Nov 16, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) is sacked in the 4th quarter by San Diego Chargers linebacker Jerry Attaochu (97) at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stan Liu-USA TODAY Sports
I don’t care what anyone says about the East Coast rivalries… The Chargers & Raiders rivalry is one of the meanest, surliest, and heated rivalries in all of sports history. These two fan bases hate each other! Every year, Raider week is a cornucopia of tasteless comments, hatred, Mom jokes, “Where are your rings?” comments, and “The Raiders have been a dumpster fire for almost a decade & half” retorts. There are a lot of ignorant statements, people checking them, and then getting checked themselves. Nobody is safe from the evil jaws of the Chargers / Raiders rivalry! Even DEATH THREATS have been levied, and promises to commit personal harm to each other. But, at the end of the day, what happens on the field will settle whatever disputes, or gripes people have with each other. I welcome Raider week. It’s unhealthy at times, but it’s up to us what we do with our weekends. If we want to spend it hurling obscenities at each other… so be it.
This matchup has gone back and forth for some time. 55 years, in fact. The Chargers & the Raiders have shared the same division since the AFL was established in 1960, and the team was the Los Angeles chargers (I know that is a bad word right now). That’s a lot of hateful water under the bridge. The Chargers beat the Raiders twice that year, before moving to San Diego in 1961, where they beat the Raiders 4 times in that year, and 1962.
Then, the Raiders started getting better. They owned 1963, and the two teams went back & forth, splitting 1964. The Chargers took 65’, and the first game in 66’, but the Raiders took the second game, and both in 67’. San Diego recovered in the first game of 68’, but the Raiders took the the second game, and both in 69’… I heard that was a good summer. HA!
Then came the 1970’s, where the Raiders absolutely DOMINATED the Chargers. The Chargers only won THREE games out of 20. The teams actually tied twice in 70’ & 72’, which is kind of odd, since the games were so close together. Not sure that happens very often these days. Then, the Raiders pretty much dominated the 1980’s too, where they too switched cities, becoming the Los Angeles Raiders. The Raiders beat the Chargers 14 to 7 that decade. So, the Chargers basically got their asses handed to them by the Raiders for 20 years straight. That was some great coaching & front office managing, let me tell ya! Even if you factor in Air Coryell, and Dan Fouts… the Raiders are a divisional team that you need to beat… which they clearly didn’t.
Things started to even up during the nineties though, as both teams would sweep the other, and then get swept, with the Raiders ending up with an 11-9 advantage in those years. However, as the new millennium unfolded, the Chargers took the driver’s seat again in this rivalry, and went 14-6 between 2000, and 2009. Since then, the Chargers have gone 6-4 in this rivalry, which isn’t exactly running away with it. Furthermore, the head-to-head record is 59-50-2 in favor of the Raiders. Not to mention, they were able to acquire 3 rings during this time, to the Chargers “zero”. Something Raider fans will gladly remind Charger fans of ad-nauseum, even if they have very little hope to cling to these days, or were even alive when Gollum stole the “precious” rings. What Raider fans don’t seem to realize, is that as badly as the Chargers fan base wants a Super Bowl victory, we could not care less about your outdated successes. In essence, they are a total non-factor to us. If we care about anything, we just want to even up the win-loss record between the two teams. The Super Bowl wins will come eventually, and proud we all are of the 1970’s & 1980’s Raiders, who were a very nasty, and well-coached football team. However, that is not the case today, despite having endless top ten picks.
One would think that the Raiders would be a powerhouse after having the first shot at top ten players for the last 11 years, but they are just now getting competitive. Everyone takes a swing & a miss, understandably… look at Ryan Leaf… but, to miss the playoffs that many times in a row. Well, let the best team win today. As you can see from the history of this rivalry, it’s anyone’s game.
The usual dregs of humanity will be gracing Qualcomm, and this thread, with their Halloween outfits, and our fans will be golf clapping. But, I have faith in the talent on the field, even if the coaching staff has no clue what they are doing. I hope Rivers checks out of every one of Reich’s plays today, and Pagano doesn’t start looking at his playbook with that confused stare, like he’s trying to decipher hieroglyphics.
Keep it above the belt today folks. Have respect for your fellow commenters, as one team will be joining the Chiefs in limbo. Let’s hope for an aggressive McCoy like in the Packers game, and Go Chargers!