Raiders beaten at their own game against Chargers to start the season

The Raiders want to usher in a physically-minded, ball-control style of play this season to make opponents uncomfortable and ultimately overpower them.

That was never going to happen Sunday in their first game of the year at the Los Angeles Chargers, a team all too willing to indulge in a slow-paced throwback slugfest. The Chargers are trying to implement a similar philosophical shift under new coach Jim Harbaugh and, at least through one week, they’re doing it better than their AFC West rivals.

The Chargers took the Raiders’ best shots in Week 1 but kept standing and coming forward until they broke the SoFi Stadium visitors with a runaway second half to win 22-10.

“We weren’t detailed enough for four quarters,” Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby said. “We did some good things but there are a couple runs where it’s on us. At the end of the day, it’s about block disruption, getting off blocks and finishing plays. We just let things get a little leaky at the end. That’s not what we’re about.”

Crosby is the centerpiece of one of the league’s most talented and expensive defensive lines, along with prized free-agent Christian Wilkins, and the unit looked the part of their high praise and wages through the first half at SoFi. The Chargers had only two first downs and 2.2 yards per rush as the Raiders went into halftime with a 7-6 lead.

But a big aim of a team going with the impose-our-will mindset is wearing the opposition down to take advantage in the fourth quarter. The Chargers aced that part of the approach; the Raiders failed.

Los Angeles scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns by winning the battle at the line of scrimmage, clearing gaping holes for veteran running back J.K. Dobbins including the two longest rushes in the NFL all day — a 41-yarder and a 61-yarder.

The former right-up-the-middle run set up a 24-yard field goal from Cameron Dicker, his third make of the day, to give the Chargers a 9-7 lead early in the third quarter. The latter cutback, counter was the precursor to a 10-yard touchdown catch from Ladd McConkey to ice the Chargers’ victory with 3:40 remaining.   

Dobbins finished with 135 rushing yards on 10 carries. The Raiders collectively managed about half that production with more than double the amount of carries — posting 71 yards on 22 attempts.

“They really made us earn it to move the ball down the field and, at times, we weren’t good enough to do that,” Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew said. “We were inconsistent. That’s the biggest takeaway right now.”

Minshew had a fumble, which set up Dicker’s second field goal right before halftime, and an interception, in garbage time to nose tackle Poona Ford at the end of the game, but wasn’t the Raiders’ biggest problem. The new starter had a traditional statistics line superior to Chargers’ counterpart Justin Herbert with 257 yards and a touchdown on 25-for-33 passing.

Herbert posted 144 yards and a touchdown on 17-for-26 passing. 

Minshew's score came when he found running back Alexander Mattison in the flat and the veteran free-agent acquisition hurdled Assante Samuel Jr. en route to a 31-yard touchdown.

“If you look over the progress of my career, collegiately and the NFL, that’s one of the things on my back pocket,” Mattison said of his highlight move. “People probably don’t expect it. I understood the type of tackler he was coming into the game and once I saw him drop his feet and drop his hips, I knew I had an opportunity.”

But the Raiders primarily want to run the ball, and Mattison could never find any sustained success on the ground. The same was true for lead back Zamir White, who lost a fumble on his second-longest run of the day in the third quarter.

All-Pro edge rusher Joey Bosa forced the fumble as part of a performance that saw him shackle the Raiders throughout. He also had a sack, another quarterback hit and a tackle for loss.

Bosa’s partner-in-crime, and former Raider turned longtime tormentor, similarly had 1.5 sacks, another quarterback hit, a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery.

The Raiders’ offensive line was feeble as the game went on in comparison to a Chargers’ unit that only seemed to get stronger.

“It’s not good enough because there were plenty of opportunities for us to put points on the board,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said.

Las Vegas’ blocking woes were foreseeable considering the injury-marred, short training camp for left tackle Kolton Miller, and so was another big problem that cost them a shot at the victory.

After going for an ultimately unsuccessful fourth down in the Raiders’ territory in the first half, Pierce reverted to his ultra-conservative game management style. He called for the punt team facing a 4^th-and-1 at the Chargers’ 43-yard line with 7:15 to play.

The decision cost the Raiders 10% of win probability according to Ben Baldwin’s fourth-down mathematical model.

Minshew called it “coach’s decision,” but said he would have liked the opportunity to make a play. Wide receiver Davante Adams declined comment and said strategic calls were not his job.

Pierce defended the choice to punt after the game.    

“You’re going to play the game going for it every fourth down? No,” he said. “You’ve got an All-Pro punter, a defense that’s playing well for the majority of the game. You play football.”

But the Raiders’ defense was no longer playing to its standard and got gashed on the ground following the punt. It finally stopped a run far too late, on a two-point conversion from Dobbins sidekick Gus Edwards after McConkey’s touchdown.

But then a brawl broke out in the back of the end zone with both Raiders cornerback Jack Jones and Chargers receiver Joshua Palmer — who jawed at each other for the majority of the game — ejected for inciting it.   

Raiders cornerback Nate Hobbs threw punches at a downed Charger while other players rushed in from off the bench. Both Crosby and Wilkins tossed opponents to the ground too.

 “We’ve got to do a better job with composure,” Pierce said. “It starts with myself and the coaching staff. What happened at the end of the game is inexcusable. It’s not going to be tolerated. At the end of the day, we can’t be selfish.”

The fisticuffs could prove costly as the NFL will likely review the footage for possible suspensions. Las Vegas can ill afford to lose more defensive players with one of the hardest games on its schedule, at Baltimore, up next week.

The Raiders have already lost starting edge rusher Malcolm Koonce, who hurt his knee injury in practice this week, and one of his replacements, 2023 first-round Tyree Wilson, went down with a leg injury early against the Chargers.

Las Vegas has made it no secret that it wants to bulldoze and bruise its opponents this season, but post-whistle cheap shots weren’t what Pierce had in mind.

The new formula is going to have to fall in place better if Las Vegas wants to avoid a third straight season without making the playoffs. The Raiders got a glimpse of how it should work in Week 1 — it just came from across the way by the Chargers.   

“The style of play, the way we wanted to play, did not show up today,” Pierce said.

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or