Chargers Sweep Raiders, But Justin Herbert's Hand Injury Could Complicate Playoff Push

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert passes in the fourth quarter of a 31-14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders at SoFi Stadium on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Ladies and gentlemen, the unflinching and unrelenting Justin Herbert.

Give him a hand.

(The Chargers wish you could.)

Herbert, who has been knocked around a lot this NFL season but so far had escaped injury, saw that streak come to a disappointing end Sunday, even in leading the Chargers to a 31-14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders at SoFi Stadium.

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said Herbert sustained a broken bone in the back of his non-throwing hand and will undergo a surgical procedure Monday in hopes of playing a week later against the Philadelphia Eagles.

“I’m treating it as if I’m playing on Monday,” said Herbert, who directed three of his four touchdown drives after the injury. “I think [Chargers personnel] were very hopeful for that. So I think that’s just something we’ll see tomorrow and we’ll get a feel for, but I think they’re really hopeful. So that’s always a good thing.”

He said the only way he wouldn’t play is if a doctor told him it was “very unwise” for him to do so.

The Chargers are heading into a brutally difficult finish to the regular season, with games against the Eagles, Kansas City, Dallas, Houston — who knocked them out of the playoffs last season — and Denver.

Already, they have endured more than their share of key injuries, losing their bookend standout offensive tackles, and their two top running backs, among others. Lose Herbert and they could call it a season.

Instead, they got solid play out of him Sunday and strong performances from several next-man-up reserves pressed into duty because of other injuries. Running back Kimani Vidal scored a 59-yard touchdown, and Jaret Patterson added a two-yard scoring run. Both began the year on the practice squad.

Fans cheer as Chargers running back Kimani Vidal scores on a 59-yard touchdown run in the third quarter Sunday at SoFi Stadium. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Jamaree Salyer started at left tackle and gave his team hope that he might be a temporary answer at that pivotal spot, a bit of calm in the raging storm that has ravaged the Chargers offensive line. That unit has been in near-constant flux.

And the Chargers' defense, which struggled mightily in a 29-point loss at Jacksonville before the bye, resurfaced in a big way, limiting the Raiders to an anemic 156 yards and 1.7 yards per carry.

In fairness, the Raiders are in the running for the league’s worst team, losers of 11 of 12, and have similar issues to the Chargers on the offensive line. Geno Smith was sacked five times Sunday, which doesn’t sound as bad if you consider Cleveland got to him 10 times the week before.

It’s an agonizing spot for first-year coach Pete Carroll, and the team just showed offensive coordinator Chip Kelly the door. This was the first game for interim play-caller Greg Olson and it’s hard to say that change made a difference.

For instance, the Chargers converted 12 of 17 third downs; the Raiders converted two of eight.

“Third down was atrocious for us on both sides of the football,” Carroll said. “We couldn’t convert, and we couldn’t stop them to get out of there.”

Chargers wide receiver Derius Davis avoids Raiders linebacker Jon Rhattigan on a kick return in the second quarter Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

It was the most lopsided victory by the Chargers over the Raiders since 2008.

“We were just licking our chops to be back on the grass, especially after a tough loss,” Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. said. “Just to get that off our books and come back out and work harder.”

After the injury in the first quarter, which came when he was tackled on a scramble, Herbert had to operate out of shotgun, as opposed to being under center. He wore a cast under his glove, and his left hand was as rigid as a Macy’s mannequin.

The teams were tied, 7-7, at halftime. The Chargers scored on a 10-yard touchdown reception by Quentin Johnston on the opening possession, and the Raiders answered in the second quarter with a six-yard catch by Brock Bowers.

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Smith was intercepted once in the half by Tony Jefferson, who made an acrobatic snare of a tipped pass on the sideline, and the visitors answered by picking off Herbert in the end zone.

Vidal broke that tie in the third quarter with a 59-yard touchdown run, and his team would widen that lead with a seven-yard touchdown reception by Ladd McConkey late in the quarter.

The Chargers' defense put the clamps on the Raiders, limiting them to 31 yards rushing and one first down on the ground. Smith completed 18 of 23 passes for 165 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception.

Since running for 240 yards against Chicago, then 106 against Indianapolis, the Raiders have gone a club-record seven games without reaching 75 yards on the ground. That stat is made even worse by the fact the Raiders used the sixth overall pick last spring to draft running back Ashton Jeanty, who is getting precious little blocking these days.

Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty is sent airborne as he is hit by Chargers linebacker Denzel Perryman on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The Raiders did have a spectacular highlight, a one-handed, ankle-high touchdown catch by a falling Bowers in the fourth quarter. It was his second touchdown catch in three plays, as the first was nullified because Harbaugh had called timeout an instant before the snap.

Herbert sustained the hand injury with about five minutes remaining in the opening quarter when he stepped up in the pocket, scrambled to his left and gained a yard before being tackled by safety Jeremy Chinn. The quarterback’s left hand collided with the defender’s helmet.

Herbert popped to his feet and threw a touchdown pass on the next play. He finished with 151 yards on 15-of-20 passing, with two touchdowns and an interception.

“He’s a dog,” tackle Trey Pipkins III said of Herbert. “There’s no other way to describe it. ... When you have a quarterback like that, you lay your life on the line for that guy because you know he’d do the same for you.”

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is sacked by Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby in the third quarter Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

At one point, the frustration bubbled over with Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby. He knocked Herbert to the ground after the quarterback celebrated a first down. That drew a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct. Crosby charged back over to Herbert and seemed to apologize.

“It’s an emotional game,” Herbert said later. “I was excited for the third down [conversion] and he’d been getting after us all day. It was just one of those plays where emotions got the best of us.”

These are lean times for the Raiders. So dispirited were their famously devoted fans that the anticipated silver-and-black takeover of SoFi Stadium was far closer to a 50-50 split.

Losing can be contagious. And what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas — or so prays the rest of the league.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.