How in the hell do you give up 50+ yards on a third and 10 screen pass? It looks like someone told the Chargers they were playing in the Thursday night game this morning.
Lorini
4182
McFadden is going to be second string if he doesn’t hurry up and come back :)
sluggo
4183
Did the Raiders actually challenge this? Don’t they have anyone up in the booth that can tell them it’s 110% a fumble?
Once again, Hue Jackson outsmarts himself.
sluggo
4184
I … I don’t understand this non-TD call at all.
Lorini
4185
And I thought I knew the rules to football but these refs are schooling me.
Admittedly, with the injured kicker “field goal range” is more of a convention than a literal truth. Still, fakes are for when the opposition doesn’t see it coming.
Lorini
4187
Nope, didn’t think it would last. Look for the upcoming personal foul penalties.
My experience has been they’ll show part of the game but it is mostly the sideline guys or studio guys talking. Such a tease.
sluggo
4191
Why in the name of Al Davis’ Frozen Head would the Raiders not go for it on 4th and 1? You’ve been running over the Chargers all night and a first down wins the game. You’re going to give it back to Philip Rivers with a minute left just so you can back them up an extra 20 yards?
I think it was a good call. I’d rather make them go 80 yards with no TOs and a minute to play than 60 yards.
Palmer looked great tonight. Bush looked awesome.
sluggo
4193
I think when you need 1 yard to win a game, and the only penalty is that you give up 20 yards of field position, you take that gamble 10 times out of 10. In a night where your running game has been dominant, I don’t even think it’s debatable.
I would give serious thought to firing Norv Turner this week. At this point, I think it’s clear that he has no idea how to motivate this team, and will never lead them to a Super Bowl. In a year where the AFC is wide open, I’d rather roll the dice and see if I can catch lightning in a bottle with one of my assistants, and if it doesn’t work out, you bring in someone new next year.
Look at it this way: SD moved from the 11 to the 50 before backpedaling because Rivers got sacked. Had the Raiders gone for it on 4th down and not made it, add 29 yards to where SD was, so instead of the 50 they would have been on the 21 yard line of Oakland. As it was they got within hail mary range, but that was it.
sluggo
4195
That’s not how football works and I think you know that. Oakland gives them that cushion to move to the 50 because they’re willing to trade yards for time, and the further San Diego moves up, the more they tighten the defense. You can’t say they would have gotten 29 yards regardless of where they were on the field.
A month ago, the Raiders had a 14 point lead on the Browns with 5 minutes to go and a 4th and short inside the 5. Rather than kick a chip shot field goal to make it an insurmountable 3-score game, they opted to go for it. Why? Because a 17 point lead wasn’t good enough? Sure enough, they don’t make it, Cleveland scores a TD, recovers an onside kick, and suddenly a game that should have been dead and buried is now back in play. It was an absolute bonehead call.
For all I know, Jackson may be a great motivator and planner, but his playcalling and game management seems godawful to me so far. He’s going to cost them a game sooner or later.
We’ll just have to disagree. I think punting and hoping you pin them inside the 20 (which they did, at the 11) is the safer play than risking turning over the ball at the 40. It’s not like Bush always got positive yardage. I saw him get stuffed a few times and it wasn’t even short yardage where SD was stacking against the run.
ckessel
4197
I am with sluggo here. I thinks (odds of 1st down + odds of keeping SD from end zone if failed) > odds of keeping SD from the end zone from the ~15.
The thing that made it a close call though was SD’s lack of time outs. If SD had some timeouts, going for it is easily the better bet.
Soooo you just argued against yourself here. Go for it or not? Which is it? Oakland is 4 for 8 on 4th and short conversion attempts. They did the right thing and won the game. You guys are acting they lost.
Hell yes I back Philip Rivers up another 20 yards, especially with SD having no timeouts. 4th and 1, even with how the Raiders were running last night is not taken as a given if you go for it. The consequences of giving the Charges back the ball if they didn’t get the first down were a hell of a lot higher than punting the ball.
