Jesse Minter’s Los Angeles Chargers defense has been quite the stingy group allowing just 238 points this season — good for 10th best in the NFL. The defensive coordinator has the Bolts ranked fifth in terms of yards allowed (3,147) which is helping buoy the NFL’s 20th-ranked scoring offense to a 7-4 overall record.
The 2-9 Las Vegas Raiders waltz into SoFi Stadium for this Sunday’s AFC West matchup with the Chargers boasting the 31st-ranked scoring offense and 23rd-ranked defense in terms of points allowed.
It’s not the most enticing Week 13 matchup on the NFL’s slate, however and oddly enough, this tilt marks a good time for Greg Olson’s ascension to interim offensive coordinator for the Silver & Black.
While the Chargers defense may be a Boa constrictor in terms of generally suffocating opposing offenses, Minter’s group has a middling run defense ranking 16th in yards allowed (1,252) and 28th in touchdowns given up (14 total). Los Angeles limped into the bye week after a 35-6 shellacking at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 11. It was a clash that saw the Jaguars trample the Chargers for 192 rushing yards.
The Bolts being susceptible to a ground and pound offense is a fortuitous thing for Olson. In his seven seasons being involved with the Raiders offense (2013-14; 2019-2021; 2025) the Silver & Black had a penchant to run the ball and in a trio of seasons (2013, 2019, 2020) the Raiders were ranked 12th, 13th, and 14th in yards gained.
It’s only natural to scoff at how much Olson can turn around the 31st-ranked scoring offense that was previously helmed by ex-offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. Las Vegas ranks 31st in rushing yards (874) and 30th in rushing touchdowns (four).
“Too far gone” is an apt response.
The Raiders’ offensive line is in shambles due to both injury and ineffectiveness which has dampened rookie running back Ashton Jeanty’s own effectiveness, alongside tight end Brock Bowers. Quarterback Geno Smith has been under siege frequently and has held onto the ball too long. And the opposition has basically played the role of Wreck It Ralph and gone after both Smith and Jeanty with wreck less abandon.
“We got the guys we got, and so we’re going to continue to have our guys battle to show what they can do and have their play time and what they earn during the week,” Raiders head coach Pete Carroll said when asked if there will be a change in offensive line usage with Olson dialing up plays. “But more so, it’s trying to get everybody connected with, really, the approach and the philosophy that really I’ve stood for for a long time. And so, we gave our guys a lot of leeway because of with the respect we have for the coaches, but it just hasn’t quite gotten right, and I think we can do better.”
Olson’s straight-forwardness on running the ball, using play action, and throwing to tight ends is good news for both Jeanty and Bowers. And by extension, Smith. Carroll added the familiarity between he and Olson runs deep with the head coach noting: “He knows me inside and out”.
And for a Raiders team that requires much-needed balance to the offensive game plan, Olson is the type that can attempt that, if not deliver.
Jeanty’s usage through the 11 games so far has been erratic. It’s been a mix of “heavy usage” (19 carries Week 1, 21 in Week 4, 23 in Week 6) and “light usage” (six carries in Week 11 and Week 7). That’s resulted in 166 totes for 604 yards (3.6 yards per carry average) and four touchdowns rushing. The sixth overall pick became a more ample receiving target the last two weeks with 16 total targets and his receiving numbers read: 37 receptions for 221 yards and four touchdowns.
With six games remaining on slate, giving Jeanty a more consistent and heavy workload is vital for not only return on investment, but to get an evidenced-based checklist on offseason needs (already a long laundry list). The Chargers’ defense limited opponents to less than 100 yards rushing five times through 11 games while getting ran over for 100 yards or more six times on the year.
For reference, the Bolts stymied the Raiders’ ground game to 68 yards on the two team’s Week 2 matchup. Jeanty had 11 carries for 43 yards that game. But that shouldn’t dissuade Olson from getting Jeanty carries this Sunday.
Then there’s Bowers.
Playing in eight games this year, the phenomenal second-year tight end has 45 receptions for 510 yards and three touchdowns. He’s “only” broken the 100-yard receiving mark twice this season (same as his rookie season) being limited to under 40 yards receiving thrice on the year (identical to his 2024 campaign). Bowers’ most productive game was a 12-catch, 127-yard receiving, three-touchdown outing in the 30-29 overtime loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 9.
Fortunately for the Raiders young tight end, Olson’s penchant to provide that particular position group volume bodes well.
All that said, all the creativity and putting players in best possible position to succeed that arrived with Kelly never happened and he was dismissed after 11 games.
So while Olson brings a reputation on run emphasis, play-action, balance, ball security and explosive plays, Raider reality is often jarring.
Expect Minter and his Chargers defense to play angry as the team is still in the thick of a postseason race. L.A. is currently in second place looking up at the 9-2 Denver Broncos and the 6-5 Kansas City Chiefs nipping at the heels in third. And losing ground with a home loss to the Silver & Black would zap the Chargers.
Quotes of Note:
“I’d love to see us be really clean with what we’re doing. Again, utilize our guys. Want to see just the tempo of everything to be were it’s supposed to be, and hopefully we can protect the quarterback so he has chance, and we’ll do that in a variety of ways. But I’d just like to see us cleaner, operate with an urgency that gives us a chance.”
—Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll on what he’d like to see from the offense under interim offensive coordinator Greg Olson.
“Yeah, there are a lot of different things. We’ve done things by bringing more in. We’ve done things by spreading them out and getting into some empty formations, but obviously it hasn’t worked. When you look at it, we’re always constantly trying to get the best five out there in terms of the offensive line, and they’re competing every day here on the practice field. Any of those, the backup linemen, they’re always getting work against Maxx and our number one defense, so we’re constantly evaluating the personnel, one, so we’re trying to make sure we get the right personnel on the field, but also using different systems of running back, tight ends, chips, max protections, trying to find the different ways to help out the front and certainly the timing of the patterns. Everyone’s involved in it, really, when you look at it. I mean, getting the ball out on time, receivers running the right routes, crisp routes, timing routes, running backs involved in protection or in the route combinations. I mean, we’re all a part of it, and we’ve all got to get better.”
—Las Vegas Raiders interim offensive coordinator Greg Olson on what can be done to help the offensive line protect better.
