Speaker 1: Welcome to playmakers. Everyone. I'm your host, Haley Elwood. It
Speaker 1: is Week thirteen and the Los Angeles Chargers will wrap
Speaker 1: up their series against the Las Vegas Raiders this week
Speaker 1: in Vegas. So joining me to talk about this matchup
Speaker 1: and to welcome her back to Chargers properties. We'll get
Speaker 1: to that in a second is Raiders Digital Managing Editor
Speaker 1: Rachel Goss. And Rachel, thanks for joining me, Thanks for
Speaker 1: having me. It's great to be with you. So I
Speaker 1: make the joke about welcoming you back because for those
Speaker 1: who may not know you were with us back in
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen, you were eight Chargers digital content assistant, contributing writer,
Speaker 1: did everything under the sun. You've now joined the likes
Speaker 1: of Gus Bradley, Denzel Perriman, Casey Hayward, former Chargers legends
Speaker 1: who then became Raiders legends. So we are so happy
Speaker 1: for you, but welcome back. It's kind of fun to
Speaker 1: talk about this game with you. It is. It's exciting.
Speaker 1: That's a long list of names that I don't know
Speaker 1: if I've I rank up there yet with them, but
Speaker 1: very exciting. I always love Chargers versus Raiders. Just it
Speaker 1: brings back memories from me, but also new ones and
Speaker 1: new exciting things that are going to happen. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: kind of the cool part. Before we actually get to
Speaker 1: this game. I just have one quick question and that
Speaker 1: is for someone who maybe you know, this is kind
Speaker 1: of rare to have someone who spend time in the
Speaker 1: team space and then went to another team. What is
Speaker 1: maybe the biggest thing, really quick, just right off the top,
Speaker 1: just job wise, about maybe what you've learned in transitioning
Speaker 1: from franchise to franchise, maybe going from you know, assistant
Speaker 1: now full time. Yeah, it's it's kind of interesting that
Speaker 1: just seeing the way that teams run their organizations, because
Speaker 1: a lot some of it is different, but of a
Speaker 1: lot of it is the same. We're all here trying
Speaker 1: to stack wins, get wins, and make the best content
Speaker 1: that we can for fans. And yeah, it's just exciting
Speaker 1: to see like what they do on the field and
Speaker 1: how we can translate that into content and getting it
Speaker 1: out there for people. And I learned a lot like
Speaker 1: working at the Chargers under you, especially as like a
Speaker 1: woman in this space, it was really just exciting to
Speaker 1: watch like how you managed everything in a full time capacity.
Speaker 1: And I've you know, try to replicate some of that
Speaker 1: now because I feel like you really taught me a lot.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that you were awesome. Like I said, you
Speaker 1: were such a rock star for us back then, and
Speaker 1: we were bummed to lose you, but so happy for
Speaker 1: you and where you are right now despite the AFC
Speaker 1: West ravelry. But I always like to say, the Raiders
Speaker 1: have some of my favorite people in the NFL. So
Speaker 1: you're now just at it. But we get to see
Speaker 1: each other twice a year, so let's say exactly all right,
Speaker 1: So speaking of twice a year, this is the second matchup,
Speaker 1: as I said, between these two teams this season. You
Speaker 1: mentioned it. You've been on both sides. You've been on
Speaker 1: the Chargers side, you're now on the Raiders side. We
Speaker 1: always talk about these games being weird. They always are.
Speaker 1: From your perspective, what is your feeling every time these
Speaker 1: two teams meet? Oh man, I always know that it's
Speaker 1: gonna be just not normal, like something's gonna happen, if
Speaker 1: it's over time, if it's just like some weird play
Speaker 1: that happened, it's just it's it's gonna be crazy and
Speaker 1: it's gonna be an interesting game. Always like You're never
Speaker 1: going to be bored watching these games. It's true. It's
Speaker 1: entirely true. And I know that the Chargers and the
Speaker 1: Raiders both played NFC West teams last week and it
Speaker 1: got weird again for both of them, but both teams
Speaker 1: walked out with a win. For you, guys, For the Raiders,
Speaker 1: it hasn't always been easy this season, but you're on
Speaker 1: a two game win streak. How are the Raiders now
Speaker 1: a different team than when the Chargers last saw them
Speaker 1: in Week one? That is a massive time difference right there.
Speaker 1: It is. And I think week one, especially when you
Speaker 1: have a new coach, you're really still kind of in
Speaker 1: that phase of like this is a new system. We're
Speaker 1: figuring this out, trying to nail down like what your
Speaker 1: identity is and who this team is going to become,
Speaker 1: which I think they've really started to find especially last week.
Speaker 1: I mean, you saw the offense just absolutely explode, especially
Speaker 1: Josh Jacobs. But you look back at week one and
Speaker 1: at that point, you know, everybody's fresh. Right now, we
Speaker 1: don't have Hunter Renfro, we don't have Darren Wall. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of injuries on both sides, the Chargers as well,
Speaker 1: so it is two very different teams because a lot
Speaker 1: has happened since then, but a lot has also been
Speaker 1: figured out. Like week one, we are still kind of
Speaker 1: in that mode of like what does the oh I
Speaker 1: look like? Trying out different packages, different people. Now it
Speaker 1: feels a little more set. It seems to be working
Speaker 1: with Josh's three hundred and three yard game last week,
Speaker 1: so it seems like we've kind of figured it out
Speaker 1: and the confidences is really there. Yeah, And I think
Speaker 1: that's something that as you sort of turned to this game,
Speaker 1: maybe earlier in the season, the Chargers would have looked
Speaker 1: at this game and been like, oh, this is maybe
Speaker 1: a guaranteed win. But the Raiders, as you mentioned it,
Speaker 1: have gotten kind of figured some things out as of late.
Speaker 1: And we always know these divisional games are so different
Speaker 1: and weird things happen, as we mentioned it. But in
Speaker 1: speaking of one of those players you brought up, Josh
Speaker 1: Jacobs had an insane game last week, over three insane
Speaker 1: over three hundred total yards. He put on a show.
Speaker 1: I know that there's reports he's dealing with a calf
Speaker 1: strain right now, and we won't necessarily get into that,
Speaker 1: but when he has been healthy and specifically, maybe look
Speaker 1: in a last week what has been working so well
Speaker 1: for him as of late. Yeah, I think he'd be
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously he's putting in the work running those yards,
Speaker 1: and it's insane that, you know, he was questionable going
Speaker 1: to that game last week and then put up that
Speaker 1: kind of performance and it really shows like the heart
Speaker 1: that he has, like he loves this game. Coach McDaniel said,
Speaker 1: like the best compliment he could give him is he's
Speaker 1: a football player. You know, he has a passion, he
Speaker 1: has the heart, and he wants to go out there
Speaker 1: and help his team win. But he'll Josh wall Is
Speaker 1: also be the first to tell you that it's credit
Speaker 1: to the O line and credit to a lot of
Speaker 1: these guys who have helped him get those holes, make
Speaker 1: those holes for him to run through so he can
Speaker 1: get there and make these really big plays, these first downs.
Speaker 1: So I think it's you know, it's really just jelling.
Speaker 1: You know, like we talked about that the O line
Speaker 1: has kind of found itself. They're jelling. That helps Josh Jell,
Speaker 1: it helps Derek Gell, and it really gets the offense going.
Speaker 1: When Josh Jacobs does get going. What kind of dynamic
Speaker 1: does he add to that offense overall? It's crazy. It's
Speaker 1: crazy that you know you have Devanta Adam, but then
Speaker 1: you have like a Josh Jacob's break up game. You
Speaker 1: have like one of the best receivers in the league,
Speaker 1: but it's like it wasn't him that popped off this game,
Speaker 1: it was Josh. And so it's just cool to see
Speaker 1: all the different like I don't know the word I'm
Speaker 1: looking for, but just the different options that can happen,
Speaker 1: and it just makes things really interesting because you don't
Speaker 1: know whose day it's gonna be. Yeah, And that's kind
Speaker 1: of the crazy thing too. Even despite the injuries that
Speaker 1: you have mentioned, it does sort of seem to ebb
Speaker 1: and flow. And one of those things just when I
Speaker 1: was doing research for this game is I didn't realize
Speaker 1: Vante Adams has ten touchdowns on the season, because I
Speaker 1: think sometimes you look at maybe some of the losses
Speaker 1: and you think, oh, they're not scoring, but they are.
Speaker 1: He's got ten. How has he grown in this offense
Speaker 1: since coming in this year. I think it's well, I
Speaker 1: don't know if you can really grow when you're one
Speaker 1: of the top receivers like he is as advertised, But
Speaker 1: I mean, he's had five or six one hundred yard
Speaker 1: receiving games so far this season, which is just massive.
Speaker 1: And I think we've really seen the trust of him
Speaker 1: and Derek are like going back to college. You know,
Speaker 1: we've always heard them talk about like like I've never
Speaker 1: seen I watched highlights of Fresno State. I never saw
Speaker 1: them live in their college years. But you imagine like
Speaker 1: how that must have felt like watching them, and now
Speaker 1: you get to see it live in the league and crazy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I think you know, maybe early on or I
Speaker 1: was watching obviously the Chargers played the rate excuse me,
Speaker 1: the Cardinals last week and they were talking about Kyler
Speaker 1: Murray in Marquis Brown and maybe the bond that they
Speaker 1: had previously had and but you forget, it's been a
Speaker 1: long time since the two of them last played together.
Speaker 1: And I think you could say the same about Derek
Speaker 1: Carr and Davante. But as the scenes and has gone on,
Speaker 1: they've seemed to strengthen their bond. Is that would would
Speaker 1: that be something that you would sort of take and say,
Speaker 1: having watched them throughout this year so far, I would
Speaker 1: I think we also have to consider, like they've been
Speaker 1: in this league for nine years and they've been you know,
Speaker 1: out of Davante has been in Green Bay and like
Speaker 1: their system, Derek's been out here. They haven't played together
Speaker 1: in nine years. Even though they've been training together and
Speaker 1: the off season, that's not really the same as like
Speaker 1: replicating an actual game. So it was kind of finding
Speaker 1: I mean, week when Davante still had I think one
Speaker 1: hundred four years receiving yards, which was really like for
Speaker 1: Raiders fans, was like his Davante Adams moment. But we've
Speaker 1: really seen them kind of grow as they get more
Speaker 1: comfortable in McDaniel's system and they're figuring it out together
Speaker 1: and building upon not trust that they had in college
Speaker 1: and just making it off the charts up to the league,
Speaker 1: like league level. What kind of maybe impact has a
Speaker 1: guy like Davante Adams had on the rest of the offense.
Speaker 1: Knowing this is such an established veteran, one of the
Speaker 1: top receivers in the league now coming into a brand
Speaker 1: new team but sort of having to sort of almost
Speaker 1: I don't want to say, like remake his mark, but
Speaker 1: kind of in a way because he's sort of starting
Speaker 1: fresh and starting over. I think it's been really great
Speaker 1: for some of the younger receivers like Mac Collins. I
Speaker 1: know he's talked a lot about he's always picking Davante's brain,
Speaker 1: like he knows that Davante's like he's shown out and
Speaker 1: so he knows he has everything to learn from him.
Speaker 1: And even Hunter for It said that, like Hunterman from
Speaker 1: made the Pro Bowl last year, and Davante said he
Speaker 1: learns things from these guys. So it's all I think,
Speaker 1: just that receiver room is like it's what you know
Speaker 1: and what you can share with each other, and that
Speaker 1: really just helps each other grow, because that's kind of
Speaker 1: the goal, right you don't really it's a team sport.
Speaker 1: You're not focused on your own stats and yourself. You
Speaker 1: want everyone to be on the same level, everyone as
Speaker 1: best as they can. So absolutely so. Now flipping to
Speaker 1: the defense, Max Crosby certainly made his presence felt against
Speaker 1: the Seahawks last week. We mentioned this Raiders team. They're
Speaker 1: on a two game win streak. Both wins have coming
Speaker 1: over time, right, yeah, yes, yeah, crazyness. But defensively, how
Speaker 1: has that unit maybe been key to this sort of
Speaker 1: turnaround as of late. Yeah, I mean kind of like
Speaker 1: the offense again, it's a defense that's learning a new system.
Speaker 1: It has taken time. They've had a lot of new
Speaker 1: players on that side of the ball, so it's taken
Speaker 1: time to kind of adjust. But Max is really, I think,
Speaker 1: the heart of the defense. Like he also plays with
Speaker 1: so much passion, just like Josh j really loves a
Speaker 1: game of football. Also became a father this season, and
Speaker 1: I think that might give him a little more juice
Speaker 1: to play, having a little baby girl. But he he's
Speaker 1: always there in the big moments. I saw we saw
Speaker 1: last week that the overtime stop on the Seahawks, and
Speaker 1: it was just like he's he is there, and I
Speaker 1: think that kind of powers the rest of the defensive
Speaker 1: players who have really stepped up. We saw a lot
Speaker 1: of great great stuff on the interior defensive line, like
Speaker 1: Andrew Billings last week. I think he notched half a sack,
Speaker 1: maybe a full one. But it was just like Max
Speaker 1: brings the juice, he brings the energy that's just gonna
Speaker 1: heighten everyone else's very much. That Derwin James figure. If
Speaker 1: you turn it back to this team, someone who that
Speaker 1: was a rookie season, that was essentially your rookie season
Speaker 1: with us too. Yes, rookies together, rookies together exactly. All right,
Speaker 1: final question for you, as we say, these games are
Speaker 1: always strange, they're always weird. They're always exciting though, that
Speaker 1: is the one thing. But what is maybe a factor
Speaker 1: that you see could you know, play a role in
Speaker 1: how this game plays out? I mean, just looking at
Speaker 1: last week's games, they both came down to the wire,
Speaker 1: and I think that could happen again. This could be
Speaker 1: another shootout, This could be you know, just something that's
Speaker 1: gonna be like, Oh my gosh, who's gonna score? Whose
Speaker 1: house is gonna play out? We don't know until there's
Speaker 1: two seconds left. And I think really to get to
Speaker 1: that is going to be limiting mistakes and limiting penalties
Speaker 1: because that could play a factor and how this turns
Speaker 1: out in the end is you know, if you're making
Speaker 1: penalties early on, it might come back to bite you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: playing clean football obviously a key. Rachel. We appreciated it
Speaker 1: is so good to talk to you, so good to
Speaker 1: see you. I know we saw yeah, you were there
Speaker 1: in week one. I know we saw each other at
Speaker 1: the draft. But at least you've stayed in division, which
Speaker 1: is fun to be able to still catch up. But
Speaker 1: we appreciate you coming on and train some insight. Thank
Speaker 1: you and we'll see you on Sunday. Thanks Rachel,