For the third-consecutive time, the Oakland Raiders took down the San Diego Chargers, beating the Bolts 34-31 Sunday afternoon at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
The win marked the Raiders first home victory of the 2016 regular season, and in tandem with the Denver Broncos loss to the Atlanta Falcons, placed the Silver and Black tied atop the AFC West five games into the season.
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The Raiders defensive line was able to regularly apply pressure to quarterback Philip Rivers, totaling a pair of sacks, as well as four quarterback hits during the Week 5 victory, and no player had a more impressive day along the defensive front than defensive tackle Stacy McGee.
When all was said and done, McGee had tallied four total tackles, one-and-a-half sacks, two quarterback hits, and two forced fumbles – the first of his career.
One of McGee's more impressive plays of the afternoon came in the early stages of the second half as he sacked Rivers, forcing a fumble in the process. McGee's sack, although ultimately recovered by the Chargers, was just the start of a productive 30 minutes for No. 92, and it is this week's Right Combination play presented by State Farm.
Following the game, McGee broke down the play.
Pre-snap:
"That was the first time we called the play. I'm not going to say the name, but I ended up lining up in like a seven wide, and my tight end released out, and I was already full speed ahead, and the tackle just kind of just opened up, and gave me the inside counter move, and I took it, and the quarterback was right there, perfect in line."
Setting up the Chargers lineman earlier in the game:
"Rushing is almost like a game of chess, especially like when you go from position to position, because you line up on different people the whole game, so you just have to remember what move you did on them the last time, so he can maybe be anticipating you doing it again, and then hit him with something else. That's usually what works best."
Seeing Philip Rivers in his sights in the backfield:
"I got me one. I got me one, just don't miss. Don't miss, and then I hit him, and I saw the ball come out, and I was like, 'oh, forced fumble.'"
The importance of making a big play early in the second half:
"I believe, once you get one, you usually can figure out how to get another one, and it just gets your momentum going. It really just sets you up, because now you're starting to be more confident, so you're thinking more about different things you can do, and how you can win on different people, so it just gives you a good mental space after you make one big play."
