Raiders Put Chargers in Playoffs : Pro football: Smallest non-strike Coliseum crowd sees San Diego breeze to 36-14 victory.
Marcus Allen was the first player up the Coliseum tunnel, leaving behind the Chargers to celebrate, and the Raiders to contemplate a season gone flat.
The Chargers (10-5) became the first team in NFL history to advance to the playoffs after an 0-4 start by scoring a 36-14 victory Sunday. The Chargers have not been to the playoffs since 1982, and a victory over the Seahawks in Seattle’s Kingdome next Sunday will give them the AFC West Division title.
“Alex Spanos bought this team to have fun and he hasn’t had much of it,” Charger General Manager Bobby Beathard said. “But you should have seen him today; he was so happy I couldn’t understand what he was saying.”
In the Raider locker room, meanwhile, Allen’s locker was empty by the time the media gained admittance.
If Allen has played his last game in Los Angeles, as he suggested last week, a long and stirring career at USC and with the Raiders will have come to a lackluster close before 40,152 fans--the smallest crowd for a non-strike Raider game in the Coliseum.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Raider quarterback Jay Schroeder said. “I don’t want to see him go.”
Allen’s play continued to be confined to third-down situations, and he finished the day with two carries for 12 yards and one reception for 13 yards.
“No. 1, I hope for Marcus Allen’s sake that he goes some place where they appreciate him,” Charger linebacker Gary Plummer said. “And No. 2, I hope he goes some place other than the AFC West.”
Allen’s season, much like that of the Raiders, has been one filled with questions and disappointment.
The Raiders (6-9) are out of it, and playing 37-year-old Vince Evans instead of Todd Marinovich in relief of Schroeder, who injured his shoulder.
The Raiders are assured of a losing record for the first time since 1988, and Coach Art Shell could not explain the reason for his team’s uninspiring play.
“I felt that pride would step forward,” Shell said. “I felt that respect for yourself and your teammates would step forward, but we just did not play with the kind of intensity, the kind of grit that you have to play in order to beat a good football team.”
Shell said the hubbub surrounding Allen’s taped controversial remarks at halftime of last week’s 20-7 loss to Miami might have played havoc with the Raiders’ preparations this week.
“I don’t want to lay it on that, but I think it hurt,” Shell said.
Whatever the reason, if the Raiders fall in their season finale in Washington Saturday, they will end the year with their worst non-strike record since 1964.
“I think it’s evident the team was flat,” Raider defensive lineman Howie Long said.
The Chargers scored the first five times they had the ball, and were up, 23-0, at halftime. The Raiders had a minus-four yards in offense after their first three possessions and finished the half with 30 net yards.
“The Chargers were real good today,” Raider defensive end Greg Townsend said, “but I know they are not better than us.”
The Chargers, who have won 10 of their last 11, have swept the Raiders this season by a combined score of 63-17.
They also have a young and up-and-coming quarterback in Stan Humphries, four quality running backs who earn a fair share of playing time, and a defense that features linebacker Junior Seau and defensive end Leslie O’Neal.
“Those guys are playing with a lot of confidence,” Raider safety Eddie Anderson said. “I give their coach a lot of credit for having them up today.”
Kicker John Carney, who has been successful on his last 13 field-goal attempts, hit from 42, 23, 25, 28 and 23 yards to complement the play of the offense.
Humphries completed 17 of 32 passes for 237 yards, and threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Miller, and a 50-yard scoring pass to Nate Lewis.
“I worried about all the distractions the Giants had and then what they did to Kansas City Saturday,” Beathard said. “Reading all the things that were going on with the Raiders, I was really concerned the same thing might happen to us. But Bobby Ross does an incredible job in preparing these guys to play each week.”
The Chargers opened with a 6:59 drive and field goal by Carney. They held the ball for 13:43 in the first quarter, while the Raiders ran three plays for a loss of seven yards.
The Raiders’ offense had failed to score a touchdown in two of its three previous outings and it continued to go nowhere against the Chargers. Schroeder completed four of nine passes for 25 yards, with an interception, and remained on the ground a short time after taking a hit on the final play of the second quarter.
He returned in the third quarter, threw four incomplete passes and then left complaining of numbness in his shoulder. Evans came on and completed nine of 20 passes for 115 yards, with two interceptions and touchdown passes to Alexander Wright for 21 yards and Tim Brown for five yards.
“It’s poetic justice to have it happen against the Raiders,” Plummer said. “These have been our rivals, and we like beating nobody better than the Raiders.”
Raider Notes
Eddie Anderson delivered a crushing blow to Nate Lewis, then received a 15-yard penalty for taunting after making like a wrestling referee and counting Lewis out. . . . Rookie Greg Skrepenak replaced Bruce Wilkerson at left tackle in the first half after Wilkerson left with a foot injury. . . . The previous low attendance for a non-strike Raider game in the Coliseum was against New England on Nov. 26, 1989 with 41,349.
* CHARGERS
A 10-year drought ends as San Diego becomes the first team to go from 0-4 to the playoffs. C9