Raiders Drop Season Finale 24-21 To Chargers

December 30, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor (6) under center during the fourth quarter against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. The Chargers won 24-21. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

The Oakland Raiders’ dreadful 2012 NFL season has finally come to an end.

With Terrelle Pryor making his first NFL start, the Raiders had something to look forward to seeing. Pryor threw for 150 yards and two touchdowns along with one interception. He even had a three-yard rushing touchdown. He played a great overall game and surely impressed the Raiders’ coaching staff.

The game didn’t start well at all for Oakland, as the Chargers returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, with Micheal Spurlock bolting past everyone wearing black and silver. Nick Novak also booted in a 30-yard field goal and after the first quarter, the Chargers were up 10-0.

Then, in the second quarter, things got chippy. A little fight broke out between Takeo Spikes and Mike Goodson, and they were were both ejected from the game after going at it for quite some time. But two plays later, Pryor rolled out of the pocket and hit Darrius Heyward-Bey for the beautiful nine-yard touchdown. The score brought the Raiders to within three points, but not for long. Philip Rivers was able to hit Antonio Gates for an 11-yard touchdown after a drive that lasted a bit over nine minutes.

Halftime came along and the Chargers led the game 17-7.

In the third quarter, the only score of the game came from the Chargers. Rivers threw to Danario Alexander who scored the 34-yard touchdown.

Then, in the final 15 minutes of the game, the Raiders started to turn up the intensity, but it was all a little too late. Pryor was able to score on a three-yard rushing touchdown and he also threw to Denarius Moore for the five-yard score, but the Raiders failed to recover the final onside kick.

And with all that, the Raiders dropped their final game of the season with a final score of 24-21 to their division rivals, the San Diego Chargers.

The Raiders finish their season with a horrible record of 4-12 and they will be counting down the days to the NFL Draft, where they will have the third overall pick.

It’s been a rough season for the Oakland Raiders, and they have a lot of work to do.

But now Pryor has the entire offseason to work on his craft and improve, and I expect him to start for the Raiders at the beginning of next season. He has a lot of potential and I believe that he truly proved himself today.

So with that said, the Raiders offseason officially starts, and it’ll be interesting to see what changes they make to prepare themselves for the ensuing NFL season.