The list goes on.
Teams lose football games all the time. Yet, no one loses games like the Raiders. They set the bar 15 days ago by turning a fumble recovery into a punt-over when Chris Carr got penalized for failing to run back on the field quickly enough after he got pushed out of bounds. The Denver Broncos scored the decisive touchdown on their next possession.
The latest installment of a you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it play that went against the Raiders came when officials overturned a Raiders fumble recovery in the fourth quarter, and the San Diego Chargers scored a game-tying touchdown four plays later and the game-deciding score on their next possession for an improbable 21-14 victory at Qualcomm Stadium.
"This was just another day at the office," Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer said in the understatement of the day.
It was anything but. In a span of a few seconds, the game went from an upset in the making to one with the Chargers on the verge of yet another victory. The details don't do it justice, yet that's all there is to draw from.
In short, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers completed a pass to second-year wide receiver Vincent Jackson on a fourth-and-2 play. Jackson made a diving catch in
Jackson leapt to his feet and celebrated by spinning the ball toward his goal line. Raiders cornerback Fabian Washington noticed Jackson hadn't been touched by a defender and recovered the loose ball at the 25.from Sports 1
The officials signaled Raiders ball. The Raiders offense ran onto the field. Then officials penalized Jackson 5 yards for an illegal forward pass. Off went Oakland's offense. Then the officials said the penalty yardage left the Chargers short of a first down. Back out came the Raiders offense.
But, wait, there's more. Isn't there always when it involves the Raiders and controversial plays?
The officials checked their math and realized the Chargers still had enough for a first down after the penalty was stepped off. Back to the sideline for the Raiders offense.
Four plays later, the Chargers tied the game on a pass from running back LaDainian Tomlinson to tight end Antonio Gates. Tomlinson scored the game-deciding touchdown on San Diego's ensuing possession.
"It should be," Washington said, when asked if the officials should have stuck with their initial ruling of a fumble. "Think about it. Plaxico (Burress, receiver), his rookie year, did the exact same thing. It was a fumble then. Today, it wasn't."
For that, let's bring in referee Mike Carey.
Mike?
"Because (Jackson) intentionally threw the ball, and so it is either a forward or backward pass," Carey said after the game. "In that case, it was forward."
Carey said his crew never ruled the play a fumble. He said their signaling Raiders ball was done so because "I misinterpreted the result of the play."
Raiders coach Art Shell said he was told by Carey that the Raiders would have gotten the ball had Jackson's spin move been done backward.
"I heard about three or four different stories in the course of that period," Shell said.
Either way, no explanation sat real well with Shell and his players. One former Raiders player called Sunday's head-scratcher worse than the Holy Roller play that occurred here in 1978, when the Raiders scored the game-winning touchdown on a play in which quarterback Kenny Stabler fumbled the ball to running back Pete Banaszak, who, in turn, fumbled the ball to tight end Dave Casper, who recovered it in the end zone.
Burress did a similar thing to Jackson's play as a rookie with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2000. He fell down untouched by a defender after a 19-yard reception, got to his feet and spiked the ball. Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Danny Clark recovered the ball and returned it 44 yards.
"Come on, man," Raiders defensive tackle Warren Sapp said in utter disbelief. "That's a big play you're talking about."
A fumble ruling would have given the Raiders the ball at their own 25, with a 14-7 lead and 11 minutes, 53 seconds between them and a victory.
Instead, the AFC West-leading Chargers retained possession and reeled off their fifth straight victory and ninth in 11 games. The Raiders left the field losers of four straight games, nine in a row on the road and 13 successive divisional games.
Sapp held court in the locker room after the game for more than 10 minutes. He defied anyone to persuade him that Jackson's seeming gaffe was anything but a fumble.
"If he can get up and run with it, he can get up and fumble it," Sapp said. "I don't understand. That's a live ball. But you learn something new every day."
And the Raiders continue to find creative ways to lose games.
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