By Daniel Popper, Tashan Reed and Vic Tafur
Coming into their “Thursday Night Football” matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Las Vegas Raiders hadn’t scored a touchdown in their last 19 offensive possessions — a streak that dated back to Week 12.
On Thursday, the Raiders scored a touchdown on six of their eight possessions in the first half, building a 42-0 lead en route to what became a franchise-record win at Allegiant Stadium, putting up 63 points to the Chargers’ 21.
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Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell had four touchdown passes — doubling his season total in just a half. Receiver Tre Tucker caught two of those touchdown passes and tight end Michael Mayer and receiver Jakobi Meyers hauled in TD passes. Meyers also threw a touchdown pass to Davante Adams in the second half.
Raiders running backs Zamir White and Brandon Bolden each added a score on the ground.
Las Vegas’ defense limited the Chargers, playing without starting quarterback Justin Herbert, who is out for the rest of the season with a broken finger, to just 89 yards in the first half and forced four fumbles — recovering three. The Raiders’ defense forced two more turnovers in the second half with John Jenkins returning a fumble 44 yards and Jack Jones returning an interception 16 yards for touchdowns.
Los Angeles scored three second-half touchdowns with quarterback Easton Stick connecting with Joshua Palmer, Quentin Johnston and Alex Erickson. The Chargers fall to 5-9 and sit in the gutter of the AFC West as coach Brandon Staley’s job security remains in question.
The end for Brandon Staley
This is what it looks like when a team has given up — on a season and a coach.
The last time a team got shut out and trailed by at least 42 points at halftime of an NFL game was 2014, when the Bears trailed 42-0 to the Green Bay Packers in Week 10, according to TruMedia. Bears coach Marc Trestman was fired after that season.
And Staley saw the same fate on Friday, as he was fired along with Chargers general manager Tom Telesco. — Daniel Popper, Chargers staff writer
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The Chargers need an organizational reset
Three weeks ago, after a home loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Staley was asked if he felt like his messaging was still getting through to his players. The Chargers were then 4-7. “Yeah,” Staley replied. “Otherwise, you would get blown out of the stadium. In one of these games, you’d get blown out of the stadium, and that hasn’t happened. We’ve been tight with the best in the league.”
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Well, the Chargers got blown out of the stadium, and by Staley’s admission, that can only mean one thing.
The Chargers looked like a checked-out team against the Raiders. They turned it over five times. They lacked effort and fire in all three phases. They had pre-snap penalties and procedural errors. It seemed very much like a season of disappointments and letdowns had taken a toll on Staley’s players. To lose in this fashion to your biggest rival is as unacceptable as it gets in the NFL. — Popper
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Popper: Chargers must make sweeping changes after humiliating 63-21 loss to Raiders
Antonio Pierce makes his case
Regardless of the result, the Raiders’ effort under interim coach Antonio Pierce has never waned. It would’ve been easy for the Raiders to mail it in for the rest of the season after suffering their third straight loss in a shutout last week, but they instead responded by scoring the most points in franchise history in a resounding win against the Chargers. The Raiders are now 3-3 under Pierce, who’s coaching for the full-time job.
“I would love for the guys that are in this job right now to be able to keep it,” owner Mark Davis told The Athletic on Wednesday when asked about Pierce and interim general manager Champ Kelly, “but we’ll see how that goes.”
Pierce delivered his most impressive coaching performance the following day. If the Raiders finish strong in their final three games against the Chiefs in Kansas City, Colts in Indianapolis and Broncos in Las Vegas, Davis may be convinced to keep both Pierce and Kelly onboard. — Tashan Reed, Raiders staff writer
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Raiders make a loud statement for Antonio Pierce with record 63-point performance
Franchise records fall
The Raiders set a franchise record with 63 points in beating the Chargers 63-21 in front of a national television audience in Las Vegas Thursday night. They had scored 46 points the previous four games combined and were shut out last Sunday by the Minnesota Vikings.
The cherries on the sundae were a 44-yard fumble return for a touchdown by 330-pound Jenkins and an interception return for a touchdown — one-handed, no less — by Jones.
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The Raiders are playing very hard for Pierce and they improved to 3-3 under him and 6-8 overall. Pierce had been coy all week about whether he was sticking with rookie quarterback O’Connell, and he threw four touchdown passes.
The Raiders scored a franchise-record 42 points in the first half and led 42-0, also the biggest halftime margin in their history, all without injured running back Josh Jacobs and two-fifths of their offensive line. — Vic Tafur, Raiders writer
The Raiders were unrecognizable
One week after the Raiders were held scoreless at home for an entire game against the Vikings, they erupted for 42 points in the first half against the Chargers. The Raiders had scored just 30 points in their previous three games combined. In one of the most dramatic offensive turnarounds in NFL history, the Raiders got contributions from everyone.
O’Connell was sensational, the offensive line gave him all day to throw, receivers Tucker, Meyers and Adams had their way, tight end Mayer got in on the action as well, running back White punched in a short one and even the immortal Bolden ripped off a long run for a score. It was a collective annihilation of Staley’s defense. — Reed
Highlights
Jack Jones one-handed Pick-6 🔥#LACvsLV on Prime Video
Also available on #NFLPlus https://t.co/ga7O4RMwdt pic.twitter.com/PmSa7IBrb4— NFL (@NFL) December 15, 2023
All nine @Raiders touchdowns tonight 🔥 pic.twitter.com/SQvzyK0Ql9
— NFL (@NFL) December 15, 2023
Required reading
- Richard Sherman calls for Chargers to fire Brandon Staley at halftime of blowout vs. Raiders
- TNF’s Chargers-Raiders game makes history with NFL’s first all-Black and 3 women officiating crew
(Photo: Candice Ward / Getty Images)