2 winners, 2 losers from Chargers-Raiders: Vidal, Tuipulotu carry Bolts in big win

The Chargers got a much-needed win on Sunday against the Raiders which will provide a semblance of cushion in regards to their playoff chances. Now, they face a five-game gauntlet to end the year. Their next opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, are coming off back-to-back losses to both the Cowboys and Bears. It’d be a smart thing for the Chargers to do everything in their power to make sure they stay down in the dumps for another week.

One way for them to do that is for their best players to show up and show out. Some of them did just that against Las Vegas, while others did not. We need to hope for a lot more of the “did” in Week 14.

With that said, lets check out this week’s winners and losers.

Winners

RB Kimani Vidal

Vidal has been a bit boom or bust as the starter for the Chargers, but Sunday’s win over the Raiders was certainly his biggest “boom” to date.

The former sixth-round pick took 25 carries for a career-high 126 rushing yards and an electric 59-yard touchdown run to give the Chargers the lead they eventually wouldn’t relinquish. That’s now four games in which Vidal has gone over 100 yards from scrimmage while scoring a touchdown in each of those outings.

It’s likely that Omarion Hampton is back next week when the team hosts the Eagles in primetime, but I wouldn’t expect Vidal to be relegated back to an afterthought. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman will likely ride the hot hand and with his history, Vidal could easily be that guy for the Chargers in the right matchup.

EDGE Tuli Tuipulotu

The Chargers pass rush, as a whole, had a strong day against the Raiders as they sacked Geno Smith five times. However, no defender single-handedly made a bigger impact than Tuipulotu who recorded his ninth and 10th sacks of the season on top of two more tackles for loss and a pass deflection while leading the team with seven total tackles.

Numerous times Tuipulotu was the reason a Raiders drive ended and every single one of those efforts was critical in the Chargers shaking off a slow start to dominate one of their divisional rivals.

Losers

QB Justin Herbert

Herbert is a tough S.O.B. and that should always be appreciated, but Sunday was a day in which he was carried by his teammates around him moreso than we’ve seen in recent memory. He was efficient with his limited attempts (15-of-20) but finished with 151 yards, two touchdowns, and a head-scratching interception that simply looked unlike what we’ve come to expect from the team’s franchise quarterback. Granted it was a great play by cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly, but it still looked like a forced pass by a quarterback who has the utmost confidence in his arm strength to fit it into tight places.

The interception was Herbert’s 10th of the season which ties the second-most he’s tossed in any given year (2020, 2022). If his pace continues, his 2.5 percent interception rate will be the highest of his career, beating the previous high of 2.2 percent he set during his 5,000-yard, 15-interception season in 2021.

The attention paid to TE Brock Bowers

If you watched every reception by Bowers, you may have noticed an unfortunate pattern when it came to the coverage of the Raiders’ best offensive player.

On his first catch, Denzel Perryman bit on the play-action a bit too hard and Bowers streaked free in front of his face for what ended up being a big gain. The second catch by Bowers was on a corner route in which it looked like no one really had tabs on him until Cam Hart came off a different player to defend the pass at the last moment.

Several plays later, Bowers released vertically towards Derwin James inside the five-yard line before he was passed off to…no one. Safety Elijah Molden, who was behind James in coverage to start the play, drifted away from the middle of the field to defend someone else. Bowers simply cut behind James after being passed off and caught a wide open touchdown.

In each instance, it showed a complete lack of acknowledgement from the Chargers defense. I have no idea what Jesse Minter called nor will we likely ever, but I guarantee it didn’t involve leaving Bowers open more often than not.