Las Vegas Raiders Enter the Playoffs, Beat the Chargers and Herbert,

After a dramatic matchup, the Las Vegas Raiders clinched a playoff berth for them and the Pittsburgh Steelers by defeating the LA Chargers, 35-32. Daniel Carlson’s 47-yard field goal in the overtime would bring the hosts a memorable win and erase Justin Herbert’s heroic performance.

The young QB was harassed throughout the entire game, mostly because of a catastrophic performance of his offensive line, primarily Storm Norton. The right guard was blown into pieces by Maxx Crosby, and he also made several penalties which made life much more complicated for the guests.

Justin Herbert caps a 19-play drive and we’re going to OVERTIME!

(Via @NFL)

pic.twitter.com/kBURmC6tFY

— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) January 10, 2022

Herbert had six fourth-down conversions, two of them in the crucial moments of the match, and also a TD pass as time expired to force the OT. He pretty much gave everything on the field to take his team to the playoffs but failed.

“We exected well on fourth downs, especially those two drives, but it wasn’t enough, and that is the unfortunate part of it,” he said following the game.

He ended the game with 34 completions in 64 attempts, the seventh-highest ever, for three touchdowns and one pick.

Austin Ekeler had one rushing TD, 64 yards on the ground, and added one more receiving score and 35 yards. Mike Williams caught one as well, totaling 119 yards in nine receptions, while Jared Cook had 80 yards through the air.

Everyone believed that the Chargers would slow down in the OT and try to stall the game and get out with a tie, but that didn’t happen. We are sure that the Raiders’ fans wanted the same to happen when their team had the ball, but instead, the hosts wanted to eliminate the division rivals.

“No matter what, we didn’t want a tie, we wanted to win a football game,” said Derek Carr. “My mindset the whole day was to make sure we are the only team moving forward from this game.”

Carr will have a chance to appear in the playoffs for the first time. He was the starting QB for the Raiders in 2016, but picked up an injury late in the campaign missing the Raiders’ postseason.

He was 20-for-36 for 186 passing yards, having sent two of those passes into the endzone. Both of his TD tosses were to Hunter Renfrow, who had 13 receiving yards.

Josh Jacobs was unstoppable, carrying the football 26 times for 132 yards and one TD. He was the force that pushed the Raiders in the OT, moving the chains and providing his team a position to win.

HOW'S IT FEEL, #RAIDERNATION@derekcarrQB @Raiders pic.twitter.com/XlxZAhQ8rR

— NFL (@NFL) January 10, 2022

The Raiders are heading to Cincinnati to face the Bengals in the Wild Card round. Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase are about to test their strength, which will be a pleasure to watch. The game is set for Saturday, January 15 at 4:30 pm ET, and NBC will broadcast it.

For many, the odds aren’t on the Raiders’ side, but on the other side, Carr and the boys are more experienced than the young Bengals.

Meanwhile, the Chargers had a nice opportunity to get into the playoffs, but losing to the Texans and the Broncos broke their dreams. Herbert established himself as one of the most talented QBs in the league, but it turned out that the defense is arguably the worst of all, especially in the closing moments of the contest.

They will have to make some radical changes during the offseason in order to improve that area of play and gain some quality that would push them into the playoffs.