When the season began, the consensus opinion on the Las Vegas Raiders was as follows: a year away.
Sure, there was intrigue surrounding the free agent spending spree, how the team would jell under new head coach Klint Kubiak and the commitment to solving the issues that ultimately doomed the Pete Carroll era. However, with the competitiveness of the AFC West and a team with so many moving parts, many around the league expected this to be a year where progress mattered more than the final result. Injuries to the likes of Ashton Jeanty and Brock Bowers dampened the immediate enthusiasm somewhat, but the expectation was that Week One against the Miami Dolphins was more for the purpose of establishing a baseline.
The end result was not just a 1-0 record for the Raiders. It was a new culture taking shape.
Jeanty not only played on Sunday, but looked like he did not miss a beat by rushing for over 100 yards and picking up two receiving touchdowns. Kirk Cousins kept the game largely in check and, outside of two interceptions, played a remarkably efficient game. The new-look offensive line did not allow a single sack and seemed to play with a level of physicality that was not as visible as fans would have liked last season.
“I think just offensively and defensively, the whole team, special teams, just thought our guys were detailed,” said Kubiak on Wednesday about the Raiders’ Week One performance. “They were prepared for the game and they played hard. The effort was what we expected it to be and just got to stay that way.”
Defense was also an area of improvement from last season.
The front seven additions of Kwity Paye, Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker all made positive impacts, pairing near-perfectly with Maxx Crosby to wreak havoc on the Dolphins offense. From Paye’s two sacks to Treydan Stukes recording his first career interception to Jeremy Chinn’s fourth quarter fumble to effectively finish the game, the focus of defensive coordinator Rob Leonard’s group to make plays on the ball appears to have resonated.
“It’s one thing when you have guys that can play multiple positions. I think great coaches maximize what the best players can do,” said Crosby in regard to the efficacy of the defensive plan against the Dolphins.
“We just have a lot of guys that can do a lot of really good things, so you want to keep offenses honest and things like that. I think [Leonard’s] doing everything he can to try to put us in a good position.”
However, while the Raiders have plenty to be proud of in the way they started their season, but the underlying feeling was that the work had only just started.
Kubiak referred to the NFL as consisting of “17 one-game seasons,” and that sentiment permeated throughout the locker room. Even players who performed well on Sunday were not ready to be satisfied, already looking forward to how they can be even better.
“I thought we left a lot out there. I think we can do more,” said center Tyler Linderbaum. “Proud of game one, but we got a bunch more ballgames left.”
That mentality especially holds true next week against the Los Angeles Chargers, and the Raiders catch their divisional rival as a similarly intriguing juncture early in the season.
Despite having Justin Herbert at quarterback and plenty of talent on the roster, the Chargers are coming off one of the more shocking results of Week One in an upset loss to the Arizona Cardinals. With a brutal stretch of games coming up, the Chargers are going to be desperate to get some momentum in their favor, and there would be few better ways to achieve that than getting one over on a rival. All of the added motivation creates a new layer of difficulty for the Raiders, who will be hoping for their first win against the Chargers at SoFi Stadium since 2020.
“I know they always do play with intensity but certainly that’ll be the case Sunday,” said Cousins, who faces the Chargers for the first time in this AFC West rivalry. “A lot of competitive people on that defense and I’ve played against many of them over the years, and I expect it to be a tremendous challenge for us.”
Meanwhile, the Raiders defense will have a challenge defending Herbert, who has had success against the Raiders in the past. Crosby and Paye will be challenged to repeat their performance from last week against two Pro Bowl-caliber offensive tackles in Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, while the secondary will have to handle a much more experienced group of skill players.
“He’s a great player,” said Crosby in respect to Herbert.
“He offers a lot of different challenges. He’s…more athletic than people probably give him credit for, and he’s willing to take some risks and he’s also extremely accurate when he’s throwing the football. He offers a lot of challenges. Definitely looking forward to having another great challenge this week.”
While Week Two hardly feels like the time to call any game a must-win scenario, the opportunity for a massive momentum shift for both the Raiders and Chargers makes Sunday an important moment for both teams.