Oakland Raiders desperately want to end their 13-game losing streak to San Diego Chargers
Four games into their NFL careers, cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and linebacker Sam Williams discovered the joy of a Raiders victory over the San Diego Chargers, an AFC West rival.
More than seven years and 13 losses later, Asomugha and Williams still are waiting victory No. 2.
"I'm well aware of it," Williams said. "A lot of guys here are well aware of it. We don't like it. We don't like the Chargers at all. We don't like anything about them. We don't like them, so we're going to end this streak."
The Raiders get another chance to end the losing streak on Sunday at the Coliseum. Another Raiders loss would put them back into a tie for the longest current losing streak against one opponent -- the New England Patriots have beaten the Buffalo Bills 14 consecutive times.
Kicker Sebastian Janikowski, punter Shane Lechler and offensive tackle Langston Walker are the only other players on the Raiders' 53-man roster who have experienced a Raiders victory over San Diego. Walker left for the Buffalo Bills via free agency after the 2006 season, when the Chargers' streak stood at seven. By the time he returned last season, it had reached 12, and less than three weeks after Walker re-signed with Oakland on Oct. 14, 2009, the skid reached 13.
Walker said too much is made of the Chargers' sustained dominance.
"There's no reason to look back in the past and worry about things like that, because every game is a new game," Walker said. "Whatever the streak is, whenever the last time we beat them, it doesn't matter. This is the Chargers and Raiders, first meeting in the 2010 season."
The Chargers have scored at least 21 points in every one of their 13 straight victories, never allowing more than 20. They've won by an average of 14.5 points and by more than seven points nine times. They also have outscored the Raiders by 188 points.
Lechler was part of Raiders teams that beat the Chargers five of six times from 2000-02. He said the streak is, indeed, a big deal. So much so that it was broached in the team meeting Monday morning.
"I know all those guys, and it means a lot and it hurts," Lechler said of losing to the Chargers. "A loss is a loss, but when you lose a game to San Diego it hurts a little bit more to me because the rivalry has been going for so long."
Raiders coach Tom Cable arrived here in 2007 and said the meaning of his team's inability to beat the Chargers didn't take him long to grasp.
"I've been around long enough to say I'm sick of it," Cable said. "I'm one of those that knows the importance of the game, knows the importance of the divisional game."
The Raiders lost two tight games last year to the four-time AFC West-defending champions, which gives Cable and others cause for optimism.
"Close doesn't work," Cable said, "but, at some point, if you're going to knock off the champ, and they're the champ, and have been for a while, then you've got to beat them."
Chargers coach Norv Turner has a unique perspective on the streak. He coached the Raiders in 2004 and '05 and endured four of the losses. He has coached six victories over the Raiders since joining the Chargers in 2007.
He said he doesn't get too caught up in the streak, though he is aware of its existence.
"When you get into game week, I don't think there is much that matters other than looking at the people you're getting ready to play against and what they have been doing over the last two or three weeks," Turner said.
Chargers linebacker Kevin Burnett said he isn't taking anything for granted against the Raiders.
"That streak means absolutely nothing to me,'' Burnett said. "I played in Dallas where we won 13 games against the Redskins and in the 14th game I looked up at the scoreboard and it was 35-0 in favor of the Redskins and there was still a quarter to play."