Putting a stop to more than six years of negative momentum is hard work.



It took the following for the Raiders to put a 13-game losing streak to the San Diego Chargers to rest Sunday at the Coliseum:

— Two blocked punts of San Diego’s Mike Scifres, one of the best in the business. The first, by Rock Cartwright, resulted in a safety went it went out of the back of the end zone.

“We saw they were questionable at some spots and Bones (special teams coordinator John Fassel) did a great job drawing it up,’’ Cartwright said. “We needed a lift after what happened last week.’’

The second, by tight end Brandon Myers, turned into a touchdown and a 12-0 lead when it bounced into the hands of Hiram Eugene, who took it across the goal line.

“You’re always surprised when you come free like that,’’ Myers said. “You see things like that on film all the time but to actually draw it up and execute it in the game, it was nice. Give credit to all our special teams. It’s not like just I did something. Everyone played a role in it.’’

— A thoroughly measured, professional performance off the bench by the quarterback left for dead, Jason Campbell.

He completed 13 of 18 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown, actually posting a better quarterback rating than Philip Rivers, who torched the Oakland secondary for 431 yards and seemed headed for 500-plus.

Bruce Gradkowski left the game after re-injuring his right shoulder, tried to come back to start the second half, but was clearly not healthy.

Campbell directed scoring drives of 97 and 73 yards in the second half, taking up 26 plays and controlling the clock for 14:37 to help freshen up a defense that needed a breather.

“The main thing is to try and take what the defense gives you. Earlier in the season, I felt a little rush, a little pressure,’’ Campbell said.

“As I sat back and watched things the last two weeks, I just kept saying you have to take what the defense gives you and and you’ve got to play your game. Don’t let people change you or try or make you into someone different.

“The main thing is just getting into a rhythm and getting comfortable, getting a feel for the game.’’

Campbell got some immediate boos after his first incomplete pass, and after one of his bad-look incompletions when he threw the ball away to avoid a loss.

But he took it in good humor.

“I was joking with (Bruce) after the game, `What, people don’t like me here or something?, ‘’ Campbell said. “I know he’s been a fan favorite and I was like, `Why would they not like me?’ I’ve only been here for a quarter and a half.’’

— A finishing play, and not just any finishing play, but a 64-yard return of a fumble by Tyvon Branch off a sack fumble by Michael Huff against Rivers. It closed out the scoring, and started the celebration.

“We blitzed like five times in a row,’’ Huff said. “They got the first couple of plays against a zone. After that we knew all they needed was a field goal so we just dialed up the pressure four or five times in a row and made the play.’’

Said Branch: “It’s crazy that I’m getting glory for the play. I had nothing to do with it. I just ran to the ball. Huff made a nice play, I just picked it up and scored.’’

Lack of playmaking on the back end had been one of the biggest issues with the Raiders defense going into the game.

— Holding the Chargers to 2-for-6 on red zone opportunities while going 2-for-3 themselves.

The biggest play came on a third-and-goal from the 1, 79 yards into what looked to be an 80-yard touchdown drive. Linebacker Ricky Brown punched the ball loose, Mike Mitchell recovered it and ran it back out to the 20-yard line.

Instead of being within 12-7, San Diego stayed behind 12-0.

It was what coach Tom Cable considered a coming-of-age game for Mitchell, had had partial responsibility for tight end Antonio Gates and held his own. He in fact broke up a pass intended for Gates with a nice play in coverage moments before the Huff-Branch touchdown.

“I really want to prove myself to people. I really want to prove myself to my teammates,’’ Mitchell said. “This was an opportunity to go against one of the best tight ends and football and shut him down. I thought I did a great job _ he only got one catch off me.’’

— A three-yard gain by guard Daniel Loper on alert fumble recovery of a Campbell fumble in which rolled forward until touched by a Chargers defender.

It turned a fourth-and-4 into a fourth-and-1, which Michael Bush converted with a 9-yad run, and the Raiders eventually got a 30-yard field goal from Sebastian Janikowski.

“Right before the play, and a lot of third downs we communicate in the huddle, that’s third-and-4, third-and-5,’’ Loper said. “I saw he got hit and the ball got stripped out, we only needed a couple of yards, and no one was around, so just get as many as you can.’’

Loper wondered if he got rushing yards (he didn’t).

— A 26-carry, 104-yard performance by Michael Bush, pushed into fulltime duty while Darren McFadden rested a hamstring injury. Bush knew he’d wind up being tired _ Hue Jackson told him he’d get the ball 35 times.

“I was looking for 35 but ended up with 26, that’s a good day’s work,’’ Bush said.

—A big assist from former coach Norv Turner, who decided he wanted to use some clock rather than let Rivers keep attacking the Raiders porous pass defense and wound up paying for it.

Rivers had been cutting through the Raiders with relative ease, with the Raiders gamely hanging on. His last touchdown pass, a 41-yard strike to Malcom Floyd (eight catches, 213 yards), came with ridiculous ease.

After the Raiders closed within 24-22 on Campbell’s 1-yard third-and-1 flip to a leaping Miller, Rivers immediately struck for a 28-yard pass to Gates.

Consecutive penalties on Nnamdi Asomugha (illegal contact) and Richard Seymour (encroachment) gave San Diego a first-and-5 on the Oakland 42.

The Chargers then ran on six of the next eight plays, including a 1-yard loss by Darren Sproles to bring up third-and-9. Rivers, his rhythm altered, fired incomplete and Nate Kaeding settled for a 34-yard field goal.

San Diego wouldn’t score again.

Rivers chose to give the Raiders credit, specifically for sending the house on the last handful of plays leading up to Branch’s touchdown.

“The Raiders did a good job bringing some pressure, and we tried to do some stuff to handle it, to get another completion or two to put us in position to kick the (go-ahead field goal),’’ Rivers said. “They were able to make some plays.’’

— Don’t look, but the Raiders are in the thick of the AFC West race. They’re tied with San Diego and Denver at 2-3, behind Kansas City at 3-1. They picked up ground all three teams in a single day.

— Attendance was 48,279, far short of a sellout but considerably above the 32,218 of last week’s loss against Houston.

It sounded like a lot more than that, given all they had to cheer about.