Four days was all Antonio Pierce and his Las Vegas Raiders had to recover from their worst performance of the season.
They made the most of their time.
The Raiders turned in their best performance of the season Thursday night, responding to Sunday’s 3-0 loss to Minnesota by scoring 42 points by halftime, not letting the Los Angeles Chargers cross midfield until the third quarter and rolling to a record-setting 63-21 victory.
The Raiders set a franchise scoring record, topping the team’s 59-14 victory at Denver on Oct. 24, 2010. It was the most points allowed by the Chargers, who gave up 57 to the St. Louis Rams on Oct. 1, 2000.
“We knew at halftime what the record was,” Las Vegas interim coach Pierce said. “We want to be aggressive regardless of what the score was. If we had 21 or 10, we were going to be aggressive. That was our mindset.”
The Raiders led 42-0 at halftime, just three points shy of the NFL record for halftime that was set in 2009 when New England led Tennessee 45-0. The 42-point margin has been matched two other times — by Green Bay over Chicago in 2014 and the Packers over Tampa Bay in 1983. Las Vegas also broke its previous record for a half, which was 38 against the Broncos in that 2010 game.
The halftime deficit was the biggest in Chargers history. They trailed the Patriots 31-0 in 1997.
“We got our (butts) kicked,” Los Angeles running back Austin Ekeler said. “That’s all I got for you.”
It was a stunning turnaround for the Raiders (6-8), who gave up only a field goal Sunday against Minnesota but still lost, amassing 202 yards. Las Vegas had 283 yards by halftime against the Chargers (5-9). The Raiders led 63-7 before two late touchdowns for LA.
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