Beating the Raiders isn’t as fun as it used to be

The San Diego Chargers made it Lucky No. 13 against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday in the one-time rivalry that no longer simmers at high intensity.

Sure, some loyal Black Hole lunatics show up to Qualcomm Stadium and the atmosphere is a lot more charged-up than your typical event at the Q. But when one team sweeps the other for the sixth straight season, it becomes as predictable as Lucy holding the ball for Charlie Brown.

Just as you always knew Lucy would pull the ball away as Charlie Brown approached to kick it, there’s not much reason to think anything other than a Chargers’ victory will occur when Oakland shows up to play tackle football.

Now that I think of it, Oakland fans probably didn’t consider the Chargers as quality rivals for most of the 1970s when San Diego on the schedule meant easy day on the gridiron for Ken Stabler, Cliff Branch, Fred Biletnikoff and company. Oakland still holds a 54-44-2 lead in the series despite the 13 straight losses to San Diego.

So the Chargers cruised to a 24-16 victory despite never putting the sad-sack Raiders (2-6) away. JaMarcus Russell looked incapable of leading a high school team to victory as the Raiders mustered just 180 yards of total offense, the fewest yards allowed by the Chargers this season.

Defensive coordinator Ron Rivera’s unit actually put pressure on the Raiders and linebackers Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips each recorded two sacks. For Merriman, he performed his first two “Lights Out” dances since the 2007 campaign, ending a 22-month drought without a sack (Note: he played in just one game in 2008).

I would say the Raiders showed no punch but nobody dares utter such a phrase with Raiders coach Tom Cable around. Remember those summer reports where assistant coach Randy Hanson alleged that Cable broke his jaw? Well, now two women (Cable’s ex-wife and an ex-girlfriend) are claiming that Cable service doesn’t come without a price – as in some hard knocks to the face.

However, Oakland did push the Chargers around pretty good in the third quarter, similar to the way the Raiders dominated the first half in the season-opening game between the two teams. But when push really came to shove — the final minutes of the fourth quarter — the Raiders’ offense folded like styrofoam in a tornado.

The Chargers did enough good things to win and even scored a touchdown on their first offensive possession of a regular-season game for the first time since the 2007 campaign. Philip Rivers hit Malcom Floyd for 53 yards and then coach Norv Turner actually called for something creative — a direct snap to LaDainian Tomlinson, who rushed 6 yards for the first of his two touchdowns.

And I hope you’re sitting down for this one but Antonio Cromartie actually intercepted a pass for the first time in 13-plus months. Yeah, the tight end fell down in front of him to make it an easy play but we can worry about him making a quality pick another time.

The Chargers are 4-3 but it is a very soft 4-3. They beat the Raiders twice and annihilated the Kansas City Chiefs and benefitted from Chad Pennington’s shoulder injury to defeat the Miami Dolphins. And they lost to each of the three teams (Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos) that are arguably better than them.

So the real test arrives now with a trio of tough games: At New York Giants; home against the Philadelphia Eagles and a visit to Denver. Winnning two of the three would equate as a success. Go 1-2 or lose all three and making the playoffs becomes a monumental task.

But what never rates as monumental anymore is the Chargers beating the Oakland Raiders. It just happens too often for it to remain fun.

Perhaps the Cable Guy could deliver one of his patented punches to Turner’s face just to liven things up. Then again, he probably won’t be the Raiders coach when these two teams play again next season.

But it would sure make the Chargers’ next win over the Raiders a bit more memorable and a lot more fun.