Harper Picks Deny Raiders Chargers Beat Oakland 12-6 As Carney Kicks 4 Field Goals

For weeks, Dwayne Harper’s mates in the San Diego secondary have been pushing him for the Pro Bowl. Monday night, he did his own campaigning.

Harper outsmarted the old man, Vince Evans, for three interceptions - two on consecutive third-quarter passes - to help the defending AFC champion Chargers beat Oakland 12-6 and keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

“I think I’ve always been a consistent corner in this league,” said Harper, the former Seattle Seahawk, who also made a touchdown-saving tackle after Harvey Williams’ 60-yard run early in the fourth quarter. “I can play this game, and play with anyone and run with anyone.”

The cornerback ended the Raiders’ last chance when he intercepted a pass by the 40-year-old quarterback, stepping in front of Tim Brown at the Raiders’ 28-yard line with 56 seconds left.

“He was having a Pro Bowl year three weeks ago,” safety Shaun Gayle said of Harper, an eight-year pro in his second season with the Chargers. “But when you have the record that we had at the time, no one was listening.

“It was fitting,” Gayle said, “because he’s worked so hard all year long, and to have an outing like this on Monday night football is just proof that he’s a quality cornerback. I just hope all our peers were watching and they give him the credit he deserves.”

The Chargers are 5-7 with four games to play. San Diego had lost three straight and six of seven. Oakland fell to 8-4.

All the scoring came on field goals, four by John Carney and two by Jeff Jaeger. Carney had back spasms in the locker room before taking the field.

“Before the game, I had a hard time following through,” Carney said. “It was worse in the first quarter. Medication helped loosen it up, though.”

The last NFL game without a touchdown was Nov. 20, 1994. Arizona beat Philadelphia 12-6.

Although it may be too late, the Chargers are starting to correct errors that led to their downfall. In a season-opening 17-7 loss at Oakland, three Chargers turnovers set up all of Raiders’ points.

“The difference in the first game was they turned the ball over and we didn’t,” Brown said. “We turned the ball over four times (Monday) and they didn’t turn it over once.”

Chargers 12, Raiders 6

Oakland 3 0 0 3 - 6

San Diego 0 6 3 3 - 12

Oak-FG Jaeger 30

SD-FG Carney 39

SD-FG Carney 24

SD-FG Carney 28

Oak-FG Jaeger 26

SD-FG Carney 38

A-60,607

Oak SD First downs 16 17 Rushes-yards 26-120 31-78 Passing 165 204 Punt Returns 3-29 2-12 Kickoff Returns 2-47 3-57 Interceptions Ret. 0-0 3-13 Comp-Att-Int 17-32-3 24-34-0 Sacked-Yards Lost 3-27 3-32 Punts 3-37 5-40 Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0 Penalties-Yards 7-60 6-47 Time of Possession 28:04 31:56

Individual statistics RUSHINGOakland, Williams 20-101, Kaufman 5-19, Ismail 1-0. San Diego, Hayden 16-59, Culver 9-22, Humphries 4-0, Harmon 2-(minus 3).

PASSINGOakland, Evans 17-32-3-192. San Diego, Humphries 24-34-0-236.

RECEIVINGOakland, Williams 6-47, Hobbs 3-52, Brown 3-27, Kaufman 2-21, Ismail 1-20, Fenner 1-15, Glover 1-10. San Diego, Harmon 7-76, Seay 6-70, Jefferson 4-55, Culver 2-9, D.Young 2-2, Martin 1-14, Ellison 1-6, Hayden 1-4.

MISSED FIELD GOALSan Diego, Carney 51.