Kawakami: Woodson leaves Oakland in style

For the Raiders, Carr threw for 209 yards with one touchdown pass and an interception.

The Raiders won the toss and took the ball down the field, settling for a Sebastian Janikowski 31-yard field goal.

While Thursday might’ve been the Raiders last game in Oakland – owner Mark Davis has eyes on relocating to the Los Angeles market – fan and player focus was on sending Woodson out on a high note.

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

Well, it surely took a complete team effort to stop the San Diego Chargers from spoiling the future Hall of Famer’s final game at the Coliseum, as the Raiders fought hard to come away with a 23-20 victory in overtime.

The injury-riddled Chargers lost several more players to injuries, including cornerback Jason Verrett (hamstring), safety Eric Weddle (groin) and offensive linemen Orlando Franklin (concussion) and Trevor Robinson (concussion).

Charles Woodson addresses the fans after his final home game at the Coliseum. However, a 30-yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers to Ladarius Green was called back after replay officials ruled he did not have control of the ball.

Offensively, things got off to a rough start; for the second week in a row, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr opened the game by throwing a pick that later turned into a touchdown. “The crowd was just awesome”.

Both the Chargers and Raiders, along with the St Louis Rams, are candidates for relocation to Los Angeles – a move that could come as early as next season. He caught five passes for 38 yards Thursday and has 37 catches for 207 yards overall. Rivers, who completed nine straight passes in the second quarter, finished 31 of 49 for 277 yards and a touchdown. Crabtree led all Oakland receivers with six catches, though for just 39 yards.

As has become so familiar with Woodson, the 18-year-veteran broke the huddle by letting his teammates know that they don’t need to win the game for him, but to win the game for the team and themselves. “And it doesn’t make it any easier on us to lose another one like that”.

So many story lines with this game.

Next up was Smith, who reached from behind and knocked the ball loose from tight end David Johnson after a 4-yard gain. If you understand that, you understand it’s bigger than you too. “I left the game with negative three yards, that’s all I’m going to think about”.

“We just had to keep working”, Autry said.

So while this was not quite a regal way to end the Coliseum reign of King Charles I, it was the best the Raiders could do. Carr added a 2-point conversion to Roberts to make it 20-17. The Raiders went for two, and Carr converted with a pass to Roberts, extending Oakland’s lead to 20-17.

Rookie Josh Lambo missed a 48-yard field goal.

San Diego capitalized on a Raiders turnover to take a quick 7-0 lead as running back Donald Brown plunged into the end zone from a yard out with 9:09 left in the first quarter. “This was just one where we were going on the fly”.