Philip Rivers was unfazed by yet another deficit in the fourth quarter as he entered the huddle. Instead he was poised and ready to prove why San Diego chose him as the team’s $93 million man.

On Monday night, Rivers was able to answer Oakland’s two go-ahead scores with two touchdown drives. With 18 seconds remaining, Darren Sproles ran the ball in from 5 yards out to score the game winning touchdown to give San Diego a 24-20 victory and their 12 consecutive win in a row over Oakland.

This win might have been the hardest one of all. With 2:34 remaining JaMarcus Russel had put the Raiders ahead 20-17 with his touchdown pass of 57 yards to Louis Murphy, rookie wide receiver. However despite the fact that the Chargers were playing with two backup linemen, Rivers was able to lead the Chargers calmly down the field to get the winning score.

Rivers said, one thing I do know for sure is no other team in this league practices two minute drills as much as our team does. It is different executing them at Murphy Canyon Road than in Oakland. When we were in the huddle I just said we have done this millions of times before. Let’s go get a score. We just need three points.

On the Chargers winning drive, Rivers went 6 out of 7 for a total of 79 yards passing before the crowd was silenced by Sproles when he ran up the middle to score. It marked the 11th loss in a row for the Raiders in prime time. It may have been their most painful loss, considering how close to winning they came in this game.

As he was leaving the field Cornell Green, Raiders offensive lineman, let the frustration of Oakland’s out with an outburst full of expletives, screaming how lucky the Chargers were to get the victory.

Tom Cable, Raiders coach said, our team played their guts out, but we didn’t finish this game. That is the bottom line.

Early fourth quarter the Raiders took the lead at 13-10 on field goal of 35 yards from Sebastian Janikowski. Rivers answered with a touchdown pass of 15 yards to Vincent Jackson. After that the fourth down pass from Russell to Murphy appeared it would end their losing streaks in emphatic fashion. Instead it became a mere footnote to the Raiders 73rd league worst loss since the 2003 season.

For most of the game San Diego’s offense appeared to be over matched against the Raiders defense and recently acquired defensive end Richard Seymour. Third quarter injuries to Nick Hardwick, center, and Louis Vasquez, guard, made it even tougher for San Diego to move the ball. One drive was thwarted when the Chargers frustration led to Rivers committing a personal foul.

However, the last two Chargers drives showed why San Diego gave Rivers that big contract extension last month of six years and $38 million guaranteed. Rivers went 24 out of 36 for a total of 252 yards passing. He played his best at the time that it counted the most.

Norv Turner, Chargers coach said, people like to talk about quarterbacks who can handle pressure, who can respond and lead when their team is behind. He had done that over and over again. He’s done that in some very tough situations like tonight. Getting the win here is great.

With one pass over to Murphy Russell was almost able to overcome his rough night. Russell went 12 out of 30 for a total of 208 yards passing and threw two interceptions, including a desperation throw after the touchdown by Sproles.

Seymour gave the Raiders a big boost. He arrived two days ago from New England. He didn’t have time to even go through one full practice with the Raiders. During the first half Seymour sacked Rivers twice, helping to keep LaDainian Tomlinson, a longtime nemesis of Oakland’s, under control.

Tomlinson coming into this game had averaged 119 rushing yards a game versus the Raiders. He only managed to get 55 yards in 13 carries and ended up rolling his ankles. However Sproles had two long returns on kickoffs to help out, along with five receptions for 43 yards as well as scoring the winning touchdown.

Nnamdi Asomugha, Raiders cornerback and Pro Bowler said, it was like there were two different games. There was what we did to start the game and then there were the last two drives. We were good on the run and pass. During the fourth quarter though we had a few breakdowns. That hurt us.

During the first half play was dominated by the Raiders. Oakland out gained San Diego 217 yards to 74 yards. However due to two turnovers along with a replay review unfavorable to the Raiders, the score was still tied 10-10.

With Oakland’s offensive line being able to create big holes, Michael Bush and Darren McFadden ran the football down field during the Raiders opening drive until Russell was intercepted by Quentin Jammer on San Diego’s 25 yard line.

On Oakland’s second drive they were able to finish the job. Russell threw a pass of 30 yards to Zach Miller, setting up a 4 yard run by Bush. During the next drive McFadden fumbled, setting up a one yard run by Tomlinson to tie the score. It was Tomlinson’s 20th rushing touchdown of his career versus the Raiders.

Late first half, Oakland lost a replay review. An apparent touchdown pass of19 yards to Murphy got overturned. It was ruled that ball had come loose as Murphy hit the ground. With 40 seconds remaining first half the Raiders had to settle for a field goal of 37 yards by Janikowski.

Carl Cheffers, referee told reporters, in the rule book by definition when he is going down to the ground, he must maintain possession throughout the full act of catching the ball. In this particular case, the player lost possession of the ball and it hit the ground. So it was an incomplete pass.

The ensuing kickoff was returned 59 yards by Sproles, setting up a field goal of 47 yards by Nate Kaeding on the last play in the half.