The Chargers are 2-0 after getting a 20-9 win over the Raiders on Monday Night Football.

Here are five takeaways from Week 2.

1. An early AFC West lead

We're only two games into a long 2025 season, but the Chargers are currently the only team in the AFC West without a loss.

Not that the Bolts are making too much of a two-game sample size.

But they certainly know where they stand in the division, especially since both of the Chargers wins so far have come against AFC West foes.

"That positions yourself well for this season," Derwin James, Jr. said. "We know it's not the end of the year, but man, starting 2-0 in the division, you only play six of them. To be 2-0, that's a great start."

Monday night's primetime win over the Raiders wasn't pretty at times.

Instead, it was a gritty division game that those who have lengthy ties to the rivalry have come to expect.

"This game in particular, growing up in San Diego, I've always seen and felt the rivalry with Chargers and Raiders," Tony Jefferson said. "This one means a bit more, probably more than the younger guys because they don't know, but I know what this means and the legends that played here."

"Great road win, division game. Real blue-collar game," said Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh.

He later added: "It was a great game, an AFC West fight and our guys came out on top."

The Bolts have now started 2-0 in both season under Harbaugh, but the 2025 version certainly feels more significant given that both wins were against a division opponent.

The gauntlet isn't over, however, as the Chargers will now turn their attention to a Week 3 home game against the Broncos.

"Just keep stacking, that's it," said Tuli Tuipulotu.

2. Defense shines in win

Harbaugh said it best in his postgame press conference.

"Thank goodness for defense," Harbaugh quipped.

A week after the Raiders put up nearly 400 yards of offense, including 362 passing yards from Geno Smith, the Chargers defense simply swarmed, stymied and stopped the Las Vegas offense all night.

Where to start?

How about the fact that the Raiders didn't score a touchdown and resorted to three field goals despite possessing the ball for nearly 32 minutes.

All in all, the Raiders tallied just 218 yards of offense, with Smith throwing for just 180 yards with three interceptions.

And as that final stat alludes to, the Chargers were all over Smith's passes once they left his hand.

The Bolts racked up 15 total passes defensed Monday night, with Smith completing zero passes on his 11 attempts that went for 10-plus air yards.

In fact, the Chargers defense had seven players — Daiyan Henley, Donte Jackson, James, Tony Jefferson, Tarheeb Still, Tulipulotu and Alohi Gilman — with multiple passes defensed against the Raiders, which tied for the most in a game since the stat was first tracked in 1999.

Henley, Jefferson and Jackson had interceptions for the Chargers.

"We knew who their guys were," Jefferson said. "We knew they could get the engine going, Geno trusts his arm. We had to make sure we stayed back in coverage and plaster because he could scramble.

"There's still some things that we should probably clean up before we move on, Jefferson said. "But I thought we did a good job keeping the roof on top, keeping everything in front of us, no explosives."

James added: "Everybody made plays on the ball. We were running to the ball, made plays on the ball, that's contagious. That's the sign of a good defense."

Harbaugh credited Chargers Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter and the entire defensive staff for the job they did during the game and leading up to it.

"Jesse called a masterpiece of a game … at times you felt like there was more than 11 out there," Harbaugh said.

He later added: "The defense [were] guardians of victory today. They had our back, our front, our side. It was a tremendous defensive performance."

3. Bolts lose Khalil Mack

The Chargers could be without one of their captains for a bit.

Outside linebacker Khalil Mack suffered an elbow injury when trying to make a tackle on the final play of the first quarter and immediately went to the sideline in pain.

Mack, who had notched a sack earlier in the game, went to the locker room and later returned to the sideline wearing a sling.

"We'll get some imaging tomorrow and see where that takes us," Harbaugh said. "We'll see what the imaging says."

Mack's teammates made it clear after the game how much they respect a captain and defensive leader.

"It's a blow to the heart. That's my dog, that's my vet. That's someone I look up to," Tuipulotu said. "But like we were talking about on the field, what would he have wanted us to do in this moment. He would want us to ball out and do it for him. That's what it is now."

Jefferson added: "That's an irreplaceable guy right there."

If Mack does have to miss any time, the onus would fall on Tuipulotu and Bud Dupree.

"K-Mack is a Hall of Famer," Dupree said. "Anytime a Hall-of-Fame type guy goes out then you know, everybody has to step up as a unit."

"We don't even know what [the injury] is this moment, but as long as they need us to step up then we're going to be ready," Dupree added.

4. All-around offensive effort

The Chargers offense had a tale of two halves Monday night.

The first half featured 184 yards of offense, 17 points and touchdown passes to Keenan Allen and Quentin Johnston.

The second half was comprised of just three points, plus the Chargers first turnover of the season, but Harbaugh said he liked the way the group rallied at the end.

"We were at our best when our best was needed," Harbaugh said. "We would have like to close it out a little bit earlier, but we closed it out when we needed to."

The trio of Johnston, Allen and Ladd McConkey combined for 13 catches for 180 yards and both Chargers scores.

"Multiple guys open per down and Justin's finding them. It's Quentin, it's Ladd, it's Keenan," Harbaugh said.

He later added: "There's great options, and the guys are catching the ball. I think that's the other thing that stands out. Our receivers are not dropping the ball."

Overall, the Chargers put up 317 total yards of offense, with Herbert throwing for 242 yards without an interception.

The quarterback also led the Chargers with 31 rushing yards on the night.

5. Defense hangs tough

Up 17-6 at the half, the Chargers got the ball put together a lengthy field goal drive that lasted 12 plays, went 72 yards and took up exactly half of the third quarter.

But that was small potatoes compared to what the Chargers defense had to endure on the ensuing drive.

In response, the Raiders put together a 19-play drive that spanned 62 yards and took 11 minutes and 15 seconds off the clock.

"That was [nearly] a 20-play drive," James said. "I ain't going to lie, I don't know if we've practiced those this year."

While a bit tired, the Bolts defense hung tough and limited Las Vegas to a field goal.

A touchdown would have cut the Chargers lead to just one score. But a resilient and valiant effort ensured the Raiders wouldn't get any closer than an 11-point deficit.

"That's devasting, 19 plays and you don't get in the end zone," James said. "For us to put the fire out, it's good."

Harbaugh added: "We had the ball once in the third quarter, they had it once in the third quarter. To stop them to three points there, guys just playing like it meant everything to them."