Published Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025 | 2 a.m.
Updated Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025 | 4:21 p.m.
The Raiders’ season ended with a whimper Sunday afternoon at Allegiant Stadium.
The AFC West rival Los Angeles Chargers halted all momentum the Raiders had shown in a two-game winning streak coming in with a 34-20 victory.
The Raiders finished with a 4-13 record — the franchise’s worst mark since going 3-13 in 2014 — and head into an uncertain offseason.
Antonio Pierce might be one-and-done as a full-time head coach in Las Vegas as rumors continue to circulate on his job security.
The performance against the Chargers won’t help matters.
Pierce needed his team to put together a spirited effort to strengthen his chances of coming back, but it only happened for a half — or a little less than half.
Las Vegas led Los Angels 10-9 with a minute left in the first half, but then everything started to unravel. Quarterback Aidan O’Connell threw an interception to Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley in Raiders’ territory.
The visitors capitalized on the short field with their first touchdown, a six-yard pass from Justin Herbert to D.J. Chark to give them a 17-10 halftime lead.
Herbert then proceeded to stifle the Raiders’ defense for the entire second half. He finished with 346 yards and two touchdowns while completing 28 of 36 passing attempts.
Quentin Johnston had 13 catches for 186 yards while Ladd McConkey added five receptions for 95 yards in an afternoon where the Raiders’ secondary looked overmatched.
O’Connell couldn’t keep up, managing only 214 yards and two touchdowns on 24-for-34 passing. He appeared to hurt his knee for the second time in the last month late in the fourth quarter, leading to backup Desmond Ridder playing in one series.
O’Connell later returned to the game and threw a touchdown pass to rookie receiver Brock Bowers with 27 seconds remaining to cap a 70-yard scoring drive.
Las Vegas did scratch off one goal — delivering top receiver Jakobi Meyers to the first 1,000-yard season of his career. Meyers finished with eight catches for 114 yards and scored the Raiders’ only other touchdown on a 25-yard pass from O’Connell.
He was the lone bright spot on the Raiders’ offense, if not the whole team.
The Chargers and Raiders were considered evenly matched coming into the season, but the former is headed to Houston as the No. 5 seed next week in the AFC Playoffs. The Raiders miss the postseason for the third consecutive year and will instead shift their focus to picking inside the top seven of the NFL Draft in April — and whether Pierce will return.
This is a developing story. Check back later for more coverage and read below for live updates from throughout the game.
Los Angeles is pulling away now.
The Chargers have scored points on three straight possession to lead the Raiders 27-13 in the fourth quarter at Allegiant Stadium. The latest points came on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Justin Herbert to Will Dissly.
Las Vegas hasn’t been able to slow Herbert all day as the fourth-year quarterback has 299 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns off completing 26 of 34 attempts. Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell has been less effective, with 114 yards on 14-for-22 passing.
Both teams go on long drives to start the second half
The Raiders and Chargers traded field goals to start the second half at Allegiant Stadium.
Los Angeles now leads 20-13. The Chargers got to the 1-yard line in their first drive out of halftime — courtesy of a pass interference call on cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly — but the Raiders’ defensive line penetrated and stuffed three straight running plays to keep them out of the end zone.
Instead of going for the full seven points on a decisive fourth down, Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh trotted Cameron Dicker out for a 20-yard field goal.
The Raiders then went on an eight-play, 36-yard drive that culminated with a 47-yard field goal from kicker Daniel Carlson.
Raiders go into halftime behind Chargers
The Raiders weren’t trailing for 29 minutes and 50 seconds of the first half against the Chargers at Allegiant Stadium
They go into halftime with a deficit anyway after the visitors capitalized on a late turnover with a touchdown with 10 seconds before halftime. Justin Herbert found D.J. Chark for a six-yard touchdown and then tacked on a two-point conversion pass to Ladd McConkey on the run to put the Chargers up 17-10.
The four-play scoring drive was set into motion when Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley intercepted an Aidan O’Connell pass at the 30-yard line with 44 seconds remaining.
The Raiders had executed their bend-don’t-break defensive philosophy well until the final minute. The Chargers racked up 257 yards of offense in the first half but had settled for three Cameron Dicker field goals — he missed a fourth — and failed to get into the end zone before Chark’s late triumph.
IN addition to the turnover, the Raiders’ offense has committed three three-and-outs.
Jakobi Meyers scores first touchdown
The Raiders have thrown what feels like exclusively to Jakobi Meyers today.
Now they have a touchdown to show for it. Las Vegas leads the Los Angeles Chargers 10-3 after Meyers caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Aidan O’Connell.
The Chargers appeared to have a coverage bust and let Meyers get behind the defense, a costly mistake against a player who’s already claimed six catches barely into the second quarter.
Meyers also has 86 receiving yards. Alexander Mattison and Michael Mayer are the only other players with receptions.
The former has six yards and the latter’s lone catch resulted in no gain.
With 13 minutes to go before halftime, it’s been Meyers’ game at Allegiant Stadium.
Raiders score first
Daniel Carlson made a kick; Cameron Dicker missed one.
The Raiders lead the Chargers 3-0 at Allegiant Stadium with 2:46 left to go in the first quarter after a slow start to the Week 18 game between the AFC West rivals. Carlson’s kick came from 40 yards out, meaning the Raiders cashed in on a short field created by a 51-yard miss from the Chargers’ Dicker.
Los Angeles only attempted the field goal after an illegal block penalty on Las Vegas nullified an earlier fourth-down punt. Dicker just barely sailed the field goal attempt wide left.
Pregame
Two of the Raiders’ better players are out for today’s season finale against the Chargers at Allegiant Stadium
Cornerback Nate Hobbs and running back Ameer Abdullah were included on the just-released inactives list. Abdullah was no surprise — he was ruled out Friday — but there was optimism Hobbs could play through an illness that cropped up towards the end of the week.
He was listed as questionable coming into gameday but won’t be able to give it a shot. The other player the Raiders listed as questionable, guard Jordan Meredith, will play.
With Abdullah (foot) joining Zamir White (quad) and Sincere McCormick (knee) already out, running duties will fall to veteran Alexander Mattison and recently-signed undrafted rookie Chris Collier.
The Chargers’ inactives list looks more impactful than the Raiders’ group with four starters (running back Gus Edwards, wide receiver Joshua Palmer, linebacker Denzel Perryman, tackle Rashawn Slater) out.
Las Vegas’ other inactives are quarterback Carter Bradley (who’s permitted to play as an emergency third quarterback), safety Chris Smith, guard/tackle Andrus Peat and defensive tackle Matthew Butler.
Stay tuned for updates from throughout the game and read below for a full gameday preview.
The Raiders’ season ends where it began today in terms of the opponent.
Las Vegas and Los Angeles faced off in Week 1 at SoFi Stadium after spending training camp building similar blueprints it hoped would lead to success, playing a defense-first, run-heavy style.
The Chargers employed the identity more effectively in the first matchup, wearing the Raiders down before pulling away late for a 22-10 victory. And they’ve gotten more dynamic since then.
The Chargers’ offense has arguably been better than their defense over the second half of the season, especially when veteran running back J.K. Dobbins and standout rookie receiver Ladd McConkey have been healthy.
Las Vegas has improved offensively too since quarterback Aidan O’Connell took over as the starter but defense is the main reason it’s secured a two-game winning streak for the first time this season heading into the finale.
Las Vegas has largely shut down its last two opponents, Jacksonville and New Orleans, but will face a step-up in competition this time around. The pressure is on to not get swept in the season series against the AFC West divisional rival.
The Raiders and Chargers have split their two meetings each year since the former moved to Las Vegas in 2020.
Favorable matchup: Raiders’ attitude vs. Chargers’ clinched playoff spot
Several teams around the NFL will be going at less than full speed this week, and it’s no secret. It’s the reality of Week 18 where half the teams in the league this year are eliminated from playoff contention and several others are locked into their playoff position. Just don’t expect the Raiders to be among that group. They won’t sit any starters to avoid injury, and they’ve vowed not to coast into the offseason. Coach Antonio Pierce’s job may depend on it. The first-year full-time coach’s biggest argument to return is the way he’s kept the team together regardless of the circumstances. The Raiders have played hard despite a slew of injuries and a midseason 10-game losing streak. A third straight win at the end of the year would strengthen Pierce’s message. The Chargers aren’t planning to rest anyone available on their roster either — coach Jim Harbaugh said the plan was the same as always, to win — even though they’re slotted into one of the two top AFC wild-card seeds. There’s a chance they could at least keep their approach vanilla and make the emphasis on Week 18 to get out healthy in order to prepare for a bigger game a week later. The Raiders, on the other hand, are going all-out for a win without a doubt.
Problematic matchup: Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert vs. Raiders’ pass defense
Las Vegas’ secondary has confounded the Jaguars’ Mac Jones and the Saints’ Spencer Rattler the last two weeks. That’s not going to be as easy against Herbert, who’s mostly had his way against the Raiders through his first five years in the NFL. The 26-year-old has thrown for 2,170 yards in eight games against Las Vegas with 16 touchdowns and two interceptions. His statistics are so strong that it’s relatively surprising he’s only gone 5-3 against the Raiders. Herbert hit a milestone in last week’s 40-7 victory over the Patriots, becoming the most prolific passer in NFL history through five seasons. Herbert now has 20,747 passing yards in his career, surpassing the 20,619 Hall of Famer Peyton Manning managed in his first half-decade. He also became the third player in NFL history with at least 3,000 passing yards and 20 passing touchdowns in each of his first five seasons, joining Manning and current Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson. Las Vegas kept Herbert in check better than ever in Week 1, limiting him to 144 passing yards off completing 17 of 26 attempts but that was with a fully-healthy secondary that included since-lost starters Marcus Epps (strong safety) and Jakorian Bennett (No. 2 cornerback). The Raiders will need young replacement defensive backs like Isaiah Pola-Moa and Thomas Harper — both had takeaways in the last two weeks — to keep progressing to repeat that success in Week 18.
Gamebreaker: Wide receiver Jakobi Meyers
The Raiders’ top receiver needs 96 yards to hit 1,000 receiving yards on the season for the first time in his six-year career. The team will make a concerted effort to get him there. Not that they necessarily need to feed Meyers extra targets to hit the milestone. He could just as easily get there naturally considering he’s already banked three games with 96 or more receiving yards this year. He also hasn’t dropped a single pass all season. Meyers broke a seven-week scoreless drought in New Orleans last game, catching a three-yard strike from O’Connell just before halftime to put the Raiders up 13-7. Las Vegas never trailed for the rest of the game. Rooke tight end Brock Bowers has been the focal point of the Raiders’ offense all season and leads the team in all major receiving categories, but the acclaim he’s gotten has overshadowed what’s been a highly dependable season from Meyers. Many thought the Raiders’ offense wouldn’t be able to recover after trading Davante Adams to the Jets midseason, but there hasn’t been any drop-off with Meyers stepping into the featured role. Las Vegas wants to send him out in style.
THEY SAID IT
“Finish, finish. We all signed up for 17 games, an 18-week schedule. We’ve had a really good month, in my opinion, regardless of record just seeing the improvement, the things we talked about and now we’ve got a great opportunity against a divisional foe that we know very well.”
— Pierce on his message to the team going into Week 18
“He’s played unbelievable football this year and really, anything that comes for Jakobi, I think he deserves it. I think it would be awesome to get him to that landmark but I think if you ask Jakobi, he cares about winning.”
— O’Connell on Meyers and his desire to get him to 1,000 yards on the season
“It’s almost like he hates it when you talk about his personal stuff. I always try to compliment him because I want to let him know how impressed I am with what he’s doing, and he kind of goes, ‘OK, thanks,’ and walks away. It’s a credit to him as a person. His priorities are definitely in the right place.”
— Offensive coordinator Scott Turner on Bowers not taking much pride in his accomplishments and caring more about winning
“The great job, that’s not true. We haven’t won. That’s how I judge it. I love the relationship with the players and this organization, but I’m focused on the Chargers. The misnomer, miscalculation of me doing a great job, I’ve got to do a better job — period, point blank.”
— Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, who’s considered highly coveted in NFL circles, when asked if he wanted to return to the Raiders for a fourth season
Big Number: 108
Bowers now has 108 receptions on the year, setting the Raiders’ franchise record for most in a season. Former tight end Darren Waller previously held the all-time mark with 107 receptions in the 2020 season. That’s also the record for most catches by a rookie in NFL history, breaking the 105 Puka Nacua hauled in a year ago. Bowers needs nine more catches against the Chargers to surpass the record for most by a tight end in a single season in NFL history, held by Zach Ertz who had 116 receptions while with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018. The accolades keep rolling in for Bowers, who last week was named to the Pro Bowl. The only other Raider to get that nod was edge rusher Maxx Crosby, who’s missed the Raiders’ last three games after recently undergoing ankle surgery. Bowers is considered a longshot to beat Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels as the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, but he’ll likely be the runner-up. He’s emerged as the Raiders’ best offensive building block going forward for years to come.
Best Bet (8-8): Jakobi Meyers over 53.5 receiving yards
Proposition betting in Week 18 is heavily influenced by incentives. Unlike some of his peers in the NFL, Meyers doesn’t have any contract bonuses to trigger with a big performance. But it may not matter. The 1,000-yard mark is motivation enough. And Meyers’ teammates aren’t being shy about their desire to get him there. O’Connell specifically has spoken highly of Meyers ever since he came in as a rookie a year ago. The receiver has averaged more than nine targets per game since Adams left including a career-high 15 in a Week 12 loss to the Broncos. Don’t be surprised if Meyers threatens that mark against the Chargers. He’s gone over this number in five of the last six games, and should be in a strong position to beat it again.