The Las Vegas Raiders did what they were supposed to do in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season: beat the Miami Dolphins at home. And just for fun, they did it by two scores. Across the AFC West, the Los Angeles Chargers failed miserably, losing at home to the Arizona Cardinals - by two scores. For fun!
And the more I look at the Chargers, the more I think the Raiders can take them down in Week 2.
Now, a firm line needs to be drawn between optimism and expectations. I think that Klint Kubiak's team could beat Jim Harbaugh and Co., but it won't be an indictment if they don't. More than this time last week, though, Los Angeles looks out of sorts and, in an overarching sense, quite beatable.
Elsewhere in the division, the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs battled on Monday Night Football. Well, if you can call that game a "battle." Although the Chiefs emerged victorious in a big way, neither team looked like a Goliath. And Goliath didn't win in the end, anyway.
So, let's recap what happened around the AFC West in Week 1 and give a brief preview of the Raiders' Week 2 foe, since they're a division rival and all.
Week 1 AFC West roundup: Raiders win big, Chargers and Broncos lose big, are the Chiefs back?
Here are the current standings in the AFC West:
Kansas City Chiefs 1-0
Las Vegas Raiders 1-0
Los Angeles Chargers 0-1
Denver Broncos 0-1
Of course, Las Vegas went wire-to-wire for a 27-13 win over the Dolphins in an imperfect but still very promising showing for the young team. Some questions may be emerging about Kirk Cousins' arm strength against better foes, but perhaps Los Angeles isn't even a noticeably different opponent.
In Week 1, they hosted the Cardinals, a team many thought would contend for the No. 1 pick next April, and the Chargers never led in the game. They ultimately fell 26-14, as the offense never got going and the defense couldn't reliably stop or turn over Arizona's offense.
For all the talk about Mike McDaniel being a huge upgrade over Greg Roman as offensive coordinator, perhaps fans and analysts forgot how much of a downgrade it is going from Jesse Minter to Chris O'Leary. This Los Angeles staff wrote a lot of checks before opening weekend that they didn't cash.
Moving on, Kansas City displayed something on Monday that they haven't in a while: A lethal ground attack. Kenneth Walker III picked up where he left off after a Super Bowl MVP performance in February and absolutely gashed the Broncos on the ground. It was like a youth team playing pros.
But Patrick Mahomes looked a bit shaky throwing the ball in primetime, if we're being honest. Perhaps he couldn't get into a rhythm because it was his first game back, and Andy Reid leaned heavily on the run game, but the Chiefs' aerial attack did not scare me. Their receiving weapons still just aren't great.
Defensively, Steve Spagnuolo's group brought it. The young secondary held up well, and the pass rush looks much improved. Honestly, Kansas City played a similar style to the Raiders, with a run-heavy offensive approach and tons of exotic looks on defense to help out inexperienced DBs.
Right now, the Chiefs look like the frontrunner in the division.
Denver missed nearly 30 tackles in Week 1 and looked like they lost their edge defensively. This was their worst opening-game loss in over 20 years, and that can also be attributed to an exceedingly poor offensive performance. Davis Webb, their new OC, just couldn't find a way to get the ball moving.
Webb was once a serious head coach candidate in Las Vegas, and he's a bright young leader, so he will likely figure it out. But everything from pre-snap efficiency to play-call selection was disjointed, and Bo Nix had a true stinker of a showing. Jaylen Waddle was a non-factor, as was their run game.
It's a stretch to infer that the Raiders are the second-best team in the AFC West after one game, and as I continue to say, Week 1 results can't always be extrapolated to the entire season. But it was at least promising for Las Vegas fans to see these "mighty" divisional foes look incredibly human.
A lot will change, but if the Silver and Black can keep improving, it won't be long until this group is really competing with its rivals. Perhaps by the end of this campaign. Or maybe even by Sunday afternoon when they travel to face the Chargers at SoFi Stadium.
Las Vegas Raiders can beat Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2, but it doesn't mean they will
Last year, the Raiders were riding high coming off a win on opening day against the New England Patriots, and they faced Los Angeles in Week 2. That's where the similarities end, as the Chargers looked like world beaters this time last year following a dominant overseas win over the Chiefs.
Geno Smith stunk it up in primetime, but Cousins won't have to play under the bright lights; he'll be taking the field on Sunday afternoon. And this matchup won't be consumed by the age-old rivalry between Harbaugh and Pete Carroll. It'll just be a plain-old AFC West showdown, as it should be.
Justin Herbert didn't exactly impress last week against what is considered an unremarkable Cardinals defense. Omarion Hampton wasn't a big factor on the ground and fumbled for good measure, and Ladd McConkey, their leading receiver, is likely to be out or at least not at 100% in Week 2.
Los Angeles' offensive line is a mess, as the interior has fallen apart in the wake of Tyler Biadasz's injury. They actually rotated at left guard on Sunday as if it were a preseason game, and the funny part is that neither player really performed that well. Things are contentious at Chargers HQ, it seems.
Harbaugh told the media that folks will look back on Herbert as the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. McDaniel said that he has a whole new section of the playbook that he can open up with Herbert now under center instead of Tua Tagovailoa. But the former looked like the latter vs. Arizona.
Defensively, the Chargers are still solid, but they have more weak links than last year. Or perhaps O'Leary just doesn't hide them as well as Minter did. But they got diced up by Jacoby Brissett and the Cardinals, giving up tons of 10+ yard throws. Maybe Cousins bounces back and finds success there.
Of course, Arizona is a stiffer foe than Miami, but they are not four scores better. And Los Angeles still went to the playoffs last year and returned a lot of their key players; plus, their offensive tackles are back and healthy. Harbaugh still has a talented team, but not a perfect one. It should be close.
We'll continue to break down all the matchups and provide all of the information you'll need ahead of Raiders-Chargers in Week 2, but this brief preview should have Las Vegas fans excited about their team's chances.
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