The Chargers advanced to 6-5 last week with a last-minute comeback victory over the Cardinals.
On Sunday, they match up with a Raiders team that’s been sluggish for much of the season but is beginning to string solid games together.
Here are four reasons to be optimistic about LA’s chances of sweeping the silver and black and staying in the playoff mix.
Down and out
For once, the Chargers are arguably the less injured team going into Week 13. Los Angeles is missing Rashawn Slater, Joey Bosa, Mike Williams, and likely Corey Linsley (concussion). Still, the Raiders will be lacking Hunter Renfrow, Darren Waller, Nate Hobbs, and potentially Josh Jacobs (calf). With Renfrow and Waller out, Las Vegas’ offense has flowed through Jacobs, who will not practice in full all week in hopes that he can play Sunday. If he can’t go, moving the ball will fall to Derek Carr and rookie Zamir White, who hasn’t had more than two carries in a game all season. On defense, losing Hobbs and Anthony Averett means that 2020 undrafted free agent Tyler Hall will likely start at cornerback after being signed from the Raiders practice squad earlier this week. While Hall has performed admirably, giving up just two receptions for 6 yards in 50 snaps, matching him up with Keenan Allen or DeAndre Carter should be advantageous for the Chargers.
Michael Davis’ re-emergence
Davis has really turned things around since training camp when pundits criticized him for pinning his poor play last season on personal drama. Since then, Davis has put together a strong season, playing well enough to start a few CB2 debates in the preseason and then filling in admirably for JC Jackson while the prized free agent battled ankle and knee ailments. With Jackson out for the year, Davis has once again seized the opportunity, most recently by allowing just three receptions for 36 yards on six targets against Arizona. The fact that Davis was able to do that against a receiver like DeAndre Hopkins bodes well for the Davante Adams matchup: Adams had 141 yards and a touchdown in Week 1 against LA and will garner a healthy amount of targets, covered or not, with the injuries to the Raiders offense.
The Khalil Mack difference
Khalil Mack won the Chargers’ first Raiders game this season, sealing a victory with a strip sack of Derek Carr on fourth down. Mack had three sacks, including that one, against Vegas, but he’s cooled down a bit since then without Joey Bosa on the other side. Opposing offensive lines have been able to allocate more resources to limiting Mack without worrying about another All-Pro caliber threat on the other side, and that’s been evident in Mack’s stat line: the former Defensive Player of the Year has just four sacks since Week 1’s trio. On Sunday, though, Mack gets the Raiders again, and his performance in Week 1 feels like it was based on more than just Bosa’s presence on the field.
Justin Herbert vs. Patrick Graham
Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is 0-2 against Justin Herbert – a 37-21 loss last season when Graham was with the Giants and Week 1’s defeat. In those two games, Herbert is 49 of 65 (75.4%) with six touchdowns and zero interceptions. Small sample size there, but the accuracy numbers are a full eight points higher than Herbert’s career-best throughout a season (67.4%). Long story short: Graham hasn’t found the answer to LA’s signal caller. Third time’s the charm, as they say, but Herbert will have Keenan Allen on a full snap count for only the second time this season. That bodes well for Herbert’s chances of going 3 for 3 against Graham’s defense.