Los Angeles Chargers at Las Vegas Raiders 2025 Week 2: Pre-Game Analysis

Tyler Lawrence
Sep 11
5 min read

Updated: Sep 14

Fresh off a win in Brazil, the Los Angeles Chargers get a full 10 days of rest before they travel to Las Vegas for a back-to-back primetime game; this time on Monday Night Football against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Rivalry Between Two Longtime Head Coaches Renewed

Head coaches Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll are no strangers, having started a rivalry nearly two decades ago when Harbaugh was the head coach of the Stanford Cardinal and Carroll was the head coach of the USC Trojans. Harbaugh and Carroll first met in 2007. Coming off a 1-11 season the year prior, as 41-point underdogs, and with his backup quarterback, the Cardinal upset the No.2 ranked Trojans 24-23. Stanford snapped a 35-game home win streak at the Coliseum, and the 41-point underdog win was the largest upset in Sportsbook history. The two would meet two more times in 2008 and 2009, with Harbaugh getting the best of Carroll with a 2-1 record. Their final matchup in 2009 lead to the infamous post game exchange at midfield, where Carroll confronted Harbaugh asking “what’s your deal.”

Both Harbaugh and Carroll would continue their rivalry in 2011, but instead of PAC-10 Conference rivals, they were now NFC West Rivals. Harbaugh was as hired as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, and Carroll as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. In 12 games from 2011 to 2014, Carroll would win 7 matchups. The biggest game they coached against each other was the NFC Championship game in 2013, a game won in the final minute by Seattle to go to the Super Bowl.

Now, as head coaches for the Los Angeles Chargers, and Las Vegas Raiders, the rivalry continues. The Chargers and Raiders are bitter rivals with no love lost between the fans, players, teams or coaches.

Raiders Offensive Lineup

Credit: Michael Clemons/ Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders are led by quarterback Geno Smith, who re-joins Pete Carroll from his days in Seattle. Geno is known as a game manager, and his best days as a player came under the leadership of Carroll. One of the six players who threw for over 4,000 yards last season, Smith comes off a game where he threw for 362 yards in the Raiders win against the New England Patriots 20-13. 1st-Rd draft pick running back Ashton Jeanty had 19 carries for 38 yards and a touchdown. He is the Raiders primary offensive threat, and the tough game he had last week should not be an indication that he should be over-looked. Jeanty is special, and Pete Carroll-led teams always have a strong run game.

The receiving core is led by All-Pro Tight End Brock Bowers, who is questionable with a knee injury that knocked him out of the Patriots game, but not before he had 5 receptions for 103 yards. If he doesn’t play, the Raiders become more one-dimensional as a rushing team. That’s not to say that the Raiders do not have weapons in the passing game. The veteran slot receiver, Jakobi Meyers, paces the team in targets with 10 last week, catching 8 for 97 yards. They have two promising rookies in Jack Bech and Dont’e Thornton. Thornton in particular has speed that will test the secondary deep and Bech wasn’t named the Reese’s Senior Bowl MVP for no reason. They are unproven and young, but dangerous non-the-less.

LT Kolton Miller, fresh off a 3-year/$66M contract extension, is their best player on the offensive line, and 2nd-year Jackson Power-Johnson mans the position at right guard. Those are really the only two quality players on the Raiders offensive line. LG Dylan Parham, C Jordan Merideth, and RT DJ Glaze can be taken advantage of. The Patriots took down Gino Smith five times with three of those going to Harold Landry alone.

Raiders Defensive Lineup

You can’t talk about the Raiders without talking about Maxx Crosby. The two-time All-Pro is a perennial Defensive Player of the Year Candidate. The way he creates havoc rushing the passer or as a run defender is unparalleled and keeping Herbert clean when he lines up over RT Trey Pipkins will not be an easy task for OC Greg Roman to scheme up. He had seven pressures and a sack on Drake Maye last week, and will be in Herbert’s face often on Monday night.

Mix in another 20 pressures and 3 sacks the Raiders had outside of Crosby’s efforts, and this offensive line could have issues keeping Herbert upright.

The Raiders Week-1 performance defensively was really good. Let me reiterate, the Raiders had 27 total pressures in Week-1 and 4 total sacks. The Chargers offensive line should be better than the Patriots, but take note that this Raiders team has bodies built to get to the quarterback. Even with all the pressure, Maye was 30/46 for 287 yards and 1 touchdown. The Raiders were not efficient in the secondary, and Maye was able to dice up cornerbacks Kyu Blu Belly, Darney Holmes, and Eric Stokes. The three combined allowed 17 receptions on 21 targets for over 180 yards. That’s a reception allowed on 80% of targets to the cornerback room, the main threats in the passing game.

The Raiders were surprisingly stout against the run, allowing 60 yards on 18 attempts. The linebacker group is headlined by Germaine Pratt (8 tackles/ 2 STOP’s) and Devin White (11 tackles/ 5 STOP’s), with Jeremy Chinn (4 tackles, 1 STOP), a linebacker/ box saftey Hybrid. This group is athletic and gets off blocks to rack up tackles. What they lack in pass coverage is made up by their utilization in run defense.

Game-Plan

Credit: Mike Nowak/ Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers offensive line should be a lot better than what the Raiders played against in Foxbourough last week. Keeping Herbert upright will be of grave importance, because if they do, Herbert’s great Week-1 performance could lead to an even more spectacular stat-line through the air in Week-2. The Chargers passing game against the Chiefs was highly efficient, and the Raider’s talent in the secondary can’t hold a flame to to what they have in Kansas City. If Herbert stays upright, this could be a 400 plus yard game for Herbert with multiple scores.

Defensively, winning the battle at the line of scrimmage, and forcing 3rd-and-longs more often than not keeps Ashton Jeanty’s utilization at bay. If the Chargers can get out to an early lead, and force the Raiders to play from behind, the matchup will favor the Chargers, especially if Brock Bowers doesn’t play, or is on a snap count.