Not surprisingly, the Raiders didn’t finish the season on a high note. They were facing a playoff-bound Chargers team they had lost to in the season finale and the Raiders were in even worse shape for this one than they were for the season opener.
Busters
S Isaiah Pola-Mao
The Raiders were actually leading a couple times in the first half. The first time they went up 3-0 in the first quarter. Then on the second play of the Chargers next drive, Pola-Mao gave up a 47-yard catch that put them in scoring range and they tied it up 3-3.
The Raiders would respond with a touchdown drive to take a 10-3 lead. Then the first play of the ensuing drive, Pola-Mao gave up a 22-yard catch to put the Chargers instantly in plus territory. The Chargers would ultimately get another field goal out of it.
The lead would narrow even more on the next drive and it was Pola-Mao who gave up the longest catch of the drive for 17 yards to put them in field goal range.
After Aidan O’Connell threw an interception with a minute left in the second quarter, the Chargers quickly moved into first and goal on a 19-yard catch Pola-Mao allowed. After a spike, they would score the touchdown. They went for two, and it was Pola-Mao who lost track of Ladd McConkey for the score to make it a 17-10 Chargers lead at the half.
CB DeCamerion Richardson
On those last two Chargers possessions of the second quarter, Richardson gave up a 12-yard catch and a five-yard catch.
Still, it was a one-score game late in the third quarter. But it wouldn’t last. The final drive, saw Richardson give up a 14-yard catch on third and five. With the drive still alive, they would go for a touchdown to make it a two-score game to begin the fourth quarter.
The final drive would put the game away. It was led out by Richardson giving up a 39-yard catch, followed by an eight-yard catch that put the Chargers in scoring range to put the game away.
Quentin Johnston brutalized Richardson all game long. To the tune of career highs in catches (13) and yards (186). For perspective on this, in two full seasons, Johnston had never had more than five catches in a game. And this is just the second time he’s ever even surpassed 100 yards in a game.
LB Robert Spillane
The final two drives were brutal for Spillane. First he couldn’t make the tackle on Justin Herbert who ran past him 41 yards to put them in first and goal. They were in the end zone two plays later.
The final drive, Spillane gave up a 12-yard run, followed by a five-yard run, and then a first down on third and three to put them in first and goal. He would get blocked on the two-yard touchdown run as well.
QB Aidan O’Connell
The Raiders started the game with two straight three-and-outs, including a pass for no gain and an overthrow of Brock Bowers. The third drive also ended with O’Connell missing Bowers on an overthrow.
In the second quarter, with the Raiders up 10-9 and in the two-minute drill, O’Connell threw off target for Alexander Mattison short over the middle and was intercepted. It gave the Chargers the ball at the Vegas 30 with a minute remaining. They would get a touchdown out of it to take a 17-10 lead at the half.
Down two scores in the fourth. O’Connell was hurt momentarily and when he came back in, he found himself in third and ten. He threw incompletions on third and fourth down. nearly getting picked by Derwin James on a pass for Brock Bowers in the end zone to turn the ball over on downs.
The Chargers got the ball and drove for the game-clinching score.