Chargers Take Down Raiders, 28-14
The Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers had their Monday Night Football Game delayed for 35 minutes because of lightning in the area, even though 70,000-seat Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., is domed.
There are open areas high in the stadium and officials were concerned about the fans sitting there, so the teams went back to their locker rooms.
The Raiders didn’t show up again until the third quarter.
Second-year quarterback Justin Herbert threw three touchdown passes in the first half as the Chargers rolled to a 21-0 lead and held off something of a Raiders rally led by Derek Carr in the second half to record a 28-14 victory.
“We didn’t do anything very well in the first half, offensively or defensively,” Raiders Coach Jon Gruden said. “The Chargers came out and took it to us from the start; they made a lot of plays and shut us down. And they made big plays in the passing game.
“The Chargers are a very good team which will have to be reckoned this season. They are going places. … Sometimes you get you feelings hurt in this league and ours are hurt right now.”
Herbert, the 2020 AFC Offensive Rookie of the Year, passed for four touchdowns last week and outplayed Patrick Mahomes as the Chargers beat 30-24 the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
This time, the Chargers (3-1) climbed into a first-place tie with the Raiders (3-1) and the Denver Broncos (3-1), who lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 23-7, on Sunday, while the Chiefs (2-2) surprisingly are last in the AFC West.
“Our defensive did a great job of stepping up and shutting down the Raiders in the first half,” said Herbert, who completed 25-of-38 passes for 222 yards and the three touchdowns without an interception. “They did a great job.
“We worked had all week on offense, too, had a great game plan and all of my guys had huge games. Once the Raiders came back in the second half, I got into the huddle and said we have to go down and put this game away, and we did.”
That came after the Raiders had scored on their first two drives of the second half, but another drive stalled, and Daniel Carlson missed a 52-yard field goal attempt wide to the left, ending his streak of 29 consecutive successful field goal tries.
Herbert drove the Chargers 58 yards in 10 plays, with Austin Ekeler running 11 yards for the final touchdown with 5:20 left in the game. Ekeler was a thorn in the Raiders’ side all night, rushing for 117 yards on 15 carries and catching three passes for 28 yards, including a 14-yard score.
Carr tried to rally the Raiders again, but his pass intended for Darren Waller got intercepted by safety Derwin James with 3:14 left in the game, and it was over. It was only Carr’s third pick of the season.
The Raiders, who led the NFL in total offense entering week four, were limited to 51 total yards in the first half—30, passing 21 rushing while picking up only two first downs.
In the meantime, Herbert completed 20-of-25 passes for 175 yards and the three touchdowns, a four-yarder to tight end Donald Parham in the first quarter, a 10-yarder to former Raiders tight end Jared Cook with 4:16 left in the second, and the 14-yarder to Ekeler with 29 seconds left in the first half.
Cook wound up with six catches for 70 yards, while wide receiver Keenan Allen had seven receptions for 36 yards as Herbert completed passes to eight different receivers.
Carr, who was sacked four times, came alive in the second half and finished by completing 21-of-34 passes but for only 196 yards after he led the NFL with 1,203 yards in the first three games.
“This is a very disappointing loss, tough to take, it hurts,” Carr said. “We just didn’t play well and didn’t get it done. They can blame me, I don’t care. It’s hard to win in this league, but we’ll see the Chargers again.”
The Raiders finally got on the scoreboard when they took the second-half kickoff 78 yards in 11 plays, with Carr hitting wide receiver Hunter Renfrow with a 10-yard touchdown pass, and it was 21-7 with 9:01 left in the third quarter.
The defense stiffened and got Carr the ball back to drive the Raiders 81 yards in six plays, thanks in part to a 45-yard pass interference penalty on Asante Samuel trying to cover speedy wide receiver Henry Ruggs III. Then Carr hit the tight end, Darren Waller, with a three-yard scoring pass with 1:44 left in the third quarter.
However, the Raiders couldn’t score again.
Renfrow caught six passes for 45 yards and the touchdown, Waller had four receptions for 50 yards, and Ruggs made three grabs for 60 yards.
Running back Josh Jacobs, who missed the last two games because of an ankle injury, rushed 13 times for 40 yards and caught five passes for 17 yards.
Linebackers Denzel Perryman and Cory Littleton both had 12 tackles to lead the Raiders. At the same time, safety Johnathan Abram made seven, and cornerback Amik Robertson had six after Damon Arnette and Trayvon Mullen went out with injuries.
Defensive tackle Darius Philon had three total tackles, and the Raiders only two sacks of Herbert.
The Raiders will try to get back on track next Sunday when they host the Chicago Bears (2-2) at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
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