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Paul Gutierrez, ESPN Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES — It was a mostly silent and dazed locker room, deep in the maze that is SoFi Stadium, save for the huddled commiserations, exhaled exasperations and accompanying curses coming from frustrated Las Vegas Raiders players.
A play here. A play there, said All-Pro Raiders running back Josh Jacobs, and the narrative would be different. Completely different.
Instead, the Raiders lost another one-score game, falling to the Los Angeles Chargers 24-17 on Sunday, and their record in such games fell to 5-11 since the start of the 2022 season. They are 1-3 overall this season, riding a three-game losing streak, with two such defeats.
Yeah, frustration is mounting.
“It’s undisciplined football, and this league is too competitive,” Jacobs said. “It’s too competitive and it’s too many guys that’s good out there to not do the little things right every play. Until we figure that out, this is going to be what it is.
“It’s frustrating, man. And I mean, I feel like every day I go in there and work my ass off. So, eventually something’s got to give.”
Jacobs, who had eight receptions for a career-high 81 receiving yards while adding 58 yards on the ground and his first touchdown of the season, was not referring to any specific play, but one stood out.
With about nine minutes to go in the second quarter and the Raiders trailing 10-7, defensive lineman Jerry Tillery blasted Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert on the sideline after he had given himself up and had one foot out of bounds on a 3-yard scramble.
Tillery, a former first-round draft pick of the Chargers who was claimed off waivers by Las Vegas last November, was not only flagged for unnecessary roughness, but he was also thrown out of the game as angry Chargers players surrounded him on the sidelines.
“That was bulls—, man,” said Chargers defensive end Khalil Mack, who had six sacks among his 10 tackles, two forced fumbles and one tipped pass. “Jerry know it, too.”
Tillery did not speak after the game.
Said Raiders coach Josh McDaniels: “They said [the ejection decision] came from New York, so it is what it is in that regard. All I saw was what I saw in real time. Then, I looked up and got to see it [on the replay]. It was a little bit of a different angle. Again, I didn’t get total clarification on what it was. I didn’t think he hit him in the head, but I didn’t know that, so they made the call.”
By the end of the game, the Raiders had nine penalties for 80 yards.
“The best thing we can do is coach the right technique and fundamentals, and when each man is faced with one of those situations in the game, they’ve got to try to make a good decision for the team. Some of those are very close. They’re bang-bang plays, and that’s what the officials get paid to call, so we’ll try to work hard at eliminating them.”
Three snaps after Tillery’s disqualifying hit, Herbert threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Keenan Allen and the Chargers eventually built an insurmountable 24-7 lead.
Adding to the Raiders problems, they started a rookie at quarterback in fourth-round draft pick Aidan O’Connell, with starter Jimmy Garoppolo in concussion protocol.
In his NFL debut, O’Connell was sacked seven times, fumbled three times, lost two of the fumbles and was picked off at the Chargers’ 2-yard line by Asante Samuel Jr. as the Raiders drove for the potential tying score with 2:33 to play. O’Connell, who was aiming for Jakobi Meyers on the pick, completed 24 of 39 passes for 238 yards.
Garoppolo will have an extra day to recover as the Raiders next play on “Monday Night Football” at home against All-Pro receiver Davante Adams‘ former team, the Green Bay Packers.
After four games, Adams said Las Vegas lacks urgency.
“It’s just the hurting yourself thing,” said Adams, who suffered a right shoulder injury in the first half and finished with eight catches for 75 yards, all in the second half.
“Obviously, we’ve got the plays and we show flashes of being able to do it. We’ll go march down and have a good drive, or Aidan will throw a dime on third down, fourth down, whatever it is, and then it’s just one play at the end. We did all that work and we’re down at 3-yard line … about to tie the game and we have another hiccup.
“I mean, it’s both sides of the ball. I just feel like we’re not maximizing it, and everybody can definitely tap into another gear and we just got to do that before it gets to a point where it’s a must-win every game. It’s about everybody doing their part.”
Jacobs said being close does not necessarily give the Raiders hope.
“Nah, man, that makes it worse, man, because that just means five to six plays, you do them right, that’s the difference in the outcome of the game,” Jacobs said. “But at the same time, you’re tired of saying, ‘Five or six plays is the difference in the outcome of the game.'”
ESPN Chargers reporter Kris Rhim contributed to this report.
Source: www.espn.com