Lombardi on Facing L.A.'s Defense: 'It Starts With Us'

The Las Vegas Raiders can ill afford to hurt themselves on offense this upcoming Sunday.
Lombardi on Facing L.A.'s Defense: 'It Starts With Us'
Lombardi on Facing L.A.'s Defense: 'It Starts With Us' /
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In their two losses so far this season, the Las Vegas Raiders have helped the opposing defenses by shooting themselves in the foot on offense.

Through those two games, the Raiders have thrown five interceptions, lost a fumble, and committed nine penalties, seven of which came in their 23-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last weekend.

The Chargers are second-to-last in the league in offensive yards allowed per game (450.7), but for the Raiders to succeed in their first meeting with this division rival on Sunday, they must limit the costly mistakes.

"We're obviously familiar with the Chargers, playing them twice a year, being in the same system with Coach [Brandon] Staley," Raiders Offensive Coordinator Mick Lombardi said when he spoke to the media on Tuesday. "They have very good talent on all three levels -- I feel like I say that every week -- with [Kenneth] Murray at linebacker -- Derwin James is a very productive player on the backend -- [Asante] Samuel, J.C. Jackson. Davis is an experienced player in this scheme. And then, obviously, the two edge guys do a phenomenal job: [Joey] Bosa and [Khalil] Mack.

"So, you have to be prepared for all three levels, similar to how we talked about it verses Denver and then Buffalo. They play very good football, and they play very good situational football. They have an attack mindset and they look to create negative plays. So, we have to do a good job of staying true to our roles and making sure we don't have those negative plays pop up. Because that's what they're looking for: turnovers and negative plays. 

"And if we do a good job of taking care of the football, both from a runner standpoint and from a quarterback standpoint, then we can kind of negate some of the things they want to try to do. But, I think it starts with us first, and then it carries over to them."

The Silver and Black return to the road this week in Inglewood, Calif., to play the Los Angeles Chargers (1-2) on Sunday, Oct. 1, at 4:05 p.m. EDT/1:05 p.m. PDT.

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Aidan Champion
AIDAN CHAMPION