LA Chargers: Great, good and ugly in Monday Night Football win over Raiders
By Jason Reed
The LA Chargers emerged victorious on Monday Night Football, defeating the Las Vegas Raiders 28-14 at SoFi Stadium. The Bolts entered halftime with a 21-0 lead and while things started to get dicey in the second half, the team was able to get it done when it mattered most.
The Chargers are now 3-1 and are technically in first place in the AFC West as they are 2-0 in the division. It is way too early to talk about winning the division but getting off to a hot start is huge in putting together a great season.
This was a great game and as we do in all the LA Chargers wins, we are breaking down the great, good and ugly.
The great in the LA Chargers Monday Night Football win:
Pass-catchers not named Keenan Allen and Mike Williams
Keenan Allen and Mike Williams have been the engine that has been helping drive the Chargers' offense and the game plan for the Raiders in this one was simple: take away the two star receivers in LA.
The Raiders accomplished that but it was the rest of the pass-catchers that benefitted as a result. Allen and Williams combined for eight catches for 47 yards while Jared Cook made six receptions for 70 yards and a touchdown while Austin Ekeler and Donald Parham both had a receiving touchdown each.
Speaking of Austin Ekeler...
Austin Ekeler's dual-threat game
Ekeler's one receiving touchdown was not the only thing he did in this game. He had three catches for 28 yards, but more importantly, 117 rushing yards on 15 carries with a rushing touchdown. The Chargers noticed a mismatch in running the football and ran all over the Raiders' defense.
7.8 yards. That is how many yards he averaged per carry. Spectacular stuff.
Michael Davis
Michael Davis may not have made the interception to seal the win, that belongs to Derwin James, but he had a fantastic game in this one. Davis was not only great in coverage but he was arguably the best tackler on the Chargers' defense.
We said before the game that this could be a coming-out party for Davis and it very well should have been.