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The Chargers shut down the Raiders in a 20-9 victory on “Monday Night Football,” ruining the Las Vegas home debuts for Pete Carroll and Geno Smith.
Justin Herbert threw two touchdown passes, including a 60-yard strike to Quentin Johnston, while L.A.’s defense recorded three interceptions off of Smith. But the Chargers lost star edge rusher Khalil Mack to an elbow injury in the first half after Mack’s arm got pinned between a teammate and a Raiders ball carrier on an attempted tackle.
The Chargers advance to 2-0 and take sole possession of first place in the AFC West.
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Chargers’ Khalil Mack ruled out vs. Raiders with elbow injury
Raiders fans thought they would finally have an established starting quarterback for the first time since the Derek Carr days after the team’s offseason trade for Geno Smith.
They still probably do — given Smith’s body of work with the Seahawks over the last few years, this is probably an aberration.
But boy, what a disaster for the veteran quarterback’s Raiders home debut — 24-for-43 passing with for 180 yards, no touchdowns — and three interceptions.
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Jesse Minter's defense made life difficult for Geno Smith and the Raiders offense tonight.
It's early but it appears that Los Angeles might have one of the best defensive units in football.
FINAL – Charges 20, Raiders 9
Najee Harris barrels ahead for a nice run to convert the first down, getting the Chargers to victory formation.
Los Angeles improves to 2-0 while the Raiders drop to 1-1.
Q4 1:57 – Charges 20, Raiders 9
On second-and-11, Justin Herbert rolls out and keeps it, sliding down after a gain of five yards as this ballgame reaches the two-minute warning.
A first down on third-and-6 ends the game without Las Vegas seeing the ball again.
Geno Smith throwing more interceptions than Justin Herbert has touchdowns tonight feels … sub-optimal.
This has been painful for the Raiders QB. The narrative ahead of him for the rest of this week is going to be uncomfortable too.
Q4 3:05 – Charges 20, Raiders 9
Again, Las Vegas’ offense scuffles.
On fourth-and-3, Geno Smith is sacked by Daiyan Henley, who got to the quarterback untouched.
On the Chargers very next snap, Omarion Hampton is blown up in the backfield and immediately fumbles the football, giving the Raiders yet another opportunity — but they do nothing with it, turning the ball over on downs after just four plays.
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Q4 4:23 – Charges 20, Raiders 9
A rare miss from Justin Herbert tonight, throwing it behind Keenan Allen on third down as Los Angeles goes three-and-out.
Las Vegas needs to score in a hurry.
That audacious fourth-down try on the Chargers’ last drive was a statement of extreme confidence on the part of Jim Harbaugh that the Raiders couldn’t get back in this game.
That confidence has been rewarded.
Q4 5:58 – Charges 20, Raiders 9
Geno Smith just threw his third interception of the night.
On third-and-15, he launches into the end zone looking for Jakobi Meyers but the pass is well-defended. The ball gets tipped up into the air, floating into the arms of Donte Jackson for an easy pick.
Smith has been too reckless with the football tonight. There is not much open downfield for the Raiders and he is just forcing it.
Q4 7:24 – Charges 20, Raiders 9
Geno Smith sails a pass to Jakobi Meyers on second down but the duo connects on third-and-2 for 20 yards.
Q4 8:10 – Charges 20, Raiders 9
That might have been Justin Herbert’s worst throw of the season and he got away with it. He stared down Keenan Allen and fired the ball straight to Germaine Pratt, who drops the interception.
Redemption for the Raiders moments later though. On fourth-and-1, Los Angeles runs a sweep for Derius Davis but he and Herbert cannot execute the handoff cleanly. Davis recovers the ball but gets blown up, turning the ball over on downs and giving Las Vegas excellent field position.
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The Raiders’ offense will get another shot here with 8:10 left in the game, but the Las Vegas crowd hasn’t been happy with tonight’s performance …
The Raiders just had a 19-play drive that lasted over 11 minutes … and only went 62 yards to result in a field goal.
Jesse Minter’s Chargers defense is starting to remind me of his overpowering Michigan units.
Q4 11:15 – Charges 20, Raiders 9
Geno Smith misses Brock Bowers on a potential touchdown, sailing the ball way too high on first down.
A completion to Tre Tucker then sets up third-and-7. Smith scrambles out of the pocket and picks up the first down with his legs but the play is brought back by a holding call.
Smith took a huge hit on the end of that run too.
Now on third-and-17, he checks it down to Zamir White for a minimal gain which sets up a 37-yard field goal attempt for Daniel Carlson.
He connects.
Q4 14:08 – Charges 20, Raiders 6
Ashton Jeanty runs for five yards on second down, setting up third-and-6.
Geno Smith has a free play because of a penalty but a lob into the end zone is broken up.
On third-and-1, he finds Jakobi Meyers for six yards.
Raiders averaging 3.8 yards per play. Would be eighth-lowest average for any offense in a game this season.
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End Q3 – Charges 20, Raiders 6
The Raiders take a long time getting to the line on first down, barely getting the snap off before running the ball with Ashton Jeanty for a loss of a yard.
That is the final play of the third quarter.
Q3 2:54 – Charges 20, Raiders 6
Las Vegas gets two first downs to open the drive but after a short run by Geno Smith and a check down to Ashton Jeanty, the Raiders face third-and-6.
Smith sits in a collapsing pocket before finding Brock Bowers, who makes a nice snag on a low pass to move the chains.
Terence “Bud” Crawford is being interviewed by ESPN after defeating Canelo Alvarez to become the undisputed super middleweight boxing champion here at Allegiant Stadium just two days ago.
You can relive that epic fight as it happened here.
