Road Warriors: Los Angeles Chargers win fourth in a row away from home by dispatching Raiders
By Travis Wakeman
The Los Angeles Chargers have become road warriors. They haven’t played a game at StubHub Center but in that time, they haven’t lost.
Though this is not an article about pro wrestling’s Road Warriors, arguably the greatest tag team of all-time, there’s nothing wrong with the Chargers being mentioned in the same sentence. On Sunday, the Chargers won their sixth game in a row to get to 7-2, defeating the Oakland Raiders 20-6.
Four of those games have been on the road and even though the game against the Tennessee Titans was considered a “home” game, it was played in London, so it really wasn’t.
It wasn’t pretty and the Chargers had to grind it out. The Raiders actually had more time of possession and the rest of the statistics were similar, including total yards of offense. The difference in the game was really one big play.
On the Chargers’ first drive after the half and facing a 2nd-and-10 from their own 34-yard line, Philip Rivers found Melvin Gordon out of the backfield. The fourth-year running back waited for his blocks to set up and then burst through and past the Oakland defense en route to a 66-yard touchdown.
. 6. 28. 20. 13
That put the Chargers up 17-3 and they never looked back.
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Oakland didn’t do much to provide a threat either. The Raiders are still just a mess on offense. The Raiders went just 5-of-15 on third down and converted just one of three fourth-down attempts. Derek Carr didn’t throw an interception, but his throw into the ground on one fourth down summed up the season the Raiders are having in one play.
There’s far less doom and gloom hovering over the Chargers, where the skies are actually quite sunny. The team is well on its way to making a playoff push and they are beating the teams they are supposed to beat.
Speaking of those, the Bolts will return to StubHub Center next week to host a struggling Denver Broncos squad. After that, they will take on the Arizona Cardinals, so seeing them get to 9-2 is not too far fetched.
Rejoice Chargers fans, you’ve got the contender you’ve been waiting for.