3 things we learned in the Oakland Raiders win Thursday night

Pass Rush wins the game

The Raiders pass rush has been the main weakness for the team for the past two seasons, but they came to play on Thursday. The front four pressured Philip Rivers all game and finished with five sacks and ten QB hits. Everyone on the defensive line contributed, including a breakout performance from rookie Clelin Ferrell who had 2.5 sacks

All three of the turnovers the Raiders forced can be attributed to the pressure up front, which forced Rivers to throw the ball much earlier than he wanted. It also saved a couple of big plays from happening as the Chargers receivers got behind the Raiders secondary a few times, but the pressure once again disrupted the timing.

Not sure if this will be a turning point or not, but it was nice to see the Raiders finally take advantage of a weak offensive line. Chargers’ right tackle Trent Scott was basically a turn-style as Maxx Crosby and Benson Mayowa were beating him constantly.

And what was really encouraging was the fact that they didn’t tire out at the end of the game and kept coming with relentless pressure. This complete unit performance is something we haven’t seen in a very long time, and it was awesome.