- WHERE: Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas)
- WHEN: 8:15 p.m. ET | Prime Video, NFL+
The 2023 NFL season has not gone as planned for the Los Angeles Chargers or the Las Vegas Raiders.
The division rivals are both 5-8, looking up from the bottom of the AFC West standings. Whatever could go wrong seems to have done just that this season for each franchise.
The Raiders fired their head coach (Josh McDaniels) and general manager (David Ziegler) midseason. Big free-agent signing Jimmy Garoppolo has also been benched. After rallying to square their record at 5-5, the Raiders promptly have lost three straight, including a home shutout in Week 14 in which the Minnesota Vikings scored just three points.
The Chargers lost at home to the Broncos on Sunday and saw star Justin Herbert suffer a season-ending finger injury and the home fans chanting their displeasure at embattled head coach Brandon Staley.
Thursday's meeting might not feel like a banner matchup, but there is a lot on the line for many of the people playing and coaching in the game. Both teams could possibly undergo sweeping changes in the offseason, but what happens down the stretch can and should impact who is going and who stays.
Can Easton Stick make a statement in his first NFL start, replacing Herbert? Will Raiders rookie QB Aidan O'Connell reverse a recent trend and take advantage of his latest start? It has been the Year of the Backup QB in the NFL this season, but jobs could be on the line Thursday.
Here are four things to watch for when the Chargers visit the Raiders on Thursday night on Prime Video:
1. Stick shift: Can Chargers' offense do anything with Herbert out? Easton Stick earned his first NFL start for this game after replacing an injured Herbert late in the second quarter on Sunday, which was the 28-year-old Stick's first extended regular-season action (and second overall appearance) of his career. The 2019 fifth-rounder has stuck around for five years but rarely has seen the field except for the preseason. Stick played his college ball at North Dakota State, where he did a lot of winning in college, including in his final game with the Bison in 2019, going 49-3 in four seasons there. He's an athletic QB who once briefly was auditioned by the Chargers in 2020 as a Taysom Hill-like weapon before that plan fizzled while Herbert shined as a rookie. Stick struggled early in his relief appearance last week before finding some rhythm in a 13-of-24 passing performance with 179 yards. The highlight was a 57-yard bomb to rookie Quentin Johnston, but Stick was sacked twice for minus-31 yards and fumbled twice, losing one. Stick is set for free agency this spring, so it's a massive opportunity for him. This might also be a spot where seventh-rounder Max Duggan, who was elevated from the practice squad to the QB2 role on the active roster this week, could possibly be showcased with a package of plays as a dual-threat talent. The Chargers badly need a spark offensively, as they've scored a combined 17 points the past three games against the Ravens, Patriots and Broncos.
2. Aidan O'Connell needs a good game. There has been a growing sense that Garoppolo actually could return down the stretch if the rookie QB's struggles continue. He actually performed well in the Week 13 loss to the Chiefs, but O'Connell regressed in last week's home 3-0 loss to the Vikings, averaging 5.3 yards per attempt, taking four sacks and throwing a brutal interception that all but ended their chances of winning. In his first NFL start against the Chargers, with McDaniels still coaching, O'Connell threw for 238 yards with a rushing TD and was in a position to win the game, but seven sacks, three fumbles and an interception did him and the Raiders in back in Week 4. Had this not been a short week, perhaps Garoppolo would have been back under center. The Raiders have lost three straight, including two in Vegas, and interim head coach Antonio Pierce knows he can't have his offense in dire straits while trying to earn the full-time job. O'Connell has completed 63.8% of his passes, but that number is misleading. According to Next Gen Stats, he has a completion percentage over expected of -2.8%, which is third-lowest in the NFL this season (behind only Matthew Stafford and Bryce Young, among qualifiers).
3. Khalil Mack fueling Chargers defense. The Chargers defense has endured its share of ribbing this season, struggling mightily at times, especially in the early going. But Mack has been a revelation in his age-32 season, racking up 15 sacks, which ties his career high set back in his second season with the Raiders in 2015. Mack has always relished facing his former team, with 10 sacks in five career games against them. Six of those came in the Week 4 matchup, along with two forced fumbles and a pass deflection, as Mack tortured O'Connell and the Raiders' offense for four quarters. He's also been hot lately. Although Mack was held without a sack last week, he had three straight two-sack games prior to that and eight sacks and three forced fumbles in his past six contests. Even without Joey Bosa, the Chargers defense has been good to very good since a 41-38 loss to the Lions, allowing 16.8 points per game the last four. The Raiders feature elite threats in wide receiver Davante Adams and running back Josh Jacobs (who are both questionable to play), but they've combined for only 10 TDs this season and only one between them the past three.
4. Raiders defense will try to take advantage of beat-up Chargers. The Raiders have played pretty good defense under Pierce, holding four of their five opponents to 20 points or fewer. The Chiefs dropped 31 on them in Week 12, but they've otherwise been stout in the five-game span. No shocker that Maxx Crosby has been at the center of it. Despite injuring both knees in recent weeks and being questionable for Thursday, Crosby has played 97% of the Raiders' defensive snaps and has seven games in which he's played every snap, per NGS, and he's supplied 28.2% of the team's pressures. But first-rounder Tyree Wilson has come on lately, with a sack and several pressures Sunday, and Malcolm Koonce also has chipped in. They'll be facing a Chargers offensive line that entered the season as a perceived team strength but were dominated Sunday against the Broncos -- and on the whole, that unit has disappointed in 2023. Offensive tackles Rashawn Slater and Trey Pipkins by and large have held their own, with the interior struggling more, although both had their hands full in the first matchup. The Chargers can't seem to get running backs Austin Ekeler and Joshua Kelley going lately, and the pass game figures to be limited with Stick starting and wide receiver Keenan Allen out with a heel injury, although Joshua Palmer's return from IR should help.
