The Raiders may be walking into Week 2 without one of the biggest problems the Chargers have to account for.
Brock Bowers is the swing piece. If the tight end misses Sunday’s AFC West matchup, Las Vegas loses a threat that forces defenses to adjust, and Los Angeles gets a cleaner path to dictating the game.
Michael Mayer can step in, but he does not demand the same kind of attention Bowers does. Even so, Bowers should sit if there is any doubt about his health.
His long-term availability matters more than one game.
That potential absence would ripple through the matchup in a big way, especially for Derwin James Jr. With Bowers off the field, James would have more freedom to roam and cause problems in different spots. That is bad news for the Raiders, because James has been a constant nuisance for them for years.
A five-time Pro Bowler and one-time First Team All-Pro, James is one of the league’s premier safeties and one of its most flexible defenders. He can play deep, work in the slot, crowd the box or blitz. In other words, he can do just about anything a defense asks of him.
Against the Raiders, he has been plenty active. In 12 career games versus Las Vegas, James has averaged roughly six total tackles per game.
The numbers only tell part of the story, though. His presence alone has a way of disrupting what the Raiders want to do.
There is at least a chance that changes if Klint Kubiak’s offense proves more functional and the Raiders get a stronger plan in place. James is not impossible to manage. But he is the kind of defender who can wreck a good idea anyway, and game planning only goes so far.
Bowers, meanwhile, has had his own mixed results against the Chargers. In four career games against Los Angeles, he has 19 catches on 29 targets for 209 yards and three touchdowns, with at least eight targets in three of those games. Per Pro Football Focus, he has caught three passes for 16 yards with James as the defender, including one touchdown.
If Bowers is ruled out, James becomes even more dangerous. He could spend more time helping against the run or adding to the pass rush as a blitzer, especially after the Chargers showed in Week 1 that they need help in that area.
However this plays out, James has already established himself as a problem for the Raiders. But if Bowers is unavailable on Sunday, the Chargers’ safety gets an even clearer runway to make life miserable for Las Vegas.
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For Las Vegas, the quarterback picture remains centered on Cousins for now. The Raiders plan to keep him as the starter as long as he is performing well, and there are no immediate plans to turn to Fernando Mendoza, which makes Bradys growing involvement even more notable as the organization tries to steady the offense and find the right formula. [Read more 🡒]