At the half the Chargers had 26 yards on the ground. But as the second half went along, the cracks started to show and eventually the dam broke.
Maxx Crosby was a major force in the Raiders defense holding the Chargers down early and keeping it a one-point game at the half. His disappointment in the team’s inability to keep it going for 60 minutes was palpable.
“It’s a game of inches and a game of details and we weren’t detailed enough for four quarters,” said Crosby. “We did some good things, but there’s a couple runs where it’s on us. At end of the day it’s about block destruction, getting off blocks and finishing plays and we just let things get a little leaky at the end and that’s not what we’re about, so we got to fix it moving forward.”
Crosby referred to a couple runs in particular that bit the Raiders in the second half. The two runs he is referring to are almost certainly the 12-yard TD run by JK Dobbins to begin the fourth quarter and the 61-yard Dobbins run to set of the game clinching touchdown late in the fourth.
The 12-yard run went inside the right tackle and it was Divine Deablo who blew the gap, blitzing too early and ending up on the edge along with Crosby, leaving a good sized hole for Dobbins to run for the end zone.
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The 61-yard run once again saw Dobbins choose the gap where Diablo was not. This time Diablo went inside the guard and Dobbins bounced to inside the tackle and was gone for 61yards before Nate Hobbs could chase him down.
Three plays later they were in the end zone and the game was, for all intents and purposes, over.