Raiders vs Chargers 2023 Week 15: Studs and Duds
Studs - Raiders OC Bo Hardegree and the offense
Just like Aidan O'Connell against the Vikings the rest of the Raiders offense looked lost and confused against Brian Flores’s defense. Young offensive coordinator Bo Hardegree was clearly outmatched by Flores but he looked like an absolute genius against Brandon Staley.
One of the moves the Raiders made was putting their offensive coordinator in the booth rather than on the sidelines and it appears to have paid great dividends. The Raiders offense was able to score at will thanks to some timely turnovers by the defense but even if it had become a shootout we are confident that they would have been able to keep up.
This is the first time that Bo Hardegree has called plays at any level so we knew that there would be a bit of a learning curve and that has led to some head scratching decisions over the past few weeks. In contrast, everything was clicking for Hardegree and the offense against the Chargers and he has the next three games to prove he deserves the job moving forward.
Most of Raider Nation, even those that want Antonio Pierce to stay, would like the team to hire a hot shot offensive coordinator but Hardegree can stake his claim to that job with a few good performances to close out the year.