Jason Verrett's interception with less than two minutes to play sealed the San Diego Chargers' come-from-behind 31-28 win over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. Our takeaways:
- The Chargers barely beat a winless team, but credit is deserved for coming back from a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter. The Chargers scored the game's final 10 points, then got the defensive stop to end it. Philip Rivers was again MVP-like, throwing for over 300 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
- Derek Carr did something on Sunday that his older brother, David, never did in the NFL: He threw four touchdown passes in one game. His big mistake was a killer: Trailing by three and approaching field-goal range with 1:20 to play, Carr forced a deep ball into tight coverage and Verrett made him pay. It was a rookie mistake the Raiders can only hope Carr learns from. On balance, this was an extremely promising afternoon for the second-round pick.
- Branden Oliver was a difference-maker for a second straight week. The Chargers running back finished with 124 total yards and the go-ahead touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. It took some injuries, but Mike McCoy appears to have found some buried treasure on their own roster.
- Tony Sparano deserves praise beyond his well-reported motivational ploys. The Raiders nearly took out one of the AFC's top teams, an indication Oakland bought into the interim coach's message about leaving 0-4 in the past. Moral victories don't count for much in the NFL, but winless teams need to take positives where they can get them.
- Darren McFadden is alive. The Raiders running back looked the best he has in, well, years, running for 80 yards on just 14 carries. McFadden and Maurice Jones-Drew both found success, making things far easier for their rookie quarterback. More of this will be needed going forward.
We recap all the Week 6 action on a jaunty edition of the "Around the NFL Podcast." Find more Around The NFL content on NFL Now.
