LAS VEGAS (AP) Justin Herbert passed for 346 yards and two touchdowns, and the Los Angeles Chargers secured the fifth seed in the AFC playoffs with a 34-20 victory Sunday over the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Chargers (11-6) closed the regular season with a three-game winning streak under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh and will visit the fourth-seeded Houston Texans (10-7) in the next weekend’s wild-card playoff round.
Las Vegas, which had won back-to-back games, finished 4-13 with coach Antonio Pierce facing an uncertain future.
This was the Chargers’ first victory at Las Vegas since 2020 and their first season sweep of their AFC West rival since 2018. That also was the last time the Chargers won at least 11 games.
Herbert showed off his arm and legs, taking off for a 41-yard run in the third quarter to set up a 2-yard touchdown pass to Will Dissly for a 27-13 lead.
His top target was Quentin Johnston, the second-year pro who set career highs with 13 receptions for 186 yards.
Ladd McConkey caught five passes for 95 yards, his 10th consecutive game with at least 50 yards to break the rookie record that Odell Beckham Jr. set in 2014. His 82 receptions for 1,149 yards are Chargers rookie records.
J.K. Dobbins rushed for 63 yards to finish with 905 on the season.
Aidan O’Connell passed for 214 yards and two touchdowns for the Raiders, and Jakobi Meyers caught nine passes for 123 yards and a TD. Meyers topped 1,000 yards for the first time in his six-year career, becoming the 11th undrafted free agent to accomplish that.
Brock Bowers had four catches for 50 yards and a touchdown to finish the season with 1,194 yards, falling just short of becoming the ninth tight end with 1,200 in a season.
The Chargers outgained the Raiders 473 yards to 264, but failed to score touchdowns on three of their first four trips to the red zone to keep the game relatively close. Las Vegas led most of the first half and appeared set to take a 10-9 lead into halftime.
But O’Connell’s dump-off pass to running back Alexander Mattison was intercepted by Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley to give Los Angeles possession at the Raiders 30-yard line. That set up Herbert’s 6-yard TD pass to DJ Chark and 2-point pass to McConkey for a 17-10 lead with 10 seconds left.
The Chargers never trailed again.
Chargers: RB Gus Edwards (ankle) and WR Josh Palmer (foot) did not play, and T Rashawn Slater (knee) was scratched after what was described by the team as discomfort in pregame stretches. G Trey Pipkins (oblique) left early in the third quarter.
Raiders: RB Ameer Abdullah (foot) and CB Nate Hobbs (illness) did not play.
Chargers: At AFC South champion Houston next weekend.
Raiders: Confront big decisions about potential changes at coach and quarterback.
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