The Oakland Raiders went to Los Angeles looking to build on their first win of the season but the Chargers had different plans.
Chargers veteran quarterback Philip Rivers gouged the Raiders defense from the beginning of the gam, finishing 22 of 27 for 339 yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Jon Gruden and the Raiders offense struggled to get the ball moving and when they did they couldn’t get it into the end zone. Quarterback Derek Carr drove the offense 82 yards on 10 plays in a first-quarter drive but were forced to settle for a field goal that kept the game tied heading into the second quarter.
The Chargers found the end zone first when Rivers beat the Raiders blitz, finding running back Austin Ekeler for a 44-yard touchdown pass to put them up 10-to-3.
Trying to answer, Carr found wide receiver Martavis Bryant over the middle but he lost the ball trying to get extra yards. It took Rivers just six plays to get his offense back into the end zone, this time it was Melvin Gordon scoring from one yard out.
The Raiders had 1:39 left in the half to get some more points on the board but Matt McCrane came up shot on a 58-yard field goal attempt. A costly roughing the passer penalty by Bruce Irvin put the Chargers in field goal range after a failed hail mary but the kick was wide left, giving the Chargers a 17-t0-3 lead heading into the half.
San Diego scored first in the second half, extending their lead to 20-to-3. Carr and Gruden put together their best drive of the day, going 62 yards on nine plays to the Chargers’ one-yard line. Facing first-and-goal, Gruden elected to throw the ball instead of handing it off to Marshawn Lynch and Carr threw it right to linebacker Melvin Ingram who intercepted the ball in the end zone.
Rivers took advantage of the added possession, finding wide receiver Tyrell Williams with a 48-yard pass down the left side to quickly flip the field. Just seven plays later, Rivers found tight end Virgil Green on a screen play to get him into the end zone to make the Raiders deficit 27-to-3.
The Raiders offense would finally get into the end zone in the fourth quarter, but it would be with a nine-play drive that ate up over four minutes of the game clock when they didn’t have much time to spare. The drive ended with Carr using a quick snap to find Jordy Nelson for the one-yard touchdown.
The loss puts the Raiders at 1-3 for the season and they will now head to London to host the Seattle Seahawks before their bye week.