Quentin Johnston hauled in a career-high 13 receptions for 186 yards, leading the Los Angeles Chargers to a 34-20 win over the host Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
Justin Herbert threw for 346 yards and two touchdowns, completing 28 of 36 passes en route to a 125.2 passer rating. Ladd McConkey chipped in 95 yards on five catches, while J.K. Dobbins added 63 rushing yards on 18 carries to finish the regular season with a career-high 905 rushing yards.
The Chargers clinched the fifth seed in the AFC playoff picture with the win, meaning they’ll head to Houston to face the Texans in the wild-card round next weekend. Los Angeles played all of its regular starters on Sunday, presumably with the intention of earning that fifth seed and avoiding a first-round game against the Ravens’ record-setting offense in Baltimore.
Aidan O’Connell threw for 214 yards and two touchdowns, completing 24 of 34 pass attempts. Jakobi Meyers hauled in nine receptions for 123 yards as he reached the 1,000 yards in a season for the first time in his six-year career.
Brock Bowers added four catches for 50 yards and a touchdown to finish his rookie campaign with 112 receptions. The Las Vegas tight end set the single-season reception record for a rookie at any position.
The Chargers took a 17-10 lead into halftime after scoring 11 points in the final 1:05 of the second quarter. Daiyan Henley intercepted O’Connell and returned it to the Raiders’ 30-yard line with 44 seconds left in the half, a mere 21 seconds of game time after Cameron Dicker trimmed the Raiders’ lead to 10-9 with a 49-yard field goal.
The Chargers’ offense only needed four plays to capitalize, as Herbert found DJ Chark for a 6-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds remaining in the half. Herbert then found Ladd McConkey for the two-point conversion, pushing Los Angeles’ lead to a touchdown at the break.
The Chargers added insurance with a 2-yard touchdown connection from Herbert to tight end Will Dissly with 13:32 remaining in the fourth quarter, after Herbert set the Chargers in the red zone with a 41-yard scramble two plays earlier.
Hassan Haskins punched it in from the 2-yard line to give the Chargers a 34-13 lead late in the fourth.
Bowers caught a 12-yard touchdown in the final minute of the game to cap his standout season.
The Raiders scored the game’s first touchdown to take a 10-3 lead with 13:06 remaining in the second quarter, as O’Connell found a wide-open Meyers for a 25-yard touchdown after Meyers shook free from his defender with a crafty double move.
