SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- This was why the Oakland Raiders used a first-round pick on kicker Sebastian Janikowski.
In a game where the offense sputtered and the Raiders were in danger of losing to the winless San Diego Chargers, Janikowski kicked five field goals, including a 24-yarder with 13 seconds left that gave Oakland a 15-13 victory.
In April, the Raiders selected Janikowski 17th overall, making him the first kicker taken in the opening round in 21 years. He got off to a shaky start and came in with nine field goals in 16 attempts -- the most misses of any kicker in the NFL.
He had a 42-yard miss in the third quarter but came through when it counted, drilling the winning kick through the middle of the uprights after Rich Gannon directed a 58-yard drive that killed most of the clock.
It was the second game-winning field goal of the season for Janikowski, a native of Poland who attended Florida State. He also beat Kansas City on October 15.
"He is good at what he does and he's exciting," Oakland coach Jon Gruden said. "He's helped us a lot. He's been a great draft pick for us and he's going to be a real asset to us over the rest of the season."
After going 8-8 last year with three losses by three points or less, the Raiders lead the AFC West with a 7-1 mark.
"It's hard to beat a division opponent twice in the season," Gruden said. "To beat San Diego twice has made us feel very proud. It was a great win for our team tonight. We hung in there real well in the fourth quarter. It was a very physical football game."
In the first quarter, Janikowski connected twice from 40 yards before booming a 54-yarder that matched the second-longest in the league this season. He added a 29-yarder in the second period as the Raiders took a 12-0 lead into halftime.
It was a demoralizing loss for the Chargers (0-8), the NFL's only winless team. In honor of the 40th anniversary of the franchise, they wore the powder blue jerseys and white helmets from their days in the AFL.
"I think our team is playing hard and you'd like to see that rewarded," San Diego coach Mike Riley said. "I know it doesn't get rewarded just by playing hard, you've got to make the right plays. I think our team gave a tremendous effort tonight. I thought defensively we played a good football game. They kicked five field goals and we didn't do anything offensively in the first half."
San Diego rallied in the second half and took a 13-12 lead on a pair of touchdown passes from Jim Harbaugh to Freddie Jones. After Janikowski's fifth field goal, Harbaugh's "Hail Mary" pass was intercepted by Marquez Pope as time expired.
Gannon was 16-of-35 for 156 yards and an interception. He also had 27 yards on seven carries and came up big on the last drive, converting third downs with completions of 10 yards to David Dunn and 18 and nine yards to Andre Rison, who had five catches for 67 yards.
"We came in here tonight with a lot of confidence," Gannon said. "But I felt we struggled a little bit. They played very good defense, but I don't think we played as well as we should on offense. We felt like we took some good shots with our passing game. We moved the ball well, but we just didn't convert well."
The Chargers did an excellent job of shutting down Oakland's primary weapons. In addition to keeping Gannon out of the end zone, they limited running back Tyrone Wheatley to 21 yards on 12 carries and receiver Tim Brown to 29 yards on three catches.
However, San Diego had its own offensive problems. In the first half, it had as many rushing yards -- nine -- as penalties. The Chargers only stayed in the game because the Raiders repeatedly bogged down in the red zone.
Janikowski kicked field goals to complete Oakland's first three drives, all of which were helped by penalties on San Diego. His fourth kick came after the Chargers were offsides on 4th-and-1 and the Raiders set to punt.
Harbaugh and Jones rallied San Diego in the second half. On a 76-yard march, they connected for 10 and 11 yards before an eight-yarder for the score with 8:51 left in the third quarter.
A deflected interception by All-Pro linebacker Junior Seau gave San Diego possession at the Oakland 37. Six plays later, Jones took a screen and rumbled 21 yards up the middle to give the Chargers the lead with 5:58 to play.
"I read (the interception)," Seau said. "I read it, I was waiting on it and obviously (Gannon) muffed it and I was fortunate enough to grab it. On the last drive, we had it third and ten at one time. And when you have that kind of situation, you bank on it and we weren't able to do that. They ran a little dig route and Rison got it and we've just have to make plays on that situation. We had a blitz called and we screwed that up as well. Little details, things that can be fixed in crunch time you just can't leet those things happen."
However, the Chargers looked disorganized on the conversion and a pass by Harbaugh fell incomplete.
Harbaugh was 25-of-35 for 222 yards and Jones caught 10 passes for 111 yards. The tight end has three TDs this season, most on the team.
