It's tough to be optimistic about the Raiders after what felt like a deflating loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
Especially when the team loses by two scores, it's difficult to hand out any sort of "game balls" or be overly positive.
But it was just one week, and it was the first week of the season. Both teams dealt with immense uncertainty heading into the game, but now, after 60 minutes of football, certain aspects of the game have become more clear.
Instant reactions to a loss often capture the more emotional, negative aspects of the defeat whereas days later, a more rational mind can find the break in the clouds.
Here's five of the most promising things from Week 1:
Alexander Mattison was better than advertised
For some reason, the media ignored this signing all offseason, and for the life of me, I could not figure out why.
Mattison was a starting running back in the NFL last year who totaled 800 yards on the ground and nearly 1,000 all-purpose yards. Having him as a secondary back is incredibly valuable.
But all I heard was criticism about letting Josh Jacobs walk in free agency and how the team did nothing to fill his void.
This is not to say that the former Viking was a superstar on Sunday, or that the Silver and Black ran the ball well, but he did score the Raiders' only touchdown, and he led the team in yards per carry. He also caught a handful of balls out of the backfield and had the second-most targets on the day, collecting the third-most catches.
Zamir White was supposed to be the bellcow back for Las Vegas this season as Antonio Pierce and Luke Getsy emphasized the run all offseason, but he did not look the part in Sunday's loss. Mattison was a great complement to him and is an incredible insurance policy if Zeus can't turn things around.
Raiders young CB trio played at an elite level
I understand that the Chargers do not have incredible receiving weapons, but their quarterback, Justin Herbert, is still among the most talented throwers in the NFL.
Well, this Sunday he wasn't.
The Raiders starting CB group (Jack Jones, Nate Hobbs, and Jakorian Bennett) locked the Chargers' receivers down and left Herbert with nowhere to throw. In fact, he threw for the second-lowest yardage output in his career, excluding games he left due to injury.
When targeting the three, Herbert only completed three passes for 14 yards. Two passes were broken up (one each by Hobbs and Bennett) and Herbert recorded a 47.9 passer rating.
Neither Bennett nor Hobbs gave up a recepetion in the game, and each had a PBU, meaning they relinquished a QBR of 39.6. Jones gave up three catches for 14 yards on five targets, which is a QBR of 64.6.
All of these marks are incredible and very promising for the future. The safety tandem of Marcus Epps and Tre'Von Moehrig underperformed for their standards, so if those two can be more solid behind them, it may be difficult for any QB to have success against this secondary.
Brock Bowers looks like the truth
Although Bowers' numbers do not jump off the page, he was incredibly effective on Sunday.
In only 41 snaps, Bowers was targeted eight times, catching six balls for 58 yards. He led the team in both targets and catches.
His performance is even more impressive when you consider where he ranked among his peers. Bowers had the second most catches and receiving yards of any tight end in Week 1, trailing only Isaiah Likely of the Baltimore Ravens.
This means that he outproduced Travis Kelce, George Kittle, Sam Laporta, and more in his debut.
Bowers will be crucial this week against the Baltimore Ravens, who have a slew of hard-hitting linebackers that struggle covering tight ends and running backs out of the backfield. If Luke Getsy can design one-on-one matchups between Bowers and these linebackers, he may set the world on fire during Sunday's matchup.
Gardner Minshew displays improved accuracy
Minshew was far from a perfect quarterback on Sunday, as he turned the ball over two times and only led the team to 10 points.
But one of the knocks on him during the preseason was his inaccuracy. During the two exhibition contests he completed less than 50% of his passes, but he exceeded that on Sunday.
Minshew was 25-for-33 against the Chargers, which is a 75.8% completion percentage, good for fifth in the NFL in Week 1.
Not only this, but according to NFL Next Gen Stats, Minshew completed 4.4% more passes than he was expected to, and he had success throwing the ball all over the field.
If he can take care of the ball better and get it out quickly to the Raiders' playmakers, I have high hopes for Minshew and the offense.
The run defense is better than it looked
When you give up 176 yards on the ground and relinquish 6.5 yards per carry, it's difficult to justify that the run defense was solid.
But for the most part on Sunday, the Raiders run defense did their job.
Unfortunately, two big rushes were the difference in a dominant game against the run, and looking like one of the worst run defenses in the league.
The Raiders had the highest success rate in the league at stopping the run (70.4%) and if you factor out the 61 and 46-yard runs by JK Dobbins, the Raiders gave up 69 yards on the other 25 carries (2.76 ypc).
Dobbins' runs were pretty improbable, as he garnered the two most "remarkable rushes" of Week 1 according to NFL Next Gen Stats. This means that based on our coverage, Dobbins should have recorded rushes of two and six yards, but missed tackles allowed him to squirt out for big gains.
Despite the big plays, several Raiders defensive tackles were among the best in the league on Sunday. John Jenkins had the most defensive stops against the run in the NFL in Week 1 with five, and Christian Wilkins was tied for second with four.
I have faith that the Raiders will work on tackling this week and be more fundamental in the next matchup, which could mean total domination against the run.