OAKLAND, Calif. – Michael Bush ran 3 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 3:39 remaining and Tyvon Branch returned a fumble 64 yards for a score as the Oakland Raiders snapped a 13-game losing streak against the San Diego Chargers with a 35-27 victory Sunday over their AFC West rivals.
All it took to end the seven-year drought for the Raiders (2-3) was two blocked two punts, two long touchdown drives in the second half led by backup quarterback Jason Campbell and the big play at the end by Branch and Michael Huff.
This was Oakland’s first win over San Diego (2-3) since September 2003 — which was the second longest active streak to Buffalo’s 14-game losing streak to New England.
With the Chargers driving for the potential go-ahead score, a blitzing Huff hit Rivers just before his arm went forward, knocking the ball loose. Branch picked up the ball and raced 64 yards for the score to make 35-27 with 58 seconds left.
Because of the playoff structure, a wild-card team would have a treacherous road to reach the Super Bowl. There is no dominant team in the A.F.C., but there are five or six very good ones. If we assume a 40 percent chance of winning any road playoff game, the loser of Monday night’s battle may have to win three straight road games to earn a trip to Cowboys Stadium for the Super Bowl; the odds of winning three such games would fall below 7 percent.