watch

Oakland – QB, Derek Carr – There is no question that all eyes will be on Carr Sunday facing the “Legion of Boom” and the 12th Man. Carr will need to get the ball out quick against a Seahawks defense that rotates its defense line a bunch, but be smart when passing the football with cornerback Richard Sherman and free safety Earl Thomas lurking.

Seattle – SS – Kam Chancellor – The days of “Enforcer” safety may be coming to an end with the new league rules on player safety, but don’t tell that to Chancellor. The 6’3″, 232-pound Chancellor is an intimidating player that relishes at delivering big (mostly legal) hits to anyone who comes across the middle.

 

 

 

 

Raiders nipped by Browns, remain winless

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Turnovers loom large in Oakland’s loss at Cleveland

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

CLEVELAND — Brian Hoyer completed 19-of-28 passes for 275 yards and a touchdown, as the Cleveland Browns forced three turnovers to upend the Oakland Raiders 23-13 Sunday afternoon in Week 8 action.

Andrew Hawkins caught a game-high seven passes for 88 yards, including a four-yard touchdown pass from Hoyer to push Cleveland’s lead, 16-6 at 14:51 mark in the fourth quarter.

Browns’ strong safety Donte Whitner leveled Raiders’ running back Darren McFadden late in the third quarter, forcing McFadden to fumble which was recovered by cornerback Joe Haden to give Cleveland the ball clinging to a 9-6 lead. Haden led Cleveland with eight tackles.

Running back Ben Tate finished with 15 carries for 26 yards and a touchdown for Cleveland (4-3), who bounced back after falling to the Jaguars 24-6, in Jacksonville in Week 7. Cleveland was horrendous on third down, converting 2-of-12 opportunities, while gaining 15 first downs.

Paul Kruger sacked Raiders quarterback Derek Carr three times, and recorded a forced fumble.

Oakland (0-7) have now lost their 13 straight game dating back to last season, but this loss is tough to swallow.

Whenever Carr wasn’t under pressure, he actually threw the ball well, completing 34-of-54 passes for 328 and a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Andre Holmes in the fourth quarter to make the score 23-13.  Oakland controlled the time of possession, 34:52 to 25:08, but fumbled the ball four times, two by Carr.

The Raiders’ 32nd ranked running attack had its moments, but still couldn’t muster its first 100-yard runner of the season with the aforementioned McFadden finishing with 59 rushing yards on 12 carries. Oakland ran the ball early well in the game, but appeared to abandon the run as Cleveland’s defense started to clamp down as the game wore on.

With Cleveland leading 3-0 in the first quarter and Oakland’s opening drive stalled, the Raiders outsmarted themselves by faking a field goal that lead to place kick holder Matt Schaub throwing an interception to Browns safety Tashaun Gipson.

That was the sign of things to come for Oakland who remains 0-for-2014, and may have squandered one of their best chances to win a football game this season.

The Silver & Black continue their two-game road trip with a voyage to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Super Bowl Champion, Seattle Seahawks in Week 9.

Seattle gritted out a 13-9 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte Sunday to improve to 4-3 behind quarterback Russell Wilson’s 20-of-32 passing for 199 yards, one touchdown and one interception performance.

Coupled that with games divisional games against Denver, San Diego, and Kansas City, Oakland could be 0-11 by Thanksgiving.

Defensively, linebackers Sio Moore and Miles Burris each recorded nine tackles to lead Oakland.

 

 

 

Thompson, Warriors hold off Nuggets in preseason finale

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Looks like the Golden State Warriors are ready for the start of the regular season, especially Klay Thompson.

Thompson scored 35 points in 36 minutes of action as the Warriors nearly squandered a 17-point fourth quarter lead to take down the Denver Nuggets, 119-112, Friday night in the preseason finale for both teams. Golden State defeated the Nuggets, 104-101, in Des Moines, Iowa, on Oct. 16.

Stephen Curry added 17 points and 11 assists, Andrew Bogut chipped in 12 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, while Leandro Barbosa added 15 points to lead the Warriors bench.

Golden State (6-2), played as a unit, totaling 35 assists while turning the ball over 12 times, compared to the 29 turnovers the team committed in Tuesday’s victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Warriors shot 51% from the field (44-of-86).

Denver (2-6), finished with six players in double figures, led by Jusuf Nurkic’s 16 points and eight rebounds. Randy Foye scored 13 points, while Danilo Gallinari and Alonzo Gee each had 10 points.

Both teams open up the regular season on Oct. 29, with Golden State heading to Sacramento to face the Kings, and Denver will host the Detroit Pistons at the Pepsi Center.

Game Notes:

Stephen Curry Bobblehead Giveaway

The first 10,00 Warriors fans received a free Stephen Curry bobblehead presented by Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. 10,000 Warriors fans received an Andre Iguodala bobblehead presented by Lucky’s Supermarkets on Tuesday.

Ticket Giveaway

For the 2014-15 season, the Golden State Warriors are once again donating tickets for every Warriors home game to local Bay Area youth organizations as part of the team’s Player Ticket Section program, it was announced today. Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr is also donating tickets as a part of the program.
The donations will make it possible for over 6,500 local youth, who might not otherwise have the opportunity to attend an NBA game, to experience the joy and excitement of Golden State Warriors basketball at Oracle Arena. Additionally, Oracle will once again donate tickets to local groups to sit in the Oracle Zone.
Here is a list of this season’s special ticket sections:
 
                                          SECTION…………………………………………….. DONATED BY
                                          Kerr’s Krew………………………………………….. Steve Kerr
                                          Leandro’s Leaders………………………………….. Leandro Barbosa
                                          Boys & Girls Clubs of America……………….. Harrison Barnes
                                          Curry’s Corner………………………………………. Stephen Curry
                                          Anonymous………………………………………….. Anonymous
                                          Shaun’s Shorties…………………………………….. Shaun Livingston
                                          Rush’s Rascals………………………………………. Brandon Rush
                                          Team Marreese………………………………………. Marreese Speights
                                          Klaymakers…………………………………………… Klay Thompson
                                          Oracle Zone………………………………………….. Oracle

Raiders fly to Cleveland with Sunday date with Browns

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Still in search of win No. 1 on the season, the Silver and Black head to Cleveland to take on the up-and-down Browns Sunday. The game can be seen locally in the Bay Area on CBS/KPIX Channel 5 at 1:25 p.m. PDT.

Quarterback Derek Carr completed 16-of-28 passes for 173 yards, with no touchdowns and no interceptions, in Oakland’s 24-13 loss to the visiting Arizona Cardinals last Sunday at O.co Coliseum.

Scoring-wise, Oakland was led by two Sebastian Janikowski  field goals and a one-yard touchdown run by running back, Darren McFadden. McFadden rushed for 48 yards on 14 carries, leading the Raiders’ ground game.

Defensively, free safety Charles Woodson recorded his 58th career interception, and rookie linebacker Khalil Mack led the team with a game-high 10 tackles (1 assisted),  but Oakland never seemed to get on track against Arizona.

Outside of strong safety Usama Young’s sack, Palmer threw for 253 yards and two touchdowns on 22-of-31 completions. Not only did Oakland lose their 12th straight game dating back to last season, but loss key pieces to their defenses.

The aforementioned Young tore his ACL and MCL in his left knee and, starting defensive end LaMarr Woodley tore his biceps. Both players are going to be lost for the season, adding to Oakland’s dreadful season that just gets bleaker by the minute.

At 0-6, Oakland is off to its worst start in 52 years.

But could Sunday’s trek to Northeast Ohio be Oakland’s best chance at securing their first win of the season?

At 3-3 in a hotly contested AFC North, the Cleveland Browns are an enigma.

A team that throttled the Pittsburgh Steelers at home 31-10 in Week 6 behind quarterback Brian Hoyer’s 217 passing yards and a touchdown, Cleveland looked horrible in a 24-6 loss in Week 7 at winless Jacksonville. The Browns were 0-of-2 from inside the red zone for the game and

Cleveland is one of those teams that makes you want to believe in them and take them as a serious playoff contender this year, but wets the bed against a team that on paper, they should’ve beaten.

Jacksonville rookie running back Denard Robinson steamrolled Cleveland’s 32nd ranked rushing defense for 127 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown.

Oakland’s 32nd ranked rushing offense should be chomping at the bit ready to run the ball Sunday.

Something has to give right?

Players to Watch

Oakland: RB, Darren McFadden – Toss in McFadden’s backfield mate, Maurice Jones-Drew as well. The playbook should be run heavy against the Browns and both McFadden and Jones-Drew should find running lanes against a porous Cleveland run defense.

Cleveland: WR, Travis Benjamin – With Cleveland’s passing game just ho-hum on the outside without dynamic wide receiver Josh Gordon (suspension), Benjamin and speedy WR Andrew Hawkins have provided the Browns a tourniquet at the position. Hawkins leads Cleveland in catches (29) and receiving yards (382), while Benjamin leads the team with three touchdown catches.

 

 

Curry, Warriors holdoff Clippers in preseason action

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Stephen Curry scored a game-high 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field leading a Golden State Warriors squad that finished with seven players in double figures to victory 125-107 over the Los Angeles Clippers Tuesday night at Oracle Arena. It was Golden State’s second victory in two weeks over their foes from Southern California.

Golden State (5-2), shot a blistering 59% from the field (48-of-78s), but committed a staggering 28 turnovers. Curry committed a team-high six turnovers while playing 31 minutes.

David Lee and Justin Holiday each finished with 12 points. Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli scored 10 points a piece. Ezeli (who turned 25 years old on Tuesday), played for the first time in 17 months after recovering from a serious knee injury.

The Warriors played without Brandon Rush (lower back spasms) and Shaun Livingston (right toe surgery). Both are expected to miss the team’s season opener on Oct. 29 at Sacramento.

Andre Iguodala scored 11 points,  center Ognjen Kuzmic (starting in place of Andrew Bogut), finished with eight points and a team-leading 10 rebounds. Golden State held the rebounding edge over Los Angeles, 46-31.

Jared Cunningham led the Clippers with 23 points, and J.J. Reddick scored 16 of his 21 points in the second quarter. Center DeAndre Jordan had a couple of highlight dunks on the night to go along with his 13 points and nine rebounds.

Golden State outscored Los Angeles 46-36 in the paint.

Los Angeles (1-5) played without superstar point guard Chris Paul and power forward Blake Griffin, who didn’t make the trip to the Bay Area. Newcomers Jordan Farmar (lower back tightness) and Glen Davis (strained right groin), remained in Los Angeles as well.

Golden State finishes up the preseason Friday against the Denver Nuggets, while Los Angeles play their final preseason game at Staples Center Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns.

Notes:

The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent guard Sean Kilpatrick to a contract, the team announced Monday.

Kilpatrick, 24, earned First Team All-America honors as a senior at the University of Cincinnati in 2013-14, posting an American Athletic Conference-best 20.6 points per contest to go with 4.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.41 steals in 34 games, while leading the conference in three-point field goals (93). In four years with the Bearcats, the 6’4” guard tallied averages of 15.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.19 steals in 30.8 minutes over 140 career games, finishing as the school’s second all-time leading scorer behind only Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson. He was a Second Team All-Big East selection in 2011-12 and 2012-13 before earning First Team All-AAC honors as a senior.

 

Palmer, Cardinals visits Oakland for Sunday encounter

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND, Calif — As one of the two winless teams remaining in the NFL (Jacksonville is 0-6), the 0-5 Oakland Raiders will try to breakthrough into the win column again as they take on the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals at O.co Coliseum Sunday at 1:25 p.m. PDT.

The Silver and Black are coming off a hard-fought 31-28 loss to their AFC West rivals, the San Diego Chargers, at O.co Coliseum in Week 6 where the team played tough for all four quarters, but couldn’t give interim head coach Tony Sparano his first win after taking over for the fired Dennis Allen.

Raiders quarterback Derek Carr had his best game as a rookie, completing 16-of-25 passes for 282 yards, and four touchdowns, but it was his lone interception to Chargers rookie cornerback Jason  Verrett with 1:13 left to play that sealed Oakland’s 10th straight loss dating back to last season.

“He made a great play,” Carr said. “Brice [Butler] went up, he had it and the guy made a great play. Those things are going to happen. Yeah, it hurts. It hurts because that’s the way it ended.”

Defensively, Oakland got good games from linebacker Sio Moore, who led the team with seven tackles (three assisted), and strong safety Usama Young, who finished with six tackles.

“The goal is to win the game,”  linebacker Sio Moore said. “We didn’t do that. We didn’t execute in the last bit of plays when we needed to, how we needed to.

“It’s a very sick feeling because we let a team off the hook that’s not supposed to be let off the hook. They’re not what they’re acclaimed to be, whatever the situation is. I’m pretty pissed about it.”

Arizona (4-1), has gotten off to a hot start this season, sitting in first place in the ultra-competitive NFC West.

Former Raiders’ starting  quarterback Carson Palmer returns to the Black Hole to lead a Cardinals team that are coming off a 30-20 home victory against Washington in Week 6.

Palmer returned under center for Arizona last week after missing the previous five weeks with nerve issues in his throwing arm, and threw two touchdowns — one to Michael Floyd, the other to Larry Fitzgerald — to lead Arizona to victory.

“I’m not going to say I wasn’t nervous or wasn’t a little on edge,” Palmer said post game per the Associated Press, “just going into a game and really only have a quarter or maybe a half of a practice over the last five weeks.”

The Cardinals come in with some weapons that will pose some serious problems for the Raiders.

In addition to the emerging Floyd, and the Canton-bound Fitzgerald, Arizona has speedster in rookie wide receiver, John Brown. Brown leads the team with three touchdown catches.

Running back Andre Ellington has been a huge bright spot for the Cardinals this season. Ellington is a shifty runner who has a knack of ripping off big runs and with a Raiders team that is suspect against the run, Ellington is the wrong running back you want to face.

Cornerback Patrick Peterson and Jerraud Powers leads a Cardinal defense that ranks 32nd against the pass, giving up 309 yards per game this season.

Powers is tied for the league lead in interceptions with three.

Players to Watch:

Oakland: WR, Andre Holmes. Carr appeared to have found a connection with Holmes. Carr found Holmes for a 77-yard touchdown on the Raiders’ third play of the game against San Diego. Holmes finished the game with four catches, for a game-high 121 yards, and could be emerging as the Raiders’ No. 1 wide receiver.

Arizona: WR, Larry Fitzgerald . Did it really take  five games for the Cardinals’ franchise leader in receptions (846), receiving yards (11,367), and touchdowns (87), to have a his best game of the year? The answer, yes. Fitzgerald finished with six catches for 98 yards and a touchdown in the win against Washington, after not finding the endzone.

Coming into the game, Fitzgerald was averaging just three catches and 41 yards per game and no touchdowns.

Carr’s 4 TDs not enough as Chargers slip by Raiders

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Raiders show grit, and progress, but can’t get into the win column.

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND, Calif — Chargers running back Branden Oliver’s 1-yard plunge with 1:56 remaining soured interim Raiders head coach’s Tony Sparano’s debut, as San Diego pulled away from Oakland, 31-28 Sunday in front of a Raider Nation crowd of 53,329 at O.co Coliseum.

“We have to be in these kinds of football games,” interim Raiders head coach Tony Sparano said. “We have to win one of these types of football games and that’s how you get this thing turned around.”

Oakland (0-5), got on the board in a hurry in the first quarter, when wide receiver Andre Holmes beat Chargers cornerback Brandon Flowers for a 77-yard touchdown pass from Carr on the team’s third play from scrimmage. It was Oakland’s longest scoring pass since 2008, when former quarterback JaMarcus Russell connected with tight end Zach Miller for an 86-yard touchdown.

Carr completed 18-of-34 passes for 282 yards, and a career-high four touchdowns, but threw a deep pass to wide receiver Brice Butler that was intercepted by rookie cornerback Jason Verrett with 1:13 remaining in the fourth quarter to preserve San Diego’s fifth straight win.

“He made a great play,” Carr said. “Brice went up, he had it and the guy made a great play. Those things are going to happen. Yeah, it hurts. It hurts because that’s the way it ended.”

San Diego quickly answered with a touchdown of their own, when quarterback Philip Rivers took San Diego 80 yards on seven plays in 4:30 that ended with a 29-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline to wide receiver Eddie Royal that knotted up the game at 7-7 in the first quarter.

After both teams traded a pair of stalled drives to end the first quarter, San Diego took a 14-7 lead when Rivers engineered a 13-play, 85-yard drive in 7:20 to toss his second touchdown of the game, a five-yard completion to wide receiver Malcolm Floyd midway through the second quarter.

Oakland tied the game up at 14-14, after Carr found wide receiver James Jones from six yards out. It was Carr’s second touchdown pass of the game at that point. The Raiders had a chance to take a three-point lead at halftime, but kicker Sebastian Janikowski missed a 54-yard field goal as time expired.

On Oakland’s first possession of the third quarter, Carr threw his third touchdown of the game when he found Butler for 47 yards that gave the Raiders a 21-14 lead.

Not to be outdone, Rivers threw his third touchdown of the game (an 8-play, 80-yard drive; San Diego’s third 80-yard drive of the game), that resulted into a 1-yard pass to tight end Antonio Gates that tied the game at 21-21 with 2:45 left in the third quarter.

Rivers completed 22-of-34 passes for 313 yards, and three touchdowns, his third straight game with three touchdown passes. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Rivers became the fourth quarterback in NFL history to throw for 4,000 yards against Oakland, joining John Elway, Dan Fouts, John Hadl, and Dave Kreig.

Carr and the Raiders took a 28-21 lead midway through the fourth quarter, behind Carr’s fourth touchdown of the game to Holmes for six yards. It was Holmes’ second touchdown of the game, finishing with four catches, for 121 yards to lead all receivers.

Nick Novak booted a 30-yard field goal to pull San Diego closer, 28-24, before the aforementioned Oliver’s go-ahead touchdown that increased the Chargers’ lead for good.

With running back Ryan Matthews and Donald Brown both out with injuries, Oliver looks to be the Chargers new featured running back after picking up his second-straight 100-yard rushing game with 101 yards on 26 carries. The rookie from the University of Buffalo rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries in San Diego’s 31-0 thumping of the New York Jets in Week 5.

Floyd finished with five catches for 105 yards receiving and a touchdown to lead the Chargers.

Running back Darren McFadden ran the ball hard, rushing for 80 yards on 14 carries (his highest output of the season), while fellow running back Maurice Jones-Drew chipped in 30 yards on four carries to the lead the ground game for the Silver and Black.

San Diego (5-1) sits alone atop of the AFC West and are tied with the Dallas Cowboys (5-1 after their 30-23 road victory over the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks Sunday), for the best record in the NFL.

Defensively, Oakland played gritty, but couldn’t hold a fourth quarter lead that results in the team’s 10th straight loss dating back to last season.  San Diego’s offense kept Oakland’s defense on the field, controlling the football for 37 minutes.

“The goal is to win the game,”  linebacker Sio Moore said. “We didn’t do that. We didn’t execute in the last bit of plays when we needed to, how we needed to.

“It’s a very sick feeling because we let a team off the hook that’s not supposed to be let off the hook. They’re not what they’re acclaimed to be, whatever the situation is. I’m pretty pissed about it.”

Moore finished with a team-leading seven tackles (3 assisted), strong safety Usama Young had six tackles, and defensive end C.J. Wilson recorded the Raiders lone sack.

“This group played with a lot of energy…we are going to continue to work our tails off and get better,” Sparano added.

The Raiders host NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals (4-1), who are coming off a 30-20 home victory over hapless Washington Sunday, in Week 7.

 

 

 

 

Raiders begin Sparano era with San Diego coming to Oakland

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

ALAMEDA — Coming off a much needed bye where Oakland fired head coach Dennis Allen and named offensive line coach Tony Sparano interim head coach,  the Oakland Raiders look to get into the win column as they will host the San Diego Chargers Sunday at O.co Coliseum. Kickoff is at 1:05 p.m. PDT.

Oakland, (0-4), has been dreadful offensively through the first quarter of the season, ranking last in points scored per game (12.8), total yards per game (270), and rushing yards per game (61.5). Opponents have outscored the Raiders 103-51.

Quarterback Derek Carr, who suffered a sprained ankle and MCL during Oakland’s brutal loss to Miami 38-14 in London, should be a go on Sunday after the week off.

Carr is slowly developing into a quarterback in the NFL, completing 84-of-133 passes for 734 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions in his four starts this season. The Raiders signal caller maybe in for a tough day as he is set to face a stingy Chargers defense that ranks third in the NFL in total defense.

Running backs Maurice Jones-Drew and Darren McFadden have been virtually non-existent this season. MJD and McFadden need to find a way to take some of the pressure off Carr and run the ball better than their 1.1 and 3.3 yards per carry average (respectively) have shown.

Defensively, the Raiders will be in trouble Sunday.

Oakland has just four sacks this season, one from the defensive line. Strong safety Tyvon Branch, who leads the team with 30 tackles, is done for the season after three games with a fractured foot.

The team just placed linebacker Nick Roach on season-ending injured reserve due to lingering concussion symptoms.Roach suffered a concussion against the Green Bay Packers on Aug. 22 during the exhibition season.

It would be nice to see Raiders defensive coordinator Jason Tarver get more pressure out of defensive end Justin Tuck, defensive tackle Antonio Smith, and linebacker LaMarr Woodley. These were the guys (along with cornerbacks Terrell Brown and Carlos Rogers), that were suppose to add some much needed punch to a pedestrian defense.

San Diego has been red hot, winners of four straight and sit atop the AFC West at 4-1; a big reason for the Chargers great start has been because of the play quarterback Philip Rivers.

Rivers is off to one of his best starts in his 11 years in the NFL, ranking near the top of the list among the game’s best quarterbacks in passing yards (1,443), touchdown-to-interception ratio (12/2), and passer rating (116.3).

Players to Watch:

Oakland – QB Derek Carr. It will be interesting to see how Carr will perform Sunday coming off the injury he sustained before the bye week. Carr will be working in another wide receiver to the mix, after the Raiders claimed former New England Patriots WR, Kenbrell Thompkins Monday.

San Diego – QB Philip Rivers. No question that Rivers has reestablish himself as a premier quarterback. Rivers is coming off back-to-back three touchdown passing performances and will be looking for his favorite target, TE Antonio Gates down the middle of the field where Oakland has been vulnerable all season.