Oct 2, 2023 | NFL, Los Angeles, Sports, Valleys

Chargers Hold off Raiders

“It was a really tough performance with a bunch of guys out,” coach Brandon Staley said. “Our guys had their best at the end.”

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) throws under pressure from Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Divine Deablo during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)© Provided by The Associated Press

By Earl Heath

Contributing Sports Writer

The Chargers jumped out to a 17-point halftime lead, but needed a late stop on defense and a clutch throw from Justin Herbert in the final three minutes to pull out a 24-17 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders in front of 70,204 at So-Fi Stadium.

The 4- year veteran suffered a finger injury in the third quarter that hindered him a bit but he forged on.

“There’s never really a question. It was just getting fixed up and going back out there,” he said. “The pain level is not bad. It’s just one of those things that we have to monitor and see where it goes.”

He had career lows in completions (13), attempts (24) and yardage (167) — but those totals included a big throw in the fourth quarter. He hit Joshua Palmer for 51 yards up the left sideline on third-and-10 from the Chargers 11 to ice the game.

“It was a really tough performance with a bunch of guys out,” coach Brandon Staley said. “Our guys had their best at the end.”

Khalil Mack went off and set a franchise single-game record with six sacks against his old team. The 10-year veteran became the sixth player to have at least six sacks in a game since sacks became an official statistic in 1982. The record is seven, by Kansas City’s Derrick Thomas in 1990.

“We just had time to get there,” Mack said. “It’s sacks but at the same time it is a team effort. It’s a lot of luck that goes into it.”

A pair of fumbles by Adin O’Connell led to Los Angeles’ second-quarter touchdowns. The Chargers extended their lead to 17-7 when Herbert connected with Keenan Allen for a 7-yard TD. The Chargers had taken over on the Raiders 36 after Chris Rumph recovered O’Connell’s fumble.

O’Donnell filling in for the injured Jimmy Garoppolo finished the day 24 of 39 for 238 yards with one interception. He had the . driving for the tying touchdown when Asante Samuel Jr. picked off Aidan O’Connell’s pass at the Chargers 2-yard line with 2:33 left in the game. The team has a bye this week before they take on the Dallas Cowboys OCT16 at So-Fi Stadium.

Inactive Chargers included safeties Derwin James Jr. and Alohi Gilman and linebacker Joey Bosa.