The Raiders got one win in Week 1, but Sunday brings a much harder test. A road trip to face the Chargers will tell a lot more about where Las Vegas really stands, especially inside the AFC West, where the Raiders have spent the past few seasons stuck in last place.
This matchup is about more than just a division game. It’s also a collision between a team still figuring itself out and one that has been together a lot longer.
Las Vegas is only into its second regular-season game as a group, and that lack of continuity shows up most clearly on offense. Los Angeles, meanwhile, has the benefit of home field and a roster that has had far more time to gel.
Raiders offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko didn’t downplay the challenge waiting for his unit.
"I think this defense is very talented. They've been together.
A lot of those guys have been together for a long time. They're talented.
They're a veteran-led group,” Janocko said on Thursday.
“The stats speak for themselves and what they've done in the past and what you expect them to do going forward. This is a heck of a challenge for us, and we're excited for the challenge. But there's a lot of talent on that defense, they've been very successful for a long time."
If Las Vegas is going to leave with another win, its defense will almost certainly have to carry a huge load again. Against the Dolphins, the Raiders held Miami to 74 rushing yards, and Miami’s quarterback finished as the team’s leading rusher. Las Vegas also piled up five sacks, with the defensive line and linebackers setting the tone throughout the game.
That same front-seven group is going to be asked to do it again. Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers want to run the ball, and there’s little reason to think he’ll back away from that plan on Sunday. For the Raiders, the defensive line and linebackers remain the clearest strength on the roster, and this matchup may lean on them more than anything else.
Rob Leonard singled out the energy that came from that unit after the Dolphins game.
“Execution fuels emotion, so if you execute at a high level everybody's getting excited. When everybody's getting excited, good things happen.
And it's not just one person. Malcolm [Koonce] is right in that category too.
He's an energy giver. He makes a play and starts headbutting people.
Kwity did that. As a coach, you want to feel that from everybody,” Leonard said.
The other side of the ball is where the real stress test comes in. Los Angeles has enough offense to create problems, and Las Vegas’ young defensive backs are stepping into one of their toughest assignments yet. The Raiders may have some margin for error if their pass rush keeps getting home, but that back end still has to hold up.
Justin Herbert is expected to get rid of the ball quickly to help neutralize the rush, which puts even more pressure on the Raiders’ coverage unit. The defensive backs can’t afford to let Herbert and his receivers settle in and start stacking easy completions.
For Las Vegas, this one comes down to three things: the challenge of facing a veteran Chargers defense, the need for the front seven to control the run again, and the ability of the secondary to keep Herbert from finding a rhythm. If the Raiders can win those battles, they’ve got a real shot to walk out of Week 2 on top.
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