The Las Vegas Raiders were coming off a tough loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1 and were in need of a bounce-back Victory to rebuild morale. Unfortunately, they faced a monumental task in the form of an East Coast trip to face the formidable Baltimore Ravens on the road.
These 10 a.m. Pacific Time kickoffs are usually brutal for West Coast teams and it certainly looked like it would be a disappointing afternoon for the Raiders once again. They trailed for much of the game and struggled to get anything going on offense until late in the third quarter. The defense was fighting all game and kept the game close against former league MVP Lamar Jackson and they ultimately made the plays necessary to give the offense a chance to win the game.
Instead of staring down the barrel of an 0-2 start the Raiders are now 1-1 and get to face perhaps the worst team in the NFL in their home opener next week. The difference between those two records is night and day and the vibes are back in Las Vegas. The locker room was celebratory and the players were clearly emotional after such a tough win and now they can turn their focus to getting back over 500.
Before we look ahead, let's take a look back at the studs and duds from a massive week to victory in Baltimore.