INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Las Vegas Raiders made the kind of egregious mistake Sunday that has led to far too many losses the last few seasons.
This time, they immediately atoned for their error.
The result was a 26-14 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium and their first 2-0 start since their last playoff campaign of 2021.
With the Chargers facing a fourth-and-1 near midfield with 3:52 to play and the Raiders leading 17-14, the Raiders came out of a timeout with 12 players on the field and gave the Chargers a first down.
Nakobe Dean forced an Omarion Hampton fumble on the next play, however, and Jeremy Chinn ran it back to the Chargers’ 16-yard line.
Practice squad callup Cody White scored his second touchdown of the game three plays later from Kirk Cousins after a play-fake that sprung him wide open in the end zone.
Cousins threw for 253 yards and three scores on a day the Raiders were limited to just 57 yards rushing.
The Raiders had taken the lead with 3:49 remaining in the third quarter when White came down with an acrobatic 13-yard touchdown reception from Cousins.
It came in response to the Chargers taking their first lead of the game on Justin Herbert’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Oronde Gadsden on their first possession of the second half.
The Raiders led 10-7 after a first half that was far more eventful than the score would suggest.
Cousins finally broke through with the deep ball, hitting Tre Tucker on a 40-yard touchdown and finding him again on a 42-yard connection to set up a field goal just before intermission.
The Raiders had a pass intercepted in Chargers territory after Tucker slipped to the turf and were stuffed on a fourth-and-goal from the 1 when they tried a direct snap to Ashton Jeanty, who had four tries from inside the 5 and could not score.
The Chargers had issues of their own, hitting a 58-yard field goal attempt off the upright and having Herbert’s deep pass intercepted when an open David Njoku bobbled the ball into the hands of Raiders rookie Hezekiah Masses.
Masses, the fifth-round pick, had his second interception in the final minutes to seal the victory and become the first Raiders rookie since Henry Williams in 1979 with multiple interceptions in a game. Maxx Crosby drew a holding penalty in the end zone in the final minutes.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
