NFL Recap: Los Angeles Chargers vs. Las Vegas Raiders 28:14

The Los Angeles Chargers inflicted their first defeat of the season on the Las Vegas Raiders after a late start due to the weather with a 28:14 home win (click here for the highlights in the video). Justin Herbert towered despite heavy pressure and Austin Ekeler also knew how to convince.

The evening at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood / California began curiously: the kick-off of the game was postponed by almost exactly 35 minutes. The reason: a thunderstorm over the Los Angeles area – despite the roofing, the NFL decided to postpone the start of the game.

While the Chargers were initially unimpressed by this delay and completed their first drive after twelve plays with a touchdown – Justin Herbert found Donald Parham from 4 yards – the Raiders had a less confident start.

In general, the defenses then took over, which did not allow anything until the end of the second quarter thanks to heavy pressure on the QBs. But then the Chargers offense started again and added two touchdowns until the break. First, Herbert found Jared Cook on a seam route for a 10-yard touchdown pass, a little later running back Austin Ekeler was allowed to cheer over a 14-yard touchdown catch on a wheel route. 21: 0 Chargers at break.

The Raiders, on the other hand, only woke up after the break. After eleven plays, Derek Carr completed his team’s first usable drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow. That also seemed to breathe new life into the defense, because afterwards the Raiders managed to stop with a deflected pass from Maxx Crosby in the backfield and a sack through the middle from Darius Philon.

Raiders come out of the break with verve

The Raiders then kept their foot on the gas and needed less than three minutes for the next touchdown – favored by a pass interference from cornerback Asante Samuel against Henry Ruggs, which brought the Raiders a space gain of 45 yards. The play also underlined that the Raiders were now more stable at the front and Carr could try deep shots. The final touchdown was then essentially a jump ball for tight end Darren Waller over the defensive back into the corner of the end zone. Suddenly the guests were back in the middle of the game before the end of the third quarter.

Then the same picture: The pass rush of the Raiders came relentlessly and hardly left Herbert time for precise passes, which led to the next stop. Another deep shot of Ruggs followed, this time making the 51-yard catch. Subsequently, the Raiders contented themselves with a 52-yard field goal attempt, but Daniel Carlson forgave, so that the seven-point lead of the home side was ten minutes before the end. And the home side did not miss this template. After a few critical 3rd down conversions from Herbert, it was finally Ekeler who extended the lead with an 11-yard touchdown run and made the preliminary decision.

The lid on it ultimately made an interception between Derwin James and Carr. As a result, the Chargers played down the final minutes.

Los Angeles Chargers (3-1) – Las Vegas Raiders (3-1)

Result: 28:14 (7: 0, 14: 0, 0:14, 7: 0) BOXSCORE

Chargers vs. Raiders – the most important statistics

• The Raiders didn’t have a particularly good first half. In numbers, you had 51 total yards on the offense. On the other hand, however, there were 53 yards due to various penalties.
• Herbert get 3 touchdown passes before the break. Nobody has succeeded in doing this in a Monday Night Game since week 5 2020. The last QB before Herbert with this output? Justin Herbert!

The star of the game: Justin Herbert (Quarterback, Chargers)

Under constant fire (13 pressures, 2 sacks) Herbert (25/38, 222 YDS, 3 TD) always stayed cool, made the right decisions and made the plays that were necessary. Before the break, the main thing was to survive the initial pressure, then to keep the Raiders at a distance, which ultimately succeeded in a sovereign manner. Also strong: Austin Ekeler (145 scrimmage yards, 2 TD), who not only scored two touchdowns, but was also always good for a first down and in the end helped to downplay the clock.

The flop of the game: Linebacker of the Raiders

The Chargers ran for 168 yards (4.9 YDS / CAR) and just disgust was unstoppable. Especially Denzel Perryman and KJ Wright were completely overwhelmed with his cover, but also the tight ends and each gave a touchdown as the next defender. Linebacker has been a problem for the Raiders for a long time and that came to the fore again in this game.

Analyse: Chargers vs. Raiders – die Taktiktafel

• Especially at the beginning of the game, both defensive fronts had great success in putting pressure on the quarterback. While the Raiders did it mainly through their defensive line, the Chargers targeted Blitzes and mostly sent them over the side of Edge Rusher Joey Bosa to prevent him from being blocked by double teams.

• The heavy pressure on the quarterbacks meant that both Herbert and Carr threw many short passes. But while the Chargers were successful in Space by yards after the catch, the Raiders were undoed that their offense was actually not designed for this type of game.

• Rather, they played the Chargers, who almost always played in the nickel package, into the cards. The fast and active defensive backs like Derwin James or Nasir Adderley were actually always there early and proved to be safe tacklers.

• The Chargers were also offensively characterized by their creativity. In the first quarter, for example, they tried a fake punt pass from punter Ty Long to Tevaughn Campbell. Only the great attention of returner (!) Hunter Renfrow prevented the completion and a new first down. In the second quarter they “hid” Tight End Stephen Anderson as fullback in the backfield, played play action and Herbert found Anderson then on a simple seam route completely open to a 34-yard pass play.

• The most creative thing the Raiders could think of in the first half, however, was to run temporarily with 22 people against the Nickel Defense. But it was not crowned with great success either.

• After the break, that changed. Pre-snap motion was more present, play fakes were incorporated and with better protection, the guests also unpacked deep shots on ruggs. The Chargers, for some reason, flashed less and then barely had access to Carr.
• The Raiders also got better and better defensively, which also had something to do with unbalanced fronts. As the season progressed, they increasingly overloaded the right side of the offensive line, where Tackle Storm Norton seemed increasingly overwhelmed and was constantly beaten by the guests’ edge rushers. After the break, the guests also increased the number of strokes when it came to lightning. If there were only two before the break, afterwards it became lightning in almost 70 percent of Herbert’s dropbacks.

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