The Las Vegas Raiders were feeling confident after a 20-13 win against the New England Patriots in Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season. Spirits were even higher when the Patriots went out the following week and beat the Miami Dolphins 33-27.
But taking down the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2 was going to be no easy task. The Chargers were fresh off a win against the Kansas City Chiefs and have all the pieces to be a legitimate contender this season.
While the Raiders have enough talent on the roster to have pulled off the upset and gotten to 2-0, they faltered on national TV on Monday. The 20-9 loss felt more embarrassing than the final score showed, and it prevented them from doing something they haven't since their last playoff run in 2021.
Raiders miss out on chance for first 2-0 start since 2021
During the 2021 NFL season, the Raiders started the year 2-0. In fact, they won each of their first three games and jumped out to a 5-2 start before some midseason off-the-field adversity. Of course, the team ended up rallying and making the playoffs that year.
Las Vegas had the chance to match that start with a victory against the Chargers, but they fell flat on their faces on Monday Night Football. Geno Smith's opening-play interception was a bad omen from the jump, and the offense was never able to recover.
Fortunately, the defense played well enough and made a handful of timely plays, which kept the Raiders in the game until close to the very end. Outside of a handful of big plays given up and three interceptions from Smith, it was a relatively even battle.
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Even though the Raiders could not get off to the start that they wanted, there is no need to panic yet. They'll face a Washington Commanders team in Week 3 that is unlikely to have star quarterback Jayden Daniels, then they'll host the struggling Chicago Bears in Week 4.
If the team can jump out to a 3-1 start to the year, it won't matter if the team was 1-1 or 2-0. Las Vegas has all the pieces that they need to win already in the building, but they need to put it all together if they want to take down the heavyweights in the AFC.
Pete Carroll is undeniably a great head coach who has proven that he is not scared to make adjustments. Raider Nation should still have faith in the fact that he can help this team hit the reset button and respond in Week 3 despite this missed opportunity.