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'We're on the right side of history now': Raiders' 63-point outing was a cohesive juggernaut

It can't be like last week.

That statement went through Jack Jones' mind repeatedly as he entered Allegiant Stadium this afternoon. The Las Vegas Raiders had a short week coming into their primetime Thursday Night Football game against the Chargers. And while their 3-0 defeat from Week 14 had come and gone, a bitter taste remained in the mouth.

Jones was right, Thursday night's game wasn't anything like Sunday's.

The team that was shut out at home four days ago played like a team seeking redemption. A team that wanted to give their home crowd a good product. A team that scored a franchise record 63 points.

Throughout the full 60 minutes, it seemed the Chargers never gained momentum for any part of it. The Silver and Black took a 21-point lead with three minutes left in the first quarter and didn't look back.

The Raiders offense scored another three touchdowns in the second quarter, with Aidan O'Connell throwing touchdown passes to fellow rookies Michael Mayer and Tre Tucker, and running back Brandon Bolden scoring a 26-yard rushing touchdown in wildcat formation.

"We wanted to be aggressive regardless of what the score was," said Antonio Pierce. "If we only had 21 or 10, we were going to be aggressive. That was our mindset. Talked to our team about it last week, playing better in the second half, I thought we did."

The defense chipped in with five takeaways on forced fumbles from Malcolm Koonce (two), Marcus Epps, Robert Spillane and DJ Turner in special teams. Koonce's second forced fumble resulted in a John Jenkins fumble recovery returned 44 yards to the house.

"If I can help the team in anyway, it's always a good feeling," Koonce said of his career performance. "[T]he effort from the whole defense was great. We set the tone the whole day today."

The Raiders' last seven points of the day came from Jones, securing a pick-six in highlight fashion. The cornerback ran a screen route in perfect sync with Easton Stick throwing the ball in the flat, and with a one-handed catch, ran to the end zone.

"Last week when we left that field and came into the locker room, that feeling we had in that locker room for losing that game we know we should've won – it's the worst," Jones said. "We just all came together as a team and said, 'That's not what we want. Next play, keep going. Let's not let it be what it was last week.'"

The defensive touchdown from Jones was significant for multiple reasons. It led to a total 63 points for a franchise record of most points scored in a game. It was also the cornerback's first interception as a Raider, playing under the tutelage of Pierce who's been his coach at the high school, collegiate and now professional level.

"He means everything to me, he damn near a father figure," Jones said of Pierce. "From high school all the way up to now, just mentoring me through the ups and downs. He's a big piece of my life."

While history was made tonight, come tomorrow the Silver and Black will resume looking at the big picture of closing out the season. They'll have more than a week to prepare for another tough division matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day.

"We were on the wrong side of history [last week]. Well, we're on the right side now and that's the way we want to be," Pierce said. "Turnovers, points, they always come in bunches. For us, it became a frenzy. You saw it on defense, you saw it on offense, special teams jumped in it. Just look at the sideline. If you didn't see it, you could hear it. Hats off to our team responding four days after what just happened here previously.

"Give them a couple days off, we're going to come back and get ready for these world champs."

View photos from the Raiders' Week 15 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers at Allegiant Stadium.

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