MidValleySports.Com

By Tim Peterson

(Inglewood) – The Chargers turned the ball over three times, including twice in the fourth quarter in a 26-14 loss to Las Vegas Sunday before 71, 567 fans at SoFi Stadium. Many of the fans were dressed in silver and black.

The Chargers were down 17-14 in the fourth quarter with less than four minutes left when they turned the ball over on consecutive possessions. The first one, a fumble by Omarion Hampton, led directly to a Las Vegas touchdown which put the game on ice.

The Chargers had a chance to go up first but Cameron Dicker came up short on a 58-yard field attempt on the opening possession. The Raiders took over at their own 48-yard line.

The Raiders then turned it over when Cam Hart intercepted Kirk Cousins at the Chargers 17-yard line to halt a Las Vegas drive.

Later in the quarter Hezekiah Masses picked off Justin Herbert and returned it to the Chargers 23-yard line. The Raiders moved the ball down to the Chargers two-yard line but Ashton Jeanty, out of the Wildcat, was stopped on fourth and goal at the one late in the first quarter and it remained scoreless.

Early in the second quarter the Raiders drew first blood when Cousins hit Tre Tucker on a 40-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead.

The Chargers marched 69 yards on 10 plays on the next possession. Hampton capped it with a one-yard jaunt to get LA even at seven with 5:26 left in the second quarter.

Matt Gay answered by booting a 59-yard field goal with four seconds left in the second quarter and the Raiders took a 10-7 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter the Chargers went 74 yards on seven plays to take the lead. Herbert found Oronde Gadsden in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown strike with 9:49 left in the third. A 53-yard pass from Herbert to Tre’ Harris down to the Las Vegas five-yard line set up the Chargers score.

Cody White fought off a Charger defender in the end zone and grabbed a 13-yard pass from Cousins to put the Raiders up 17-14 with 3:53 left in the third quarter. Las Vegas used 11 plays to drive 74 yards.

Then the Chargers were bit by the turnover bug. Hampton fumbled and Jeremy Chin scooped it up for Las Vegas and returned it to the Chargers 16-yard line with 3:42 left in the fourth quarter. Three plays later Cousins hit a wide-open White in the end zone for an 11-yard scoring strike to give the Raiders a 24-14 advantage with 2:50 left.

On the very next series Masses came up with his second interception of the game as he picked off Herbert at the LA 48-yard line with 2:18 left. Game, set, match.

On the Chargers next possession they committed a holding penalty in the end zone resulting in a safety for the Raiders.

The Raiders then proceeded to run out the clock for the 26-14 victory.

“We’ll go back to work. That’s all I know how to do, that’s all we need to know how to do. We need to find a way,” said Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh. “When your back is against the wall you need to fight your way out.”

“I’m not deterred. We’re already talking about that. We will be talking about that. I’ll be back to work as soon as I walk off this podium. We didn’t make the jump from Week 1 to Week 2 in some areas,” Harbaugh said about the offense. “Again, we need to find our way out of this.”

For the Chargers Herbert completed 15 of 27 for 192 yards and a touchdown but he was hurt by the two picks. Hampton ran for 94 yards on 23 carries and a score but had the crucial fumble.

For the Raiders Cousins was 19 of 29 for 253 yards and three touchdowns with an interception. Tucker was the main target with five catches for 119 yards and a touchdown. Jeanty carried the rock 21 times for 48 yards.

The Chargers fell to 0-2 with the loss while the Raiders improved to 2-0. Ironically for the Chargers it was their second straight loss by the score of 26-14. They fell to Arizona last week by the same score.

LV 0 10 7 9 26

LA 0 7 7 0 14