Raiders Score an Early KO

Dropped passes, penalties and more penalties, and while that’s a giveaway clue leading to the Raiders, from the rubble of a season apparently lost, Oakland has now emerged as what?

Sure, the Raiders defeated the Chargers, 23-14, Monday night before 62,350 towel-waving fans in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, but after knocking out quarterback Stan Humphries in the first quarter with a separated left shoulder, the final outcome should have been predictable.

“Yeah, it’s been a long time since we’ve won in our division,” said Raider Coach Mike White, after his team snapped a seven-game losing streak to AFC West Division opponents. “We have the toughest division in football. This was a real breakthrough for us and now we have to keep it going.”

San Diego (4-3), which relies heavily on Humphries’ field presence and effectiveness, was left to play with Sean Salisbury, a radio announcer all last season. Salisbury, handicapped by a running game that is not up to NFL standards, managed to throw a pair of touchdown passes to wide receiver Tony Martin before the rest of his team self-destructed.

Charger cornerback Darrien Gordon, penalized twice on the same play in the final five minutes with his team trailing, 20-14, mishandled a punt a minute later at his 19-yard line, allowing the Raiders to recover and set up Cole Ford’s game-clinching 34-yard field goal with 2:11 to play.

This was a total team loss with the Chargers being penalized nine times for 84 yards, gaining an average of 1.5 yards a carry on the ground, and surrendering 310 yards on defense. This was no prime-time performance.

“We’ve got to stop these foolish penalties,” said Charger Coach Bobby Ross. “These guys are paid good money and are grown men . . . we can’t shoot ourselves in the foot. I don’t know if any team is good enough to do those kind of things and overcome it.”

So what does all this say about the Raiders, who were 6-2 a year ago at this time only to finish 8-8? Are the Raiders (4-4), winners of three straight, a team to reckon with when they return after a bye to play on Monday night in Oakland against the Denver Broncos? Or, is this just some sort of midseason victory blip a team should expect in playing a fifth-place schedule?

The final answer still might rest with quarterback Jeff Hostetler. A healthy Hostetler means all things are possible for the Raiders, who still have two games remaining with the lowly Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Hostetler, the Raiders’ emotional leader as well as their director on offense, completed 20 of 33 passes for 191 yards with a touchdown and an interception. While his statistics were unimpressive, his will to win was apparent as he chastised his receivers for poor play and urged on his running backs, who ran for 131 yards in 34 carries.

Without Hostetler (shoulder) to open the regular season, the Raiders flopped, losing four of their first five games, including a 40-34 decision to the Chargers in Oakland.

“Jeff just had a great game,” White said. “They were hurting without Humphries, and we were aware of that, and so we were concerned with our management of the clock and just controlling the ball and I think that was a factor in our success.”

Like the Raiders, the Chargers are not the same team without their quarterback, who has compiled a 42-19 record as a starter. On the team’s third series in the first quarter, Humphries scrambled from the pocket, gained five yards and slid feet first to the turf, which according to the rules should have protected him from being hit.

The Chargers, however, were playing the Raiders. And Chester McGlockton, the Raiders’ 320-pound defensive tackle, forgot himself, and attempted to permanently plant Humphries at the San Diego 49-yard line.

Call it a coincidence, but White said, “that was the best game I’ve probably seen Chester play since he’s been with the Raiders.”

The Chargers said later that Humphries’ injury was similar to one he experienced at the end of the 1992 regular season, which did not prevent him from starting in the playoffs the following week against the Chiefs. While the Chargers can only hope Humphries is back in time for next week’s game in Seattle, the Raiders have positioned themselves for a late-season charge.

Their running game, which now features Napoleon Kaufman, Harvey Williams and Derrick Fenner, has enabled Hostetler to control the game on offense. Kaufman responded to a holding call pushing the Raiders back from the San Diego two-yard line to the 12 in the first quarter by running the ball in for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

Fenner hauled in a short pass from Hostetler, and then danced through the Charger defense for a 17-yard touchdown to give the Raiders a 17-7 lead in the third quarter. And with the Raiders needing to hold onto the ball, run out the clock and set up Ford’s clinching field goal, Williams provided 13 key yards on four carries.