The Las Vegas Raiders are off to a terrible start to the 2024 campaign after losing to the Los Angeles Chargers22-10, in week 1.
The loss was bad enough, but the fact that the offense only managed one touchdown made it worse. Gardner Minshew wasn’t terrible, but he wasn’t good either, the offensive line was mediocre, the offense as a whole turned the ball over three times, and even the normally reliable Daniel Carlson missed a field goal.
As if all that wasn’t enough, the defense was a sieve against the run and head coach Antonio Pierce made a pair of questionable decisions on fourth-and-1. His decision to punt the ball in Chargers territory in the fourth quarter was the worst.
As expected, Jugo Mobile’s Vinnie Iyer wasn’t kind to the Raiders in his Week 2 NFL rankings, as he had Las Vegas at No. 30, two spots lower than where they started the season. Carolina Panthers (No. 32) and New York Giants (No. 31) were lower.
Here’s what Iyer said about Las Vegas:
“The Raiders showed some style with Gardner Minshew early before faltering against the run and collapsing on offense against the new-look, relentless Chargers. The Ravens won’t give up on them in Week 2 against the run game.”
As if a match with a very good Baltimore Ravens The team that has the ability to burn the Raiders’ mediocre run defense wasn’t bad enough, the Ravens look to get their own season back on track after a Week 1 loss to the The Kansas City Chiefs.
Based on what we saw on Sunday, the Raiders are likely to start the season 0-2, and they could fall even further in Iyer’s power rankings as a result.
