Chargers’ win comes with a price 

Inglewood, CA (News 4Us Online) – The Los Angeles Chargers snapped back into the winning column with a 31-14 win against the Las Vegas Raiders during a home game at SoFi Stadium. With the win, the Chargers remained in second place in the AFC West with five games to play, and still in playoff contention. 

The Chargers responded with the resounding win following their bye week after dropping a road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh thought the time off was good for his team.  

“Yeah, that was good. I mean, our guys got restoration,” Harbaugh said during his postgame press conference. “We’re together. This was a great team win and our fates our intertwined and we’re – the focus is there from our team. [We’re] going to have to do it again next week, and the week after that and the week after that, but I love the way our team responded.”

The Chargers got the best of the Raiders in a couple of critical areas, The Chargers converted 12 of the 17 attempts in third down efficiency. Conversely, the Raiders made only 2 of 8 attempts at converting their third down tries. 

But it was LA’s defense that gave the Chargers in this rematch of longtime rivals. The Chargers’ defense got to Las Vegas quarterback Geno Smith a handful of times, sacking the Raiders quarterback five times. 

The Chargers also kept the Raiders rushing attack in check, holding the Silver & Black to 31 yards in net gain. On the offensive side of the ball, the Chargers used a strong rushing attack, led by Kimani Vidal’s 126 yards, to help offset the Raiders’ strong pass rush. 

Vidal’s 59-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, gave the Chargers  the lead for good as LA outscored Las Vegas 24-7 in the second half to record its eighth (8-4) win on the season. 

“It was a huge day for Kimani,” Harbaugh remarked. “Just so many guys stepped up, and we really wanted to win. The guys went out and played great. Kimani Vidal gave us a huge spark – one of the great runs and he did that all game. He was really good in protection as well and Jaret Patterson, super excited for him and he had a heck of a game as well.”

That’s the good news surrounding the Chargers’ rebound win. The other side to that equation is that quarterback Justin Herbert suffered an injury to his non-throwing hand that will require surgery, Harbaugh admitted. 

“Yeah, he [QB Justin Herbert] had a break in the back of the hand and he’s going to have a procedure done tomorrow. That’s what I know,” Harbaugh said. “I know he’s as tough as they come and they taped it up, [gave him a] glove and he played a great game.”

Harbaugh wasn’t sure if the procedure would require Herbert to miss time. 

“I don’t know about that. We’ll see where the week takes us,” he said. 

For his part, Herbert, who completed 15 of 20 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the winning effort against the Raiders, said he doesn’t exactly know when the injury occurred. More than likely, he said, it happened while he was in scramble mode.  

“I’m not quite sure exactly. I think it was one of the plays where I tried to scramble but I’d have to take a look at it. I think it must’ve been either a helmet or something like that, but I’d have to look at it to be exact,” Herbert quipped. 

This article first appeared on The Bulletin newspaper website. The Bulletin is an editorial partner of News 4Us Online