The Raiders didn’t just open the season with a win over the Miami Dolphins. They walked out of Week One looking like a team that may be further along than most people expected.
That was not the preseason read on Las Vegas. The common view was that this was a club a year away - a team with a new head coach in Klint Kubiak, a heavy free-agent spending spree and enough moving parts that the focus would be on growth more than results.
Injuries to Ashton Jeanty and Brock Bowers only softened the buzz further. Week One was supposed to set a baseline.
Instead, the Raiders found something sturdier than that.
Jeanty played, and he looked like himself again right away, topping 100 rushing yards and adding two receiving touchdowns. Kirk Cousins managed the game well, and aside from two interceptions, he was highly efficient. Up front, the rebuilt offensive line did its job without surrendering a sack, and the group brought a physical edge that hadn’t been seen enough 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.”
The defense gave the Raiders another reason to feel good. Kwity Paye, Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker all made their presence felt in the front seven, and they fit neatly alongside Maxx Crosby in a performance that disrupted Miami’s offense from start to finish. Paye finished with two sacks, Treydan Stukes picked off his first career interception, and Jeremy Chinn’s fourth-quarter fumble helped close the door.
Crosby said the versatility of the plan was a big part of why it worked.
“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.”
Still, nobody in the building sounded ready to turn one good Sunday into a conclusion. Kubiak described the league as “17 one-game seasons,” and that message clearly landed. Even after a strong opener, the tone was more about what still needs cleaning up than what was already accomplished.
“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 mindset matters because the next test comes fast, and it comes inside the division. The Raiders head to Los Angeles to face the Chargers, who are coming off one of the more surprising results of Week One after losing to the Arizona Cardinals. With a difficult stretch ahead, the Chargers will be hunting for momentum, and beating a rival would be one of the quickest ways to get it.
The Raiders, meanwhile, are still chasing their first win over 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.”
The challenge goes both ways. Herbert has had success against the Raiders before, and Las Vegas will need another sharp effort from Crosby and Paye against Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt. The secondary will also be tested by a more seasoned 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.”
It’s still early enough that nobody is calling Sunday a must-win. But for a Raiders team trying to turn a promising start into something real, and a Chargers team desperate to steady itself after an upset, Week Two already feels like a hinge point.
In Other News...
Raiders Depth Chart Says A Lot About Who This Team Is Becoming
The Raiders updated depth chart ahead of Week 2 offered a useful snapshot of where this roster stands after the opener, and it lined up with what Week 1 already hinted at. Some of the early contributors have separated themselves, while other spots still look like works in progress as the team settles into its first real stretch of the season. For a roster trying to define its identity, these early pecking orders matter because they reveal who the staff trusts and where the competition is still very much alive.
Against the Chargers, that depth chart also adds a little intrigue to the larger picture. The Raiders are trying to balance short-term game planning with the bigger questions of how this team will take shape over the season, and the latest release suggests there are still a few positions where roles can change quickly. Week 2 should give another clue about which parts of the roster are stabilizing and which ones are still open for business. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Tight End Plans Just Got More Interesting Around Brock Bowers
The Raiders tight end room already had enough intrigue, and the conversation only picked up after the team discussed a possible return timeline for Brock Bowers while also locking in Michael Mayer with a contract extension. For a group that figures to be central to how Las Vegas attacks this season, the timing matters, especially with the rest of the division already sorting through its own Week 1 chaos.
Denvers 31-10 loss to Kansas City only sharpened the contrast, with Bo Nix pointing to offensive mistakes and penalties while Travis Kelce turned in another productive day for the Chiefs. The Raiders are watching all of that from a distance, but the bigger question in Las Vegas is how soon Bowers can get back into the mix and what Mayers new deal means for the way the team plans to use both ends once the roster is whole again. [Read more 🡒]
Klint Kubiak's Hard Edge Is Already Testing What Raiders Can Be
Klint Kubiaks first eight months in charge have already given the Raiders a different kind of edge, and it started in training camp. The work has been so demanding that one veteran player described it as the hardest camp he has ever experienced, a sign of how firmly Kubiak has tried to set the tone in Las Vegas. General manager John Spytek has publicly backed that approach, praising the coachs work ethic and discipline as the team tries to build something sturdier than a good week or two.
The early returns have shown up on defense, where Rob Leonard has helped shape a group that looked sharp in the Raiders first game of the season. Las Vegas finished Week One leading the NFL in havoc plays, an encouraging indicator for a unit that wants to play fast, disruptive football under a first-year coordinator. Whether that intensity holds up over a full season is the question, but the Raiders already look like a team being pushed hard enough to find out. [Read more 🡒]