INGLEWOOD — The Chargers handled their business coming out of their bye week on Sunday at SoFi Stadium, overpowering the Las Vegas Raiders, 31-14, overcoming quarterback Justin Herbert’s injured ring finger on his left hand and improving their record to 4-0 against AFC West opponents.
The Chargers improved to 8-4 overall; the Raiders are 2-10.
Now it gets tougher.
Now the road gets bumpier.
Now we’ll learn if the Chargers are contenders or pretenders.
The Chargers’ final five: The Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, the Super Bowl runner-up Kansas City Chiefs, the surging Dallas Cowboys, the talented but unpredictable Houston Texans and the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos. Who knows what Denver in January will be like?
It might be 60 degrees and sunny.
There might be blizzard conditions.
It might be somewhere in between.
Three victories for the Chargers would likely cement a playoff berth with 11 overall. Two might do it with 10 wins. One probably won’t cut it. None would mean a long offseason of reflection and retooling a roster that never lived up to expectations because of injuries and plenty of other reasons.
The Chargers seized control Sunday in the third quarter, driving for two touchdowns, stopping the Raiders at every opportunity and taking a 21-7 lead into the fourth quarter. Kimani Vidal raced 59 yards for one touchdown and Herbert threw a 7-yard TD pass to Ladd McConkey for the other.
Cameron Dicker’s 56-yard field goal 11 seconds into the final quarter extended the Chargers’ lead to 24-7. At that point, only seconds into the fourth, the Chargers had outgained the Raiders by 290-91, including by 165-32 on the ground. The Chargers had 16 first downs to only six for the Raiders.
Las Vegas cut it to 24-14 with 7:49 remaining in the game on the second of tight end Brock Bowers’ two 6-yard touchdown receptions from quarterback Geno Smith. Bowers managed to snare Smith’s low pass while also boxing out a Chargers defender a couple of yards deep into the end zone.
Jaret Patterson’s 2-yard TD run with 1:55 to play sealed the deal.
The Chargers marched 74 yards on 14 plays over 8:50 on their first possession, with Herbert throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Quentin Johnston with 4:21 remaining in the first quarter. Their 7-0 lead didn’t come without a setback because, of course it did.
Herbert injured the ring finger on his left hand on a scramble one play before he connected with Johnston. Herbert ran directly to the locker room to be examined and then fitted with a protective glove. Backup quarterback Trey Lance replaced Herbert to start the Chargers’ next possession.
Herbert returned after a handful of plays and drove the Chargers to the 1-yard line before Kyu Blu Kelly intercepted his pass intended for McConkey at the goal line on 3rd-and-goal with 8:35 left in the half. The Chargers’ Tony Jefferson then picked off Smith at the Las Vegas 27 with 7:48 left.
That drive stalled and Vidal was stopped on fourth-and-1 at the Raiders’ 17 with 6:32 remaining before halftime. Las Vegas capitalized by driving 82 yards for the tying score with 1:50 left, Smith completing a 6-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Bowers in the back of the end zone.
More to come on this story.
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