"On the bright side, Jason Campbell's first home game as an Oakland Raider was a real crowd-pleaser.

Before the first half of Sunday's game against the St. Louis Rams was over, Campbell's new fans were not-so-kindly requesting the presence of his backup. Before the second half was over, they were hailing that backup, Bruce Gradkowski, as a folk hero.

"Of course it's disappointing," said Campbell, who was acquired from the Washington Redskins during the offseason for a 2012 fourth-round draft pick. "But at the same time, I didn't want to be a distraction to the team. It's bigger than me. It's not about me, it's about the team."

That team looked sluggish in the first half, lugging a 7-3 deficit into the intermission. That team looked reborn in the second half, outscoring, outgaining, outplaying and outhitting the woebegone Rams en route to a 16-14 victory.

It would be simplistic to pin the turnaround solely on coach Tom Cable's decision to replace Campbell with Gradkowski. But you couldn't deny the difference in the bottom line.

Under Campbell, the Raiders gained 130 yards on five first-half possessions. Their first drive died on downs at the St. Louis 6-yard line. The second ended on a missed field goal attempt. The next ended with a punt. The fourth netted a field goal and the fifth ended when Campbell's overthrow of Louis Murphy was intercepted.

Campbell's afternoon ended as well.

"Yeah, I was surprised," he said after completing 8 of 15 passes for 87 yards and fumbling twice. "We were down 7-3. We had been moving the ball. We just stalled when we got to the red zone."

Gradkowski led the Raiders to a field goal on their first drive of the second half, and a touchdown on their second. He finished 11 of 22 for 162 yards, one touchdown and one interception (on a pass tipped at the line of scrimmage). He was more mobile, more fluid and seemed to have a better feel for when the pass rush was closing in."