Raiders Week 1 performance earns them a dubious projection

Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season was not kind to the Las Vegas Raiders, as they looked hapless on offense in a 22-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. The Raiders struggled in many aspects of the game, including coaching, but there were some positives that came out of the game.

It looks like the Raiders may have found a star with their 2024 first-round pick Brock Bowers, and the defense was just as good as advertised early on. Still, the loss was a bad one, and now, the Raiders are being seemingly written off by the national media, even if it was only Week 1.

On ESPN, they listed out which teams are most likely to get the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and the Raiders came in at No. 4. Utilizing their ESPN Football Power Index, Las Vegas was only beaten out by the Carolina Panthers, New York Giants, and Denver Broncos in the race to be the first team to select next April.

Of course, only one week into the season, no member of Raider Nation should be hoping for a year that sees their team pick No. 1 overall. In the first full season with Antonio Pierce at the helm, the hope was to bring a winning culture to the Silver and Black, and picking No. 1 overall next April would mean the season went way off the rails.

Raiders will try to fix their issues against Baltimore in Week 2

In Week 2, the Raiders will hit the road once again, this time heading East to take on the Baltimore Ravens. Las Vegas will have to try and contain Lamar Jackson, the Ravens star quarterback who nearly led the team to a road victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1.

Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy struggled in his debut in that role with the Raiders, and despite having strong talent on that side of the ball, Las Vegas was very inconsistent on offense. That cannot happen against the Ravens, because the more times you give Jackson the ball, the probability of this one getting out of hand goes way up.

The Raiders could very well end up earning the No. 1 overall pick next April if they do not start to pick up their game. Baltimore is going to be a tough test, but seemingly easier teams are coming up on their schedule, including the aforementioned Broncos and Panthers.

Lets home Pierce can get this thing going in the right direction soon.