By Daniel Popper, Vic Tafur, Tashan Reed and Amos Morale III
The Los Angeles Chargers closed the regular season with a 34-20 win against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, a third consecutive victory that gives them the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoffs.
Los Angeles (11-6) will travel to face the Houston Texans in a wild-card matchup next weekend. Los Angeles had already clinched its postseason berth with Week 17’s win against the New England Patriots.
Sunday’s game illustrated a stark contrast between the AFC West rivals, who both are in their first full seasons with their current coach. Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers improved as the season wore on, winning eight of their final 11. A big part of Los Angeles’ success has been the play of quarterback Justin Herbert who finished with 346 yards and two touchdown passes in Sunday’s win.
Antonio Pierce’s Raiders have struggled this season and finished 4-13, failing to match the win total they tallied under him (five) in the nine weeks he served as interim coach in 2023. Asked postgame if he feels he deserves another opportunity as Raiders coach, Pierce declined to comment.
For L.A., attention turns to Houston
With this victory, the Chargers avoided a much more difficult playoff matchup at the Baltimore Ravens. This was the ideal scenario heading into the weekend. The Chargers got the loss they needed from the Pittsburgh Steelers. And after a slow start in Las Vegas, they pulled away in the second half. The Chargers will now have a bona fide shot at winning a playoff game in Harbaugh’s first season as head coach.
The Texans won Sunday, but they did so against the worst team in the league in the Tennessee Titans, and they subbed in their backups because they had nothing to gain. But Texans were trending in the wrong direction entering Week 18. They lost badly to the Ravens on Christmas Day, 31-2. They do not have a good offense. The offensive line has struggled. Quarterback C.J. Stroud has regressed.
This is a winnable game for Harbaugh’s team. And if the Chargers win, you can start playing out some tantalizing scenarios. If the Chargers beat the Texans, and if all the higher seeds win the other first-round playoff games, that would set up a third meeting between Los Angeles and the division-rival Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead. Grab your popcorn. — Daniel Popper, Chargers beat writer
Chargers offense is peaking at the right time
The Chargers have put up more than 1,200 total yards over the past three games, including 474 on Sunday against the Raiders. They have scored 108 points in that three-game stretch. Herbert is dealing. He had the longest scramble of his career in the fourth quarter in Las Vegas, setting up the touchdown that put the game away. A new layer did appear for the Chargers offense on Sunday: Quentin Johnston had the game of his life. He caught 13 passes for 186 yards, both career highs.
Previously, Johnston had never caught more than five passes in a game. His previous career high in yards was 118, set earlier this season in Cleveland. Johnston attacked all three levels of the field. He was a factor on screens. He was productive in the quick game on slants. He had multiple catches on digs in the intermediate area. And he had a fingertip catch down the left sideline on a go route for an explosive gain.
QUENTIN JOHNSTON, THIS CATCH 🔥🔥🔥
📺: #LACvsLV on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/NxC5E6RHoA— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2025
Johnston became the eighth player this season to catch at least 13 passes in a game. This is the player Harbaugh and his staff envisioned when they first got their hands on Johnston in April. Receivers coach Sanjay Lal has done a remarkable job with Johnston’s development. The Chargers have been searching for a complement to Ladd McConkey, who added five catches for 95 yards Sunday. Is Johnston that player? If he can play this way, the Chargers will be a dangerous offense in the playoffs. — Popper
Uncertain futures in Las Vegas
Pierce walked into Allegiant Stadium smiling ear to ear and wearing a Brock Bowers jersey, paying tribute to his record-setting rookie tight end. He left the field with his future in question, after the Raiders were outscored 25-10 to close a game they led 10-9 late in the second quarter.
Owner Mark Davis hasn’t given Pierce a vote of confidence in the past month, merely saying he wanted the team to finish strong after a 10-game losing streak. The Raiders had won two in a row before Sunday’s game.
Pierce was 5-4 as an interim coach last season, and is 9-17 overall.
The Raiders were one of the worst offensive teams in the league after turning to free-agent quarterback Gardner Minshew in the offseason when they weren’t able to draft a QB with the 13th pick. (Bowers was a nice consolation prize, but the six teams who drafted QBs ahead of the Raiders seem pretty happy.)
Star receiver Davante Adams requested a trade in Week 4, and Pierce had no choice but to rely on his defense. But the Raiders lost five starters over the course of the season, including their best player, edge rusher Maxx Crosby. The fill-ins did an admirable job, but too often ran out of gas late in the games like they did on Sunday.
The feeling in the building is that general manager Tom Telesco is safe, but everyone is waiting to hear what Davis thought of Sunday’s game and Pierce’s future. The X-factor is new minority owner Tom Brady, who Davis said he will lean on — although it’s not exactly clear when, as Brady seems focused right now on broadcasting games for Fox. — Vic Tafur, Raiders beat writer
Raiders eye the draft
The Raiders officially hold pick No. 6 in the 2025 NFL Draft. That puts them behind three other teams who are expected to be exploring their options at quarterback in the Tennessee Titans (pick No. 1), Cleveland Browns (No. 2) and New York Giants (No. 3) and probably won’t be interested in trading down. Quarterback Aidan O’Connell hasn’t looked like the long-term answer in 17 starts in the last two seasons, so the Raiders will be in the same boat. The issue is their path to finding an upgrade is murky. At this point, it feels more likely that they’ll need to either trade for a veteran quarterback or sign one in free agency to do so.
On the bright side for Las Vegas, it can still land a high-quality player in the first round who isn’t a quarterback. Cornerbacks Travis Hunter and Will Johnson, defensive tackle Mason Graham, edge rushers Abdul Carter and Mykel Williams, running back Ashton Jeanty, receiver Tetairoa McMillan and offensive tackle Will Campbell are some of the most intriguing prospects at other positions of need who could still be on the board.
Telesco wasn’t able to draft a quarterback in the first round in the 2024 draft, but he still nailed his first-round pick by grabbing Bowers, who should be named an All-Pro after the season. While finding a solution at quarterback is paramount, the Raiders roster needs a lot of help on both sides of the ball. Assuming Telesco is still the GM come April, he will take whoever he considers to be the best player available, regardless of his position. — Tashan Reed, Raiders beat writer
Required reading
(Photo:Ian Maule / Getty Images)
