In Week 3, the Los Angeles Chargers made a statement across the NFL when they took down the Kansas City Chiefs, who were coming off a loss, winning 30-24. This week, for many teams, would be a trap game, no matter who the opponent was. Instead, the Chargers won their second straight division game, beating the Las Vegas Raiders 28-14. The Chargers made another statement in this game, so let us dive into how they got it done.

Game Details

In a winning effort, QB Justin Herbert played clean football, going 25/38 with 222 yards and 3 touchdowns in the victory. Those three touchdowns went to TE Jared Cook, HB Austin Ekeler, and TE Donald Parham, showing the versatility and depth the Chargers have. Cook led the way with 70 yards as well, while WR Keenan Allen had a team-high seven catches, totaling 36 yards. For the first time this season, WR Mike Williams had an off day, catching one ball for 11 yards on four targets. Williams and Herbert missed a connection on what would have been a long touchdown, but the Chargers prevailed. HB Austin Ekeler also had himself his best game of the season, totaling 135 yards and two touchdowns, including 7.8 YPC. Defensively, the stars showed out for the Chargers, with DE Joey Bosa forcing a fumble and S Derwin James grabbing an interception in the victory. Bosa also had a sack on the day.

In their first loss of the season, the Raiders came back to earth a little in the loss. QB Derek Carr had his worst game of the season, going 21/34 with 196 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Despite this, Carr is still off to a really good start, leading the league in passing yards (1,399), while also throwing eight touchdowns to three interceptions. Henry Ruggs led the team in receiving yards with 60, including a 51-yard catch in the loss. TE Darren Waller and WR Hunter Renfrow scored one touchdown each as well. HB Josh Jacobs struggled in the loss as he continues to fight through injury. His final line was 13/40/0 but also had five catches. While it was a rough first half, the Raiders defense played well in the second half, giving up just seven points in the final two quarters, forcing three punts on four drives by the Chargers. DT Darius Philon had two sacks, while LB Denzel Perryman led the team in tackles with 12.

The Running Game

So far in 2021, the Chargers have been known as a pass-first team, and while it will probably stay that way, Los Angeles offered more of a balanced attack in Week 4 on Monday Night Football. HB Austin Ekeler carried the rock 15 times for 117 yards and a touchdown in the victory. Larry Rountree III also added 11 carries, giving Ekeler a breather when needed and giving the Chargers a change of pace for the offense. For Ekeler, it is his best performance of the season, after totaling 166 rushing yards through the first three games. On the season, he now has 424 total yards with four total touchdowns, showing his dual-threat ability that is so crucial for the Chargers.

Strong First Half for the Bolts

Any good team knows it is so important to play a complete game in the NFL and that includes getting off to a hot start. For the Chargers, they came out of the gates firing, and ultimately it made the difference in their win. In the first half, the Chargers possessed the ball for 19:11 game time, seven possessions, and three touchdowns. In that same half, the Chargers forced a punt or turnover on downs on all six possessions in the first half. Herbert threw all three of his touchdowns in the first half as well, as they managed the second half and made just enough plays to earn the victory. 

Defense Wins Championships 

Along with the run game in this affair, the Chargers are extremely strong on the defensive side of the ball and do not get enough credit. Led by Joey Bosa and Derwin James, as well as a defensive-minded head coach in Brandon Staley, the Chargers are among the top ten in Yards Per Game (332) and Points Per Game (18.5) on the season. In this game, they held the Raiders to a season-low in total yards (213) and total points (14). An impressive victory to say the least, and one to definitely build off of.

Looking Ahead

In Week 5, the Las Vegas Raiders will look to bounce back at home against the Chicago Bears (2-2), who are coming off a victory over the Detroit Lions. The victory was QB Justin Fields first career win as well. For the Chargers, they will look to continue their winning streak at home against the Cleveland Browns (3-1), who have won three straight games since losing Week 1 to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Stats from profootballreference.com

Schedule from nfl.com

-By: Richie Dordas

One of the more intriguing matchups for Week 2 of the National Football League season is the Raiders visiting Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers at 1 pm Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field.  Both teams are 1-0 after exciting and surprising week one wins.  The Steelers went into Buffalo and upset the favored Bills by dominating the second half in all facets of the game, while the Raiders overcame a bizarre series of events to win a thrilling game over the Baltimore Ravens in overtime on Monday night. 

The Raiders are trying to improve on last year’s 8-8 finish and put together their first winning season since 2016.  Jon Gruden’s second stint with the Raiders has seen some steady improvement, but there are still serious weaknesses in the team’s makeup.  They are still struggling to put together a consistent pass rush since trading away one of the best edge rushers in the league, Khalil Mack, before the start of the 2018 season.  Mack had 9 sacks last year for the Bears, while the Raiders as a team had only 21 total sacks and finished fourth from last in the NFL in that category.  The Steelers have a brand-new offensive line with two rookies in starting positions.  The Raiders will have to take advantage of this and consistently rush quarterback Ben Roethlisberger or it could be a long afternoon for the visitors.

On offense, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr has put up some impressive numbers recently.  He has thrown for over 4,000 yards each of the past three seasons.  During that span, he has thrown for 67 touchdowns and only 27 interceptions.  He will need to have a big day against the tough Steelers defense, as Las Vegas’ running game is almost an afterthought.  Carr threw 56 times on Monday night against the Ravens, and outstanding Tight End Darren Waller had 10 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown.  The Steelers have had difficulty over the last few years covering opposing tight ends, so Waller could have a big day catching the ball on Sunday.  Pittsburgh will need to rely on their ferocious pass rush to get to Carr before he can find Waller and his other receivers.

The Steelers are trying to re-establish a running game after becoming a more pass-first team in recent years.  Against the Bills, first-round draft choice Najee Harris rushed 16 times for 45 yards and showed flashes of the brilliance he displayed in college at Alabama.  It will be tempting for Pittsburgh to want to throw the ball against the Raiders due to the visitors’ lack of a pass rush, but if the Steelers are really committed to becoming a more balanced offense, then Harris will need to have at least 20 carries.

The Steelers defense will try to put pressure on Carr with their powerful pass rush, led by all-world outside rusher T.J. Watt.  The Raiders are missing guard Denzelle Good, out for the season after suffering an ACL injury against the Ravens.  He was replacing Richie Incognito, who did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday this week.  If Incognito can’t go on Sunday look for the Steelers to try to take advantage of his replacement.  The Steelers’ defense could make it tough for Carr all day long.  The Raiders will need to at least attempt to establish some sort of rushing attack to slow down the Steelers’ rushers.  

The Raiders/Steelers clash looks to be one of the better games this week.  It will be an early test to see which of these teams could be a serious playoff contender this season.  Both teams are playing in tough divisions, so even though it is only the second week of the season this game is important to both teams.  The Raiders’ AFC West division rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, have a tough game this week against the Steelers’ AFC North division foes, the Baltimore Ravens.   Whoever comes out on top in the Raiders/Steelers game will be in a much better position in their division than the losers will be in theirs.

Writer

-By: Damian Mastrangelo

What a way to finish off week 1 of the NFL season with a thrilling OT victory for the Raiders in their new hometown and brand new stadium of Las Vegas. The final score may have read 33-27, but it looked so much closer throughout the game and both teams had their flaws. Unfortunately for the Ravens, the two costly turnovers from Lamar Jackson sealed the victory for the Raiders. 

The game started off with the Ravens jumping out to an early 14-0 lead with Ty’Son Williams and Marquise Brown scoring on plays of 35 and 10 yards out. Williams looked good early on for the Ravens as he tries to help replace the trio of Dobbins, Edwards, and Hill who all are lost for the season with ACL tears. His 70 plus rushing yards and a touchdown were a great start for a guy who moved up the depth chart quickly. 

The Raiders stayed calm throughout and began their comeback run scoring 10 unanswered points before the half to narrow the window to 14-10. They started to get the connection between Pro Bowl TE Darren Waller and QB Derek Carr going and hitting on their last two completions to set up both a touchdown and field goal before the half. They even got Josh Jacobs, who was clearly still dealing with a turf toe injury, a few good runs including the first touchdown for the Raiders. 

After halftime, the ball game began to show the struggles of the Ravens offense. The main issue was the offensive line's inability to slow down the Raiders pass rush. Whether it was Yannick Ngakoue, Maxx Crosby, Darius Philon, or Carl Nassib the Ravens had no answer for them off the edge or up the middle. Crosby and Ngakoue had consistent pressure whether it was against All-Pro OT Ronnie Stanley or the newest Raven OT Alejandro Villaneuva.

Lamar did his best to avoid the rush all game and even had a few great escapes, but by the fourth quarter and overtime, the rush really started to get home. Crosby helped to cause the first of two fumbles by Lamar with his pressure off the edge allowing Quinton Jefferson to come and punch the ball out early on in the fourth quarter. This led to the second Jacobs touchdown on the day from 15 yards out. 

Even down the stretch the Ravens still seemed to be able to pull out the win getting a late field goal with under a minute left to make the score 27-24. Yet, the Raiders had no quit and went down the field in 35 seconds to set up a 55-yard field goal that K Daniel Carlson knocked down. Heading into overtime, the Ravens seemed primed to complete the victory with a great interception and good drive at first. Yet the protection woes reared their ugly head again and with the pressure off the edge from Carl Nassib, he hit Lamar in the back and caused the second fumble that proved to be the game sealer. 

Adding salt to the wound, the Ravens call a zero blitz and allow WR Zay Jones to get wide open for the 31-yard score to end the game. It was a good game for both teams, but the Raiders fought hard for the win and came out on top. 

Next week the Ravens play the Kansas City Chiefs in primetime on Sunday night football. While the Raiders go up against the Steelers on the road.

Writer

-By: Darren Braxton