Khalil Mack had six sacks and five tackles for loss to help the Los Angeles Chargers to a 24-17 win against the visiting Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon in Inglewood, Calif.
Justin Herbert completed 13 of 24 passes for 167 yards with a touchdown and an interception and added two rushing scores for the Chargers (2-2), who have won two in a row. Herbert stayed in the game after injuring his left (non-throwing) hand during an interception return, wearing a splint on the middle finger.
Mack, meanwhile, fell one sack shy of tying Derrick Thomas’ single-game sack record.
Aidan O’Connell made his first NFL start for the Raiders after Jimmy Garoppolo remained in concussion protocol. The rookie from Purdue completed 24 of 39 passes for 238 yards with an interception.
Davante Adams caught eight passes for 75 yards and running back Josh Jacobs caught eight passes for 81 yards while adding 58 yards rushing for the Raiders (1-3).
The Raiders trailed 24-7 at halftime before making a late push. They cut it to 24-10 on a 22-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson with 4:51 in the third quarter, then made it a one-possession game when Jacobs scored on a 1-yard run with 3:59 to play.
For the second week in a row, the Chargers went for it on fourth-and-1 in their own territory late in the game and Herbert was stopped for no gain, giving the Raiders the ball at their 34 with 3:30 left.
Las Vegas reached the 3-yard line, but Asante Samuel Jr. intercepted O’Connell to put the game away.
Los Angeles marched 86 yards on nine plays on the game’s opening drive and Herbert capped it with a 12-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead. The drive included a 51-yard run by wide receiver Derius Davis.
On the Raiders’ second drive, O’Connell scored on a 1-yard sneak with 45 seconds left in the opening quarter to tie the score 7-7.
After a 33-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker gave the Chargers a 10-7 lead, O’Connell was sacked on third-and-6 and fumbled the ball. Chris Rumph II recovered for Los Angeles at the Las Vegas 36.
Los Angeles capitalized five plays later when Herbert connected with Keenan Allen on a 7-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 17-7 with 7:20 left in the half.
Mack had a strip-sack of O’Connell on third down on the next series, and Austin Johnson recovered for the Chargers at the Raiders’ 35.
Los Angeles cashed in that turnover as well when Herbert scored on a 1-yard sneak on fourth-and-goal to increase the lead to 24-7 with 3:05 left in the half.
–Field Level Media