Let’s discuss the good, bad, and ugly from the Las Vegas Raiders vs Los Angeles Chargers matchup.
The Good: Gardner Minshew looks strong
Gardner Minshew seems like the only real positive for the Las Vegas Raiders after their season opener against the Chargers. Minshew made his presence felt by going 19 of 25 for 217 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter. He also did a great job protecting the ball and spreading it to his receivers.
While Minshew didn’t get the win in his debut with the Raiders, he seemingly established an incredible repertoire. For example, he connected with Davante Adams five times for 60 yards. Rookie Brock Bowers was targeted four times for 47 yards and an average gain of 14 yards. The Raiders just need to work on balancing their offense more, and this could be a decent team.
The Bad: The nonexistent run game
The one thing that Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers proved is that the Raiders need Joshua Jacobs. He was the fire that ignited the engine of this offense. Unfortunately for the Raiders, Jacobs signed with the Packers over the offseason, leaving a majority of touches to Zamir White.
However, White couldn’t handle the load and only managed 12 carries for 44 yards on Sunday. He also failed to reach the endzone and had an average gain of only 3.4. His performance grew so bad during the game that the Raiders actively tried other options, including Alexander Mattison, who took five carries for 14 yards. There was also Jakobi Meyers, who took one carry of his own for a gain of three.
The Raiders have two choices at this point. They can either wait it out and hope White grows into his role or start looking around in free agency.
The Ugly: The defense hasn’t changed a bit
It’s frustrating to hear the Raiders defense hyped up all offseason just to see them fall 22-10 to the Chargers. And it happened as it always does. First, Las Vegas comes out strong with a decent lead and the defense mops the floor with anyone trying to get to the endzone.
Then the defense suddenly gives up big plays out of nowhere and puts the Raiders in a hole. They also failed to secure one single interception or fumble and only managed one sack the entire game, which Maxx Crosby delivered. The worst came in the second half when the Raiders gave up 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Nothing has fundamentally changed with the Las Vegas Raiders. The only real difference is they have a slightly better quarterback under center. They also have great receivers like Brock Bowers, Davante Adams, and Jakobi Meyers, but that will only take them so far.
New head coach Antonio Pierce looked like a genius at times by holding the Chargers to three points a quarter but ruined it in the fourth. The playcalling was awful.
