Winners and losers in the Raiders-Chargers game, Malcolm Koonce is in charge on this important night.
There were two games in a row where the Raiders of Vegas made history that were very different from each other.
There are no losers in this week’s piece because almost everyone on the Raiders’ bench won on Thursday night.
The Raiders set a club record with 63 points in their Week 15 win in the Los Angeles Chargers in Thursday Night Football. This came just one week after losing the lowest-scoring indoor game in NFL history.
As soon as Daniel Carlson touched the ball on the first kickoff, Las Vegas was in charge of the game. They jumped out to a 21-0 lead within the first quarter and doubled that lead before halftime.
After being shut out at home for a week, the Raiders scored 42 points in the first half against the Chargers, which was a team record. They went on to win 63–21 at Allegiant Stadium in Thursday night.
The Raiders scored 63 points, which was the most in the team’s history. Quarterback Aidan O’Connell also threw four touchdowns in the first half, which was the most within the NFL this season.
When the Raiders won, a record number of people won, and this list shows who won and who lost.
Five Charger turnovers led to five scores for the Raiders. This included a pick-6 interception and an unsuccessful fumble return over a touchdown on back-to-back possessions.
A lot of players had their best games of the season within Week 15 when they played the Chargers. Those people are John Jenkins, Aidan O’Connell, Zamir White, and Jack Jones.
Malcolm Koonce also had a great game. He had seven pressures, three quarterback hits, three tackles to a loss, and two sacks. Koonce has had great games all season, so this wasn’t a surprise.
In Koonce’s first two years on the field, he had two hits and two quarterback catches. But he already has 12 quarterback hits and 4 sacks in 2023.
Along with Maxx Crosby, he’s become a reliable pass rusher and an important part of the defense.
As long as Tyree Wilson keeps getting better as an inside-outside rush rusher, the Raiders’ defense will be pretty strong going forward.
One of the best things about this season for the Raiders has been seeing Koonce grow.
The Silver and Black beat the Chargers 63–21, which is a franchise record for most points achieved in a game. They were dominant in all three stages of the game.
It was a total 180 from what we saw today when the Raiders played at Allegiant Stadium just four days ago and lost 3-0 to the Minnesota Vikings. They also set an NFL record to most points scored within a game the week after a defeat.
To start the game off quickly, the Raiders scored touchdowns on their first three offensive plays. By the end in the first quarter, they were up 21-0.
The defense kept their end for the deal too, too. In the first half, they forced three mistakes. Of the three mistakes, all three were caused by lost fumbles. Malcolm Koonce and Marcus Epps on defense and DJ Turner upon special teams recovered the balls.
The offense kept going strong, scoring 28 more points without answering. Aidan O’Connell threw an all-time high of four touchdowns, which was the best performance of his career.
Tre Tucker scored two of those touchdowns, which was the first moment in his NFL career that he hit the end zone.
Plus, Zamir White scored the inaugural NFL touchdown when he took over for the hurt Josh Jacobs.
In his first NFL game, White averaged four yards per carry. Brandon Bolden and Ameer Abdullah helped the running game by combining for 57 yards and a score.
They made five mistakes, which is the most they’ve had in a game as Week 10 of the 2020 season.
The Raiders scored 63 points on the day, with John Jenkins scoring two defensive touchdowns and Jack Jones taking back an interception 16 yards for a score. Jenkins recovered a fumble and ran it home for a touchdown.