OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Jason Campbell looked left, then right, stepped up, pulled back and finally chose to loft a perfect strike to a wide-open Patrick Chung waiting in the back of the end zone.
The only problem is Chung plays for the Patriots.
Campbell's perplexing pass for one of his two interceptions shifted the momentum at a critical point, and the Oakland Raiders went on to lose 31-19 to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots on Sunday.
"One mistake like that kind of throws you out of it," Campbell said.
Campbell threw another interception early in the fourth quarter to 325-pound defensive lineman Vince Wilfork, deflating a sellout crowd at the Coliseum that came to cheer from the opening kickoff. He finished 25 for 39 for 344 yards, but the penalty-riddled Raiders (2-2) made it into the end zone only once before Campbell's 6-yard TD pass to Denarius Moore with 28 seconds left.
"We have to play better on defense. We have to do better on offense. We have to play better on special teams, and I got to get this penalty thing solved," Raiders coach Hue Jackson said. "There ain't no magic to it or anything. It's just called work. We're going to go back to work. We got beat by a team and an organization that's a little bit better than us at this point."
Clearly.
Oakland committed nine penalties for 85 yards, including a pair of personal fouls on New England's opening drive by former Patriots star Richard Seymour.
But the biggest mistake was the one made by Campbell at the end of the first half.
The Raiders were at the New England 6 and in position to take a 17-14 lead when Campbell stepped up in the pocket and threw the ball directly to Chung.
The Patriots drove for a 44-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski in the closing seconds of the half.
"I'm not happy it happened at all," Campbell said. "I'll probably beat myself up more than anybody would."
