‘Heisman pass’ doesn’t work, but Raiders win for Woodson

The Oakland Raiders, playing possibly their final Bay Area home game, defeated San Diego 23-20 in overtime Thursday in an National Football League contest between two teams eliminated from playoff contention.

Raiders defensive back Charles Woodson, the 39-year-old standout who announced his retirement earlier this week, played his last game in Oakland, whose fans saw the Raiders move to Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before returning.

The Raiders continued to play stout defense in finishing their home season with a 3-5 record, with the offense contributing just enough to put up the winning points on a 31-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski in overtime.

The Silver & Black also hoped to give the Oakland crowd one last victory at O.Co Coliseum, with the Raiders future in Oakland looming and the deadline coming up quick. On the next play, Rivers hit Ladarius Green on a 30-yard touchdown pass but the play was ultimately overturned because Green did not maintain possession throughout the catch. “You see (in practice) how many times we start with turnover (drills) and tackling”.

With the Chargers facing a tough 3rd and 10, cornerback DJ Hayden was called for pass interference to extend the Chargers drive.

The Chargers wound up settling for another field-goal try, and this time Lambo missed from 48 yards. Quarterback Derek Carr ran a route but was covered, and Woodson took a 3-yard loss on the play. Three straight penalties left the Raiders with a second-and-29 but San Diego’s Denzel Perryman bailed them out when he was called for a personal foul for hitting a defenseless Michael Crabtree in the head.

But the game officially ended on 4th and 3 in the first overtime, when Rivers threw an incomplete pass near the right sideline.

The Chargers have not won a game in their division in more than a year and have gone 0-7 during that span. Carr hit Seth Roberts on the next play to complete the two-point conversion, putting the Raiders up 20-17 with just over four minutes remaining.

So it has gone has gone for the Chargers, both on Thursday night and for much of this season.

He sent Woodson into the game as a receiver with the Raiders at the San Diego 10-yard line and ran a double-reverse to him.

The Raiders took the opening kick in overtime and appeared ready to self-destruct, drawing three costly penalties.

“It’s one of those things, guys get loose with the ball, they get in the open field running a little bit, and it’s never over”, Smith said.

Charles Woodson’s final game in Oakland – and maybe the Raiders’ – just didn’t want to end. On second down, Denico Autry blasted through to sack Rivers in the end zone for a safety to cut it to 17-12. Woodson leads the Raiders with five interceptions, but his impact on the team goes far beyond his play on the field. The pro-Oakland signs were barely visible, and there were no chants blasting ownership or pleading for the team to stay such as the ones that rang out during the home finales in San Diego and St. Louis. Running back Latavius Murray ran for 79 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries while adding six catches for 62 yards.