Week 15 of the 2020 NFL season kicks off tonight as the Los Angeles Chargers take on the Las Vegas Raiders. The Chargers are 4-9 on the year and looking to be a playoff spoiler the rest of the year. The Raiders are 7-6 and have to win out to secure their first playoff appearance in four years. Tonight’s game will start at 8:20 p.m. ET and will air on Fox and the NFL Network. The game can also be seen on Amazon Prime Video and the Yahoo Sports app.
The Chargers are coming off a 20-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons. There haven’t been too many good highlights for the Chargers in 2020, but it’s clear they have their franchise quarterback in Justin Herbert. The 2020 first-round draft pick is making his case for Rookie of the Year, throwing for 3,467 yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions with a 94.7 passer rating. According to ESPN, if Herbert throws for 300 yards together, he will break Andrew Luck’s record of most 300-yard passing games in a rookie season. Luck set the record at six games in 2012.
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“It’s huge, [Herbert] calling the offense,” running back Austin Ekeler said. “Being the leader and getting us in position so we can be successful. He’s making plays with his legs, his feet, he’s putting the game together and we’re scoring the points.”
The Raiders got off to a hot start, winning six of their first nine games. But the last four weeks have been rough as the team lost three of the last four contests including a 43-6 loss to the Falcons in Week 12. Raiders coach Jon Gruden recently made a big change, firing defensive coordinator Paul Guenther and replaced him with defensive line coach Rod Marinelli.
“He looks forward to adversity,” Gruden said to ESPN this week. “He thrives in it. I think he looks forward to these challenges, the building of this defense, putting it all together. That’s why we brought him here in the first place. It would certainly help if his soldiers got healthy up front. But he’s got great experience and has a great amount of experience in situations like this.”
The Raiders are in ninth place in the AFC and just one game behind the Miami Dolphins for the seventh and final spot in the playoffs. The Raiders are also one game behind the Baltimore Ravens who are in eighth place.
