Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Raiders kicked off to start the game and the Chargers offense took over just inside their own 30 after a decent return by Troymaine Pope. Melvin Gordon managed to get flagged for a false start before the Bolts could even snap the ball for the first time. Trey Pipkins chipped in with a penalty of his own after they got a snap off. An incomplete pass aimed for Hunter Henry set up 3rd & 21. Austin Ekeler managed to pick up 14 of that, but ultimately the Chargers called on Ty Long to punt the ball away.
Derek Carr faked to DeAndre Washington and hit Darren Waller for an easy 1st down to start their opening drive. Zay Jones saw the next target picking up 4 yards before being tackled immediately. Washington got his first carry on the next play, but Derwin James met him at the line of scrimmage for no gain. Hunter Renfrow then beat Desmond King for a 56 yard catch and run that put the Raiders on the board first.
On the next drive, Gordon got them started by getting tackled for a loss, but then he put them in position for a reasonable 3rd down with a 9-yard reception. Rivers overthrew Ekeler to bring up 4th down and the punting unit.
Derwin James made another great open field tackle on the first play of the Raiders’ next drive. However, Tyrell Williams badly beat Michael Davis on the next snap and he picked 43 yards to put the Raiders into Chargers territory. A holding penalty backed them before Washington rushed up the middle for 6 yards and back across the 50. Carr tried to pass to Washington, but the back was unable to hold onto it. On 3rd and 14, King managed to tackle Renfrow well short of the sticks and outside of field goal range.
The Chargers took over at their own 20 and Melvin Gordon rushed twice for no gain putting Rivers in an obvious throwing down on 3rd & 10. Rivers managed to get the ball to Henry, but again Henry was unable to make the catch. Ty Long came on to punt again after a third straight three-and-out.
A Melvin Ingram and Jerry Tillery split sack was enough to stall the Raiders’ next drive resulting in a three-and-out.
Two Ekeler runs and a Gordon reception moved the sticks to get the Chargers their first 1st down of the game. Another Ekeler run picked up 4 yards and ended the 1st quarter. Henry picked up his first reception of the game to start the 2nd quarter and brought up 3rd & 1. They elected to check to a pass and Allen clearly did not hear it as he was not looking when Rivers threw him the ball. They were lucky the pass fell harmlessly to the turf.
Williams stay involved to start the next drive picking up another 1st down. Ingram stepped up again, though, and brought Carr down for another sack. Washington got the carry on the next snap and got back 5 of the 8 yards lost on 1st down. On 3rd & 12, the Chargers only rushed 3, but Joey Bosa still got to Carr forcing him to throw the ball before he was ready and he was unable to complete the pass to Renfrow bringing up 4th down again.
King returned the punt from inside his own 10, and was only able to get back to about the 15. A Keenan Allen run was snuffed out for a 5-yard loss putting the offense behind the sticks yet again. A short pass to Ekeler only managed to get 2 of it back leaving Rivers once again in an obvious passing down in 3rd & long. Rivers again hit his man in the hands and this time it was Mike Williams who managed to hold on for the 1st down. A hand off to Ekeler went nowhere on 1st down. On 2nd, Rivers found Andre Patton crossign the field for a 9-yard gain. Tyrod Taylor lined up in the pistol and after a fake to Gordon, there was nothing there and Taylor was tackled for a loss of 1.
Washington rushed for 6 to start the next drive. Quick pressure led to an incompletion on 2nd & 4. And on 3rd & 4, Joey Bosa immediately beat his man and got the sack.
The Chargers offense was ready for another three-and-out, but they were bailed out by a defensive penalty that resulted in an automatic 1st. Another run for no gain by Gordon was followed by a 17-yard catch and run by Hunter Henry. A pitch to Gordon was stopped for a sizable loss but another unforced error by the Raiders gave the Bolts a fresh set of downs. Rivers completed a short pass to Ekeler and after a little open field magic Ekeler turned that catch into a 17-yard gain.
make 'em miss. @AustinEkeler | #BoltUp pic.twitter.com/6wsepK2Xao
— Los Angeles Chargers (@Chargers) December 22, 2019
A quick slant to Allen picked up another 1st down and kept the drive moving. Rivers went to Williams in the end zone and pass interference resulted in 1st & goal from the 1. The offensive line gave Gordon a clear path to the end zone and he waltzed right in. Michael Badgley’s extra point tied the game at 7.
Thanks to some truly awful clock management by Anthony Lynn, the Raiders started their next drive with just under 2 minutes on the clock an a full complement of timeouts. A quick pass to Waller picked up 7 and he got out of bounds to preserve the clock. Another quick pass to Williams picked up 20 yards got the Raiders to midfield. A pair of shorter passes burned a timeout and brought up 3rd & 1 from the Los Angeles 41. Oakland elected to run the ball with Jalen Richard and Justin Jones blew the play up in the backfield. A play action pass to Richard on 4th & 2 easily picked up the 1st and kept the drive alive with 58 seconds and 2 timeouts. Another short pass to Jones picked up 7 yards over the middle. Renfrow caught a shot Carr pass with room to work and he got upfield before getting out of bounds at the 12. Renfrow was the target on again on 1st down and he secured it for a 9-yard gain inside the Chargers’ 5-yard line. Good coverage on 2nd & 1 forced Carr to throw it away. Carr faked a hand off and rolled out before sprinting for the corner of the end zone and getting in for 6 points before the end of the half.
Tyrod Taylor took the final snap of the half as Rivers had gone into the x-ray room.
Back-to-back carries by Washington started the Raiders’ drive with a 1st down. After another Washington carry, they want back to the air and Waller picked up 20 yards over the middle. A 6-yard pass to Derek Carrier sandwiched between two Washington runs moved the sticks again. Another pair of Raiders carries resulted in another 1st down. A Richard run followed by a Richard catch gave the Raiders 3rd & 4 from the Chargers 11. Richard caught a pass short of the sticks but he was just able to get enough after the catch to get to 1st & goal. Washington got the handoff and slammed through the line for a 5-yard touchdown run that capped off a nearly 9-minute drive to start the second half.
The Chargers offense managed to respond well after what looked like a game-altering Raiders drive. The Chargers marched down the field getting big plays from Henry, Allen, Gordon, and Ekeler. Finally, Gordon punched it in at the goal line a gain closing the gap to 7 again.
The DeAndre Washington show continued with the Raiders following drive as he rushed for 4 before taking a dumpoff pass for another 13 and the end of the 3rd quarter. Washington rushed for another 4 before they want back to Waller who was stopped for a short gain by James. Unfortunately, on 3rd down, the Raiders easily converted with a simple pitch and catch to Renfrow. A nice catch and run by Carrier made up for a short gain by Richard on 1st down setting up 3rd & 3 in 4-down territory. However, Renfrow once again got open and converted for the 1st. Washington was stopped for no gain on 1st down, but he picked up 8 through the air on 2nd. A pitch to Washington was met by 5 defenders and he was stopped for no gain causing the Raiders to settle for a 48-yard field goal attempt which Daniel Carlson converted.
Rivers fired a perfect strike to Keenan Allen to start the next drive picking up 20 yards. His next pass went to Gordon underneath and netted 4. The pass protection completely broke down on 2nd down and Rivers was sacked for a loss of 14. Pipkins who was beat for the sack was also flagged for holding which was declined. On 3rd & 20, Rivers hit Gordon in the hands but he was not able to handle it on a play where he would have had a real look at picking up the 1st or at least giving them the opportunity to go for it on 4th.
The Raiders took over after the punt with 6:39 on the clock and a 10-point lead. They immediately tried to go back to the run, but Bosa met Washington in the backfield for a loss of 2. Washington then ripped off a 12-yard run for the 1st down, though, which kept the clock ticking and the Raiders offense in control. Three more runs by Washington brought up 4th & 2 near midfield and forced the Chargers to burn a timeout.
After a Raider punt, the Chargers took over at their own 10 with 1 timeout and 3:32 left on the clock while down 2 scores. A 23-yard pass to Williams got the drive rolling. Henry picked up another 5 before ducking out of bounds to save clock. Another pass to Williams moved the sticks again. Henry took another short pass for 6 yards and got out of bounds again. Rivers and Allen then hooked up for another 1st. Virgil Green then got in the mix with a 4-yard gain along the sideline. What appeared to be clear pass interference was ignored on the next play that forced 3rd & 6. Patton popped up again picking up another 1st. An Oakland injury stopped the clock in front of the 2-minute warning. After play resumed, Ekeler took a screen pass for an 8-yard gain before being knocked out of bounds. After an offside penalty, Williams was unable to come down with a jump ball in the end zone but the ball went through his hands. Rivers tried looking for Alllen on the next play and the ball bounced off Allen’s hands for another incompletion. On 3rd & goal, Rivers could not find anyone open and he threw the ball away after escaping from pressure. With only 93 seconds remaining, the Chargers elected to attempt a field goal to close the deficit to 7 points. He converted and set up an onside kick attempt.
After the failed onside kick, the Raiders simply ran out the clock to end the game and escape with the victory.
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