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JIM BAIRD / Union-Tribune
As Oakland's defense chases his rollout, LaDainian Tomlinson lofts a scoring pass to tie the game.
SEAN DUFRENE / Union-Tribune
After the Raiders took a 7-0 lead, the Chargers struck back quickly thanks to Cromartie ball. Antonio Cromartie took the kickoff back 91 yards to the Oakland 12, setting up a two-play "drive" for a tying TD.
Spin control
Trailing 14-7 with 11:53 to play, the Chargers face fourth-and-2 from the Raiders 40 when Philip Rivers hits receiver Vincent Jackson over the middle for a 13-yard gain.
Jackson pops to his feet without being touched, and spins the ball to the ground in celebration of the first down. The whistle never blows, and Oakland's Fabian Washington falls on the loose ball, an apparent fumble recovery.
After several minutes of discussion, the play is ruled an illegal forward pass. The 5-yard penalty still leaves the Chargers with a first down.
Four plays later, LaDainian Tomlinson hits Antonio Gates with a 19-yard touchdown pass to tie the score.
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When it was finished, when LaDainian Tomlinson had again taken a game into his hands and continued his dash toward immortality and a defense had returned some favors and the ghost of the Holy Roller had been partially exorcised, the Chargers were able to walk off the field hollering.
“Nine and two,” it echoed as players marched up the tunnel to their locker room.
What they should have done is fallen on their knees, looked skyward and finished off this Thanksgiving weekend with a hymn.
“We didn't play our greatest,” defensive end Jacques Cesaire said. “But God blessed this team today.”
Something might well be at work this season, because yesterday's 21-14 victory over the Oakland Raiders was the type of happening that prompts talk of destiny.
“It seems like it is magical, the way things are happening for us,” Tomlinson said. “It's just kind of going right for us. Even with the injuries we have had, things are still going right. Let's just hope it ends in a magical season.”
Down two offensive and three defensive starters, the Chargers played what might well have been their worst game of the season and still won for the fifth straight Sunday, opening a two-game lead in the AFC West with five games to play.
They knew they were fortunate. They know things must change.
“We've got to play better,” fullback Lorenzo Neal said. “We've been sloppy in the first half, and in the second half of this game. These kind of games will catch up with you. . . . Is it a big win? Heck yeah, it's a great win. But I'm getting too old for wins like that. We need to get it going.
“We should have come out and jumped on these guys a lot better than we did. But, hey, we escaped. We got the 'W.' ”
The Chargers trailed 14-7 – strange enough against a Raiders team with a record exactly opposite theirs – when yesterday's game turned.
It turned bizarre, and it turned in the Chargers' favor.
Philip Rivers, who finally had a bad game, threw a ball right into the arms of Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, and the Raiders took over at the Chargers' 34 with a little more than a minute remaining in the third quarter.
The Raiders promptly advanced to the 20 before a penalty and a sack moved them back to the 30. And on third-and-15 from the 25, linebacker Shaun Phillips tipped Aaron Brooks' pass at the line, and cornerback Quentin Jammer jumped in front of tight end John Madsen to make the interception at the 17. Jammer returned the ball to Oakland's 48.
For the first time all day, the Chargers embarked on a drive – with help.
Most un-conservative Marty Schottenheimer had his offense go for it on fourth-and-2 at the 40.
First, Vincent Jackson made a magnificent catch of a rocket pass over the middle from Rivers. But the young receiver stood, having not been touched and triumphantly spun the ball to the ground. It rolled forward and Oakland's Fabian Washington fell on it.
The officials initially ruled Oakland's ball. Many minutes and huddles ensued, as Jackson stood on the sideline with a towel on his head.
It was ultimately ruled that Jackson had made an illegal forward pass. The Chargers got the ball, after a 5-yard penalty for the illegal pass, at the 32. Late last night, the Chargers were told by a league official that the correct call had been made.
It was on the opposite end of the field and went the opposite way of the Holy Roller play 28 years ago, when Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler admittedly fumbled forward, the Raiders kicked the ball around and ended up recovering in the end zone to win on the game's final play.
Yesterday was not quite that dramatic. But it was close.
“That's a big play,” Raiders defensive tackle Warren Sapp said.
Four plays and one Oakland penalty later, Rivers pitched to Tomlinson, who ran right. As three defenders closed on him, he lofted a 19-yard pass to a wide-open Antonio Gates in the end zone to tie the game.
The Raiders punted on their ensuing possession, and the Chargers took over at their 33.
Tomlinson switched direction in the backfield on first down and did not stop until he was pushed out at the Raiders' 23. Five plays later, he ran into the corner of the end zone from 10 yards out for his second rushing touchdown of the day.
The Chargers have won 18 straight games in which Tomlinson has rushed for 100 yards or more, and yesterday was his career-high fifth straight with 100 yards. In gaining 109 yards, he increased his league-leading touchdown total to 24, just four from tying the league record.
“I think everyone understands where we start and where we finish on offense, and it's with him,” Schottenheimer said.
And while the Chargers' league-leading offense gained its fewest yards this season (260) and scored its second-fewest points, the defense stymied the Raiders for just 88 yards and seven points in the second half.
It was after Rivers' interception that the defense actually sprinted onto the field, dancing at the line of scrimmage, just 34 yards from the Raiders taking a 14-point lead.
“When there is a sudden change you really have to go out there fired up,” Phillips said. “I look forward to having my back against the wall and going out and make a play.”
Just as they had in Cincinnati two weeks ago, when Phillips forced a fumble that preceded a big touchdown, and last week in Denver, when cornerback Drayton Florence intercepted a pass that set up the clinching touchdown, the defenders looked around and asked each other who was going to make a play.
It was Jammer then. Later, on a fourth-and-13, Oakland's last chance, it was Florence with another interception.
“Guys always come through when they have to,” said linebacker Randall Godfrey, who had a sack among his game-high 13 tackles. “That's the sign of a great team.”
Kevin Acee: (619) 293-1857; kevin.acee@uniontrib.com
