Raiders Aim to Build Off Last Week's Success With AFC West Road Win

The Las Vegas Raiders played their best game of the season last week. They hope to get on a roll with a win over the Denver Broncos on the road.

Sep 29, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; The Las Vegas Raiders celebrate after stopping the Cleveland Browns on fourth down in the the fourth quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

 The Las Vegas Raiders got a much-needed win last week over the Cleveland Browns. This Sunday, the Silver and Black have an AFC West road matchup against the Denver Broncos. They hope to carry over their success from last week and win two games in a row. 

Raiders coach Antonio Pierce believes last week helped build the team’s confidence, especially younger players who played a significant role in the win. Many younger players stepped up when given the opportunity with multiple starters out last week. Pierce noted this helped earn many younger players additional opportunities to show what they can do. 

"Confidence, confidence,” Pierce said. “Last year when I took over, a lot of the success was because of our younger players. Well, it happened a little bit earlier this year in game four, and we always talk about it, you know the mantra, next man up mentality. 

“But normally the guy's a little bit older, he's not a rookie or it's a core special teams guy. But I think that's a credit to these gentlemen taking pride in their work, understanding that there's a great opportunity for them. And listen, when you make opportunities, you get more opportunities." 

Raiders starting quarterback Gardner Minshew II noted the offense has taken strides over the first four weeks of the season. The veteran quarterback said the offense is still figuring out what they do well and how to do it consistently.

Minshew said the offensive game plan of attacking the opposing defense’s edges worked well last week and that doing so helped get the offense going. He hopes the unit can build upon last week’s success during Sunday’s game against the Broncos.

 "Yeah, I think we're still figuring out what we do well, and I think we got guys that are really good on the edge that we got to get the ball to,” Minshew said. “I think that really helps our run game too, when we get stuff moving side to side. So I think that was really important, and I think we'll just continue to grow and understand what we are and build on that." 

The Raiders have had numerous injuries to many of their best players. This is especially the case on the defensive side of the ball. However, with wide receiver Davante Adams’ hamstring issue, the offense is missing a significant piece as well. The Raiders hope none of that will matter for the second week in a row.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @HondoCarpenter and IG @HondoSr and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.