The Oakland Raiders got the ball to start the game and on a passing play that netted them a 1st down, Denzel Perryman suffered a leg injury that appeared quite bad. The defense then stiffened and forced a 4th & 4. Unfortunately, a fake punt went for 42 yards and kept the drive going. Finally, though, the defense held strong and made a stop on 4th & goal from the 1-yard line.
The offense led by Philip Rivers took the field and quickly exited after a three-and-out. With that great field position, the Raiders managed to move into field goal range and Daniel Carlson converted the attempt from 43 yards out.
The offense again went three-and-out and punted the ball away. The Raiders offense looked good again with big runs by Doug Martin, but then Melvin Ingram made his presence felt. With a spin move back to the inside of Kelechi Osemele, Ingram blew up Derek Carr and forced a fumble that Corey Liuget recovered.
The Chargers took the field again and Tyrell Williams provided their first 1st down of the game. A few plays later, Michael Badgley came on to attempt his first field goal as the team’s full time kicker and was good from 27 yards.
The Raiders “responded” by going three-and-out and punted the ball away. An eight-play drive featuring a 31-yard reception by Tyrell Williams eventually ended in a gorgeous 11-yard touchdown reception by Keenan Allen in the front corner of the end zone.
After the half, the Chargers received as the kick off and wasted very little time before scoring. Melvin Gordon took a short swing pass to the left side of the field 66 yards for a touchdown. It was a flawless play by Gordon as he made two men miss in the open field as he raced for the end zone.
The Raiders’ next drive initially appeared to have some life, but big tackle for loss by Kyle Emmaneul and a sack by Isaac Rochelle put to rest that idea and the Raiders punting unit returned to the field.
A Melvin Gordon run and reception put the Chargers offense in 3rd & manageable at which point Rivers threw a logic-defying jump ball deep to Allen. The pass was not even a 50/50 ball as it was underthrown and Marcus Gilchrist of all people came down with the interception. The “arm punt” by Rivers at least netted 42 yards.
Martavis Bryant kicked off the next drive with an offensive pass interference penalty that put the Raiders well behind the sticks. Jalen Richard got 9 of it back on the next play, but ultimately the Chargers defense was able to hold and forced another three-and-out.
Virgil Green chipped in with a rare reception as he got open up the seam for a big gain. Green wasn’t done as he was the lead blocker on the subsequent run by Gordon that went for 6 yards. An absolutely brutal drop by Tyrell Williams on 3rd & 2 ended the drive and brought on the punting unit.
A 9-play, 69-yard drive by the Raiders 23 and 31-yard passes by Carr eventually ended in a Daniel Carlson field goal, but the drive should have ended a play earlier in a pick-six by Casey Hayward who dropped a gift interception.
The following drive finally got Austin Ekeler on the field and he responded. His first carry went for 9 yards. His second went 42 yards to the house but was brought back thanks to a hold away from the play by Russell Okung. Johnathan Hankins gave the Chargers a gift with a boneheaded roughing the passer penalty on a sack of Rivers. Keenan Allen kept the drive going with a nice 18-yard reception. Michael Badgley eventually capped off the drive with a 41-yard field goal.
With time winding down, the Chargers defense seemed content to let the Raiders complete passes underneath to run clock. As the Raiders got into the red zone, an Uchenna Nwosu sack put them in 3rd & 17. Richard managed to pick up a little over half the needed yards to set up a somewhat more manageable 4th down try. On 4th & 5 with 4:13 left in the game, quick pressure forced Carr to throw the ball into the ground and resulted in a turnover on downs.
Taking over needing to run just over 4 minutes off the clock to win, the Chargers nearly proved themselves up to the task as they were able to get it down to 74 seconds left before having to punt the ball away largely thanks to a penalty by Okung.
The Raiders offense got the ball back with 67 seconds left needing 14 points to tie. Unsurprisingly, they were unable to complete that comeback. Chargers move to 7-2.
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