Raiders rewind: What went wrong in prime-time showdown with Chargers?
There was a great deal of optimism after the Raiders played well in all three phases in a Week 1 road win.
Then came a prime-time showdown with the Chargers on Monday. The Raiders appeared overmatched in a 20-9 home loss to an AFC West rival.
Here’s a closer look at the defeat:
Putting it into perspective
Maybe some more attention should have been paid to the Raiders’ warts in their Week 1 win over the Patriots.
The result covered up some imperfections, especially on the offensive line. New England quarterback Drake Maye also missed some open receivers in Week 1 that Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert didn’t.
The reality is the Raiders are probably not as good as they looked against the Patriots or as poor as they seemed to be against Los Angeles. They just need to settle in and find some consistency.
Star of the game
Centennial alum Jonah Laulu took full advantage of his opportunity to play at home on “Monday Night Football.” The second-year defensive tackle made a huge impact in 32 defensive snaps, recording two sacks and three quarterback hits.
Laulu finished with six pressures. No other Raiders defender had more than three. The 25-year-old attributes his success in part to his teammates and coaches telling him to stay within himself and not overthink things on the field.
“I just knew this season I had to go out and play free,” Laulu said. “That was the biggest thing I had problems with last year. It’s just football. No need to do anything extra or make things more complicated. Just do what you’ve been doing at practice.”
Play of the game
This goes to Herbert’s 60-yard strike to third-year wide receiver Quentin Johnston late in the first half.
The Raiders had just a three-man rush on the play with defensive end Maxx Crosby dropping into pass coverage. That gave Herbert all kinds of time to sit in the pocket and pick his target.
He eventually threw to Johnston, who faked a deep crossing route after lining up in the left slot. Johnston then bent his route back to the near corner. He was left wide open because the Raiders seemed to get confused in coverage. Cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly appeared to try to pass off Johnston to safety Isaiah Pola-Mao, but Pola-Mao’s eyes were on wide receiver Keenan Allen on the other side of the field.
That allowed Herbert to hit Johnston in stride to put the Chargers up 17-6 with 1:51 left in the first half.
HERBERT TO JOHNSTON 60-YARD TD!
LACvsLV on ESPN
Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/MDmDdqjKn6— NFL (@NFL) September 16, 2025
“You’ve got to give credit to Justin Herbert,” coach Pete Carroll said. “He’s a really good player, and he made good decisions and good choices, and when he had his open guy, he made the big play. It was just a crushing play because it was an easy play for us to defend, and we just got caught up a little bit and misread the big corner route that the guy ran. But other than that, I thought the whole night was good defense. I thought they rose to the occasion.”
Drive of the game
The Raiders put together an unbelievable 19-play, 62-yard drive in the second half that took 11:15. It just didn’t end the way they wanted it to.
The team converted five third downs on the possession until a holding penalty set up a third-and-16 from the Chargers’ 34-yard line. Quarterback Geno Smith could only dump the ball off to running back Zamir White for a 6-yard gain the next play.
Carroll elected to kick a field goal, which cut the Raiders deficit to 20-9 with 11:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. The decision drew boos from the fans.
The drive was the only time the Raiders offense had any real sense of rhythm. They could use more possessions like that moving forward.
What were they thinking?
Smith’s third interception was a poor decision that crippled his team’s chances.
The Chargers fumbled their next possession after the Raiders’ 19-play drive. Smith moved the ball into the red zone, giving his team an opportunity to make it a one-possession game with plenty of time left.
But the Raiders’ hopes were dashed when Smith forced a throw to wide receiver Jakobi Meyers in the end zone on a third-and-15 from the Los Angeles 20-yard line. Safety Derwin James Jr. tipped the ball to cornerback Donte Jackson with 5:58 remaining to keep the Chargers’ two-score lead intact.
Observations
■ Center Jordan Meredith appeared to have issues snapping Monday. Smith often had to reach to catch the ball before starting to go through his progressions.
“We can be more accurate,” Carroll said. “Geno was reaching for the ball some. We’d like to settle those down. (Meredith is) pretty good at doing it, so it’s not an issue.”
■ Tight end Brock Bowers, who suffered a knee injury in Week 1, wasn’t as explosive as he usually is against the Chargers and finished with five catches for 39 yards. He still played 54 of the Raiders’ 70 offensive snaps.
■ The Raiders had some real issues on the offensive line. Right guard Alex Cappa, who started for the injured Jackson Powers-Johnson (concussion), wasn’t great. He didn’t get much help from Meredith and right tackle DJ Glaze, and left guard Dylan Parham wasn’t much better. Left tackle Kolton Miller at least had a solid showing. He didn’t allow a pressure and opened up some nice holes in the run game.
— The Raiders appear to be dropping Crosby in coverage more than usual.
“It’s definitely different,” Crosby said. “But for me, I trust the coaches. I trust coach Carroll on doing some different things. So, I feel like I can excel in any spot on the defense. And for me, I’m just trying to continue to evolve as a player. And so if that means dropping a little bit we can do that.”
Carroll said that while Crosby only had one pressure in the game, he forced the Chargers into a fumble he wasn’t credited for. The Raiders also believe Crosby should have earned a sack on a different play. The team will appeal to the NFL’s stat department.
“We’re going to continue to move our guys,” Carroll said. “We like the uniqueness that the guys bring, and so we’re trying to put them in those positions as much as possible and try to make it hard on your opponent so they’re not certain what we’re doing. I think Maxx played a terrific game again.
“And coming from different spots, I really like using Maxx in multiple ways because he’s such a sudden football player that putting him on different guys, and they have to see that for the first time, and he can make some things happen that other guys don’t. I think if we can continue to move him, it really plays to our strengths, so we’ll try to keep doing that.”
— Defensive lineman Tyree Wilson only played 14 snaps Monday, but Carroll said that was just due to how the game played out. It will be telling if Wilson, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2023 draft, plays more Sunday against the Commanders.
— The Raiders took running back Ashton Jeanty, the No. 6 overall pick in April’s draft, out of the game in passing situations a lot. Jeanty did make a mistake on a blitz pickup that led to a sack and went the wrong way on a handoff at one point, but it also seemed like the team wanted to get White and second-year running back Dylan Laube more involved. Laube looked like the Raiders’ preferred option in the two-minute drill.
Looking ahead
The Raiders (1-1) will try to bounce back from an ugly performance on a short week when they visit the Commanders (1-1) on Sunday. Washington, which reached the NFC title game last season, could be without star quarterback Jayden Daniels due to a knee injury.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.