The Raiders did a lot of celebrating Thursday night. (AP Photo/David Becker)
When an NFL analyst calls for your job at halftime of a nationally-televised game, it probably isn’t your night. Brandon Staley and the Los Angeles Chargers lived that reality Thursday during a 63-21drubbing to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The game was essentially over the instant the Chargers took the field. After forcing a quick three and out, the Raiders took control of the ball at their own 32-yard line. The team then waltzed down the field in 12 plays, and capped off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Zamir White.
Then they did it again and again and again and again. By the time the first quarter ended, the Raiders held a 21-0 lead. At halftime, the team extended that lead to 42-0. That set a Raiders team record for the most points scored by halftime. Yes, this is the same Raiders team that was shut out by the Minnesota Vikings in Week 14.
Things got so bad for the Chargers that Amazon Prime NFL television analyst — and former All-Pro cornerback — Richard Sherman called for the team to fire Staley at halftime.
“This is one of the worst first halves I’ve seen from a team,” Sherman said. “It just looks like they’ve given up. They quit. They’ve packed their bags.
“Brandon Staley, I hate to say this because you don’t ever want to call for somebody’s job. But they should fire—they should make history. They should fire him at halftime. I’ve never seen a team come out this uninspired.”
Staley, to his credit, did not immediately run and hide when he saw sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung approach for an interview at halftime. When asked to describe the team’s performance, Staley responded, “This wasn’t good enough. That wasn’t us out there” before saying the team would play for pride in the second half. Raiders interim coach Antonio Pierce took another approach, saying he wanted his team to “press the gas pedal even harder.”
The Raiders delivered on that promise. The team…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/raiders-embarrass-chargers-with-historic-first-half-en-route-to-63-21-blowout-win-043052918.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2023-12-15 04:30:52
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