The Los Angeles Chargers’ second straight home loss came with plenty of swings, but the Las Vegas Raiders made the decisive plays and left SoFi Stadium with a 26-14 win.
It started with an early missed chance for Los Angeles. Justin Herbert pushed the Chargers down the field on the opening drive, only for Cameron Dicker to miss a 58-yard field goal. The defense answered right back, though, as Cam Hart intercepted Kirk Cousins on the Raiders’ first possession to keep Las Vegas off the board.
For a stretch after that, both teams traded punts and field position. Then the game tilted again when Herbert was picked off by Hezekiah Masses, giving the Raiders a short field.
Las Vegas still couldn’t cash in right away, turning it over on downs, but the field position battle soon swung its way. After the Chargers punted, Cousins hit Tre Tucker on a 51-yard touchdown to put the Raiders ahead 7-0.
Los Angeles answered with one of its better drives of the day. Herbert found Ladd McConkey on a key third-down conversion, Omarion Hampton handled a heavy dose of the workload, and Hampton finished the march with a touchdown run to tie it 7-7. The Raiders regained the lead late in the half, though, as Matt Gay drilled a field goal to make it 10-7 before the Chargers kneeled out the first half.
The third quarter brought more back-and-forth. Las Vegas opened with a punt, and Herbert quickly moved the Chargers into striking range with a 53-yard throw to Tre’Harris. Herbert then capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Oronde Gadsden, putting Los Angeles up 14-10.
That lead didn’t last long. Cousins responded with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Cody White, and the Raiders were back on top 17-14. After that, both offenses cooled off for a bit as each side punted twice.
The turning point came when Hampton fumbled, handing Las Vegas another short field. Cousins made the Chargers pay with his second touchdown to Cody White, stretching the Raiders’ advantage to 24-14. Herbert then threw his second interception of the game to Masses, a costly blow for Los Angeles.
From there, the Raiders leaned on Ashton Jeanty to drain clock and force the Chargers to burn their timeouts. Las Vegas eventually punted, but pinned Los Angeles deep. That set up a safety when right tackle Joe Alt held Max Crosby in the end zone, pushing the Raiders’ lead to 26-14.
The Raiders then recovered the Chargers’ onside kick and closed it out with a knee. The loss leaves the Chargers needing a win next week to avoid falling to 0-3 and putting themselves in serious danger of missing the postseason.
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