The Raiders don’t need to force the issue to look dangerous against the Chargers. If anything, their best path Sunday at SoFi Stadium is the one they’ve already shown a willingness to take: stay patient, stay on schedule and make the most of every snap.
Las Vegas heads into its first AFC West game of the season with a chance to move to 2-0 in the first year of Klint Kubiak’s tenure. That comes with the usual rebuild label attached, but the football has been competitive enough to make the conversation more interesting than that. Now comes a road test against a Los Angeles defense that had trouble with the Arizona Cardinals’ passing game - even if the Raiders’ own passing attack has been the tougher side of the ball to trust.
That tension was part of the discussion earlier this week around Kirk Cousins and the vertical game. The Dolphins were able to take away the downfield shot with two split-high defenders, and that kind of coverage blunted what Kubiak and Cousins wanted to do. The Raiders also don’t have a clear answer yet for consistently beating those looks, and with Tre Tucker serving as the No. 1 wide receiver, the explosive plays aren’t automatically built in.
Still, offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko made the point Thursday that the offense doesn’t have to chase every deep opportunity just because it’s there on the call sheet. "A shot called is not always a shot taken."
"We want to take what the defense gives us," Janocko said. "Quarterback's always trying to listen to his feet, go through his progression, operate with intelligent aggression.
And then when it's not there, get the ball in playmakers' hands underneath. Let them break tackles and create explosives that way."
That approach fits the roster as it stands right now, especially without a pass-catching centerpiece like Brock Bowers, who can influence all three levels of the field. The Raiders have players who can do damage after the catch. They just aren’t built, at least at the moment, to win on a steady diet of press-man victories and deep-ball separation.
There’s another layer to this matchup, too: possession. Las Vegas controlled the ball last week, and that’s an edge the staff would love to keep leaning on. The Chargers had trouble holding onto the football in their last outing, and if the Raiders can pair a veteran quarterback with a solid run game and keep drives alive, they can make Sunday feel a lot more manageable.
"That's one of the things that we always talk about is being able to maximize our possessions, maximize the time that we have the ball in our hands," Janocko said. "I thought our coaches did a great job with the planning purposes, executing the planning, have our guys on point, letting our guys execute so that we were able to stay on the field."
For now, the Raiders have enough to keep building an identity. The deep ball may still be waiting in the wings until Fernando Mendoza makes his first start at some point, but Kubiak’s offense already has a workable formula. And against the Chargers, that may be enough to shine.
In Other News...
Raiders Get An Early Opening Against A Shorthanded Chargers Defense
The Raiders are getting a first look at a Chargers team that is already dealing with some lineup uncertainty on both sides of the ball heading into Week 2. Los Angeles has had to shuffle pieces because of injuries, and that has opened the door for changes up front and in the secondary, including Kayode Awosika settling in at left guard and Tony Jefferson projected to start at safety.
From Las Vegas perspective, the bigger issue is how much the Chargers can clean up on defense after a rough opener. With key players either questionable or ruled out, the matchup gives the Raiders a chance to test a group that is still trying to settle its rotations and restore some stability before the division race gets any deeper. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Could Catch Chargers At The Perfect Time Up Front
The Chargers are already dealing with some early turbulence up front, and that matters to the Raiders as they look down the AFC West schedule. Los Angeles brought in Odafe Oweh in a trade, then moved on from him in free agency and tried to fill that spot by drafting first-round pick Akheem Mesidor, but the early returns have not matched the hope that came with the move.
For Las Vegas, that makes this a matchup worth watching closely. A front that is still trying to find its footing can be vulnerable if the pass rush does not hold up and the offensive line keeps giving ground, which is exactly the kind of opening the Raiders would love to exploit while the Chargers are working to avoid an early-season hole. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Young Talent Suddenly Carries Big Weight Against The Chargers
Week 2 brings a little more clarity, and a lot more pressure, for a Raiders roster that is leaning on younger pieces sooner than expected. Tre Tucker, Tonka Hemingway and Hezekiah Masses all move into sharper focus against the Chargers, and their roles matter even more with injuries shaping what both teams can and cannot do. The Raiders got a decent look at how those players fit in Week 1, and now the challenge is whether that early usage translates into something sturdier in a divisional game that tends to punish any hesitation.
For Las Vegas, the matchup is less about waiting for proven names to carry the load and more about whether emerging talent can hold up when the game plans get tighter. Tuckers speed, Hemingways interior work and Masses presence all sit at the center of that conversation, especially with the availability questions on both sidelines potentially opening doors in different spots. What the Raiders learn here could say a lot about how much trust they can place in that young group, and how quickly they need that trust to grow. [Read more 🡒]