Takeaways From the Los Angeles Chargers-Oakland Raiders Game

What was your biggest takeaway from yesterday's game?

Richard Wade: Anthony Lynn is not Mike McCoy and he is learning from his mistakes. He is also starting to put his stamp on the offense. Going for it on 4th & goal and the way the offense ground out the clock on their last drive were both great signs for the future of the team.

Daniel Stebbins: The coaching staff appears to be learning from mistakes. The adjustment to Henry’s playing time and targets, involving Gordon in the offense more after he said he was upset, working in competition on the offensive line... all things that needed to happen and they are better for it. Don’t think we see these type of adjustments mid season with the previous coaching staff. Curious to see the integration of Mike Will.

Matthew Stanley: Tackling is still an issue for this team. I’m not sure why the Raiders bailed on the run game, but this team can’t tackle to save their lives. If the Chargers could make the 1st tackle even a little more often, I think things would be very different.

Kyle Posey: Hunter Henry is the teams biggest mismatch and he should lead the team in targets every week. They're better when they throw him the ball. Period. Tackling will forever be an issue and the defense will have to rely on penalties, sacks, and turnovers to get stops. Rivers clearly read my article.

Louis Gorini: Biggest takeaway from yesterday’s game was Melvin Gordon takes a while to get started but when he does he’s good. Chargers have to run their offense through Gordon so teams focus on him more freeing up their other weapons. The more Gordon touches the ball the better he gets and the better the offense runs. Side note: Chargers offense wasn’t as predictable as it normally was and loved Lynn being aggressive with going for it on 4th down twice. Coaching and team are starting to gel.

Grant Baden: It is been a while since the Chargers have gotten a win on their own terms. It is tough to gain first downs at the end of games when the whole world knows you are running the ball so that is encouraging. Sloppy but decent win. Delete Travis Benjamin. Insert Austin Ekeler.

Jamie Hoyle: I think the biggest takeaway is the continued adjustments. Clock management is improving, particularly late in the game. They’re starting to get Feeney snaps at RG. Going for two fourth downs in the first half. Running the offense through Gordon and Henry. Asking Rivers to be more of a game manager. Improved discipline in terms of penalties. And the ability to run the ball down the Raiders throats when they needed to. All signs of continued growth and the result is the best game this team has played in at least two years.

Garrett Sisti: The biggest takeaway has got to be the growth of Anthony Lynn. It seemed like Lynn was getting a feel for his personnel early on in the the year but the last 2 weeks he's put together the right gameplan with the right guys in place. Going for it on 4th down rather than letting your kicker take a shot at another long FG, going for it on 4th down at the goal line, trying to ice the new Raiders kicker before the half were all the right calls whether they were successful or not. Lynn deserves a lot of credit for the team's road win on Sunday.

John Gennaro: Biggest takeaway from yesterday's NFL games and this NFL season (with major injuries to Aaron Rodgers, JJ Watt, Odell Beckham) is that everyone is bad. Literally every single NFL team is bad. The Chiefs were the exception to that rule and then they went and got crushed by the Steelers yesterday. So even though the Chargers look bad, and they play ugly in wins and losses, this just might be the norm in the NFL today. The fact that they have an elite pass rush and some inconsistent but effective offensive playmakers (especially on 3rd down) appears to be enough for the Chargers to compete with anybody, which gives them a fighting chance to actually turn this season around.

Nathan Graber-Lipperman: I saw a comment somewhere from Del Rio saying how he was frustrated because they knew exactly which plays the Chargers were going to run, and yet they couldn't stop them. This entails two things: Whisenhunt is just as predictable as we think, and yet the Chargers offense is as incredibly talented as we thought going into the season. Should Mike Williams live up to the hype, the only thing possible of holding this unit back is #17.