Losses take zip out of Raiders-Chargers rivalry

Published: Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008 9:19 a.m. MST
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L.T. has only two 100-yard games this season. The first, naturally, was at Oakland on Sept. 28, when he had 106 yards and two touchdowns as the Chargers rallied from a 15-0 halftime deficit to beat the Raiders 28-18.

Tomlinson has 1,815 yards and 18 touchdowns against Oakland in his career, more than against any other team.

"I really don't know, to be honest with you, why it's been that way," Tomlinson said. "I think it started back when Marty first got here and we had a physical mind-set that we were going to be physical and really run the ball against them. Even with Norv being here, that just kind of continued and that's why it's always been like that."

That would be Marty Schottenheimer, the Chargers' coach from 2002-06 who hated the Raiders. After Schottenheimer was fired because he and general manager A.J. Smith had an icy relationship, the Chargers continued to beat up on the Raiders under Turner, who coached Oakland in 2004-05 before being fired by Al Davis.

Tomlinson "has had a lot of success against the Raiders and hopefully we can slow that down a little bit this week," interim Oakland coach Tom Cable said.

And those 10 straight Chargers wins?

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"It is quite a streak considering they are divisional rivals and they are going to play each other twice a year," Cable said. "It's a credit to the organization. They have really had it going and had a lot of good players."

The Raiders are playing out their sixth straight losing season. They truly are a Black Hole, having gone 22-70 since being routed by Tampa Bay and former Raiders coach Jon Gruden in the Super Bowl at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium on Jan. 26, 2003.

They've been inconsistent the last two weeks, shocking the Broncos 31-10 at Denver and then losing at home to the Chiefs, 20-13.

"Maddening is a fair word," Cable said. "I think really trying to learn how to win, learning how to understand in this league that nothing comes easy and you really have to go out and take what you want because nobody is going to give it to you. The culture around here has been defeat for a long time now and you have to change that before you move forward."

Recent comments

2 minutes left in the game and my San Diego Chargers have 34 to the...

Ruth | Dec. 4, 2008 at 9:16 p.m.

I wonder how many times the NFL network will show a camera shot of Al...

TucsonUte | Dec. 4, 2008 at 1:15 p.m.

All the Chargers need to do is go 3-1 in their last four games...

Anonymous | Dec. 4, 2008 at 11:52 a.m.

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