Rivers Throws For 339 Yards, 2 TDs As Chargers Beat Raiders
CARSON, Calif. (AP) - Philip Rivers threw for 339 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Los Angeles Chargers to a 26-10 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.
It is the 59th 300-yard passing game of Rivers' 15-year career and his eighth against the Raiders. He completed 22 of 27 passes and had a passer rating of 143.4.
"It wasn't an eight-catch, 150-yard day for anybody, but you look up and there's 330 yards passing and a lot of guys touched the ball," Rivers said. "It was efficient. We ran it well enough and we didn't turn it over. When you do that you have a good chance for a win."
Melvin Gordon had 120 yards from scrimmage (58 rushing, 62 receiving). His 1-yard run during the second quarter gave Los Angeles (3-2) a 17-3 lead at halftime.
The Chargers' defense had three sacks and forced two turnovers which resulted in 13 points. Oakland's Marshawn Lynch came into the game fourth in the league in rushing but was held to 31 yards on nine carries.
Derek Carr was 24 of 38 for 268 yards for the Raiders (1-4). He accounted for Oakland's lone touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard pass to Jordy Nelson which brought the Raiders within 27-10.
He also had a costly interception in the end zone to Melvin Ingram during the third quarter. The Chargers turned that into a 96-yard, eight-play drive that was capped with Rivers' 13-yard TD pass to Virgil Green early in the fourth period.
"We had bad plays today," Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. "I think we pressed a little bit. The play calling needs to improve. That's my job. We've got to play better collectively than we did today."
The teams traded field goals before the Chargers took control, scoring 23 straight points. Austin Ekeler gave Los Angeles a 10-3 lead in the second quarter when he took a swing pass and went 44 yards for a score.
Gordon's touchdown put the Chargers up by two scores at halftime.
Caleb Sturgis' 30-yard field goal extended the lead to 20-3 in the third quarter.
HOME SWEET HOME?
The crowd at StubHub Center was predominantly Raiders fans, but it didn't matter to the Chargers. The Chargers have won seven of their last eight at their temporary home until the new stadium at Inglewood opens in 2020.
TWO FIRSTS FOR INGRAM
Ingram's third-quarter interception was his first in 82 regular-season games. He did have an interception in the 2013 playoffs against Cincinnati.
The seventh-year defensive end also got his first NFL carry in the second quarter on second-and-goal from the Oakland 1 but was stopped for no gain.
NEW HOLDER, SAME RESULT
The Chargers signed punter Donnie Jones to be the new holder for Caleb Strugis, but Sturgis still missed an extra point.
Sturgis' PAT attempt after the Green touchdown bounced off the upright for his fourth miss of the season and third in the past two games. The sixth-year kicker has missed four extra points this season, equaling the amount he had over three seasons in Philadelphia from 2015-17.
UP NEXT
Raiders: face Seahawks next Sunday in London.
Chargers: at Browns next Sunday.
___
Follow Joe Reedy at www.twitter.com/joereedy
___
More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/tag/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press.