Raiders Must Build Upon Strong Starts to Beat Rams, Salvage Their Season

The Las Vegas Raiders initially struggled with starting fast. This week, they look to start fast and avoid fading down the stretch like they have the last two weeks.

Oct 13, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson (83) celebrates with guard Jordan Meredith (61) and quarterback Aidan O'Connell (12) after scoring a touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the fourth quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

At the start of the season, the Las Vegas Raiders struggled with getting off to a good start. The team would routinely find themselves in an early deficit and fail to recover. Coach Antonio Pierce and Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy emphasized the fact that the offense needed to do its part to help the team get out to a fast start.

A few weeks into the season, the Raiders’ offense began to get the message. The Raiders have jumped out to an early lead each of the last three weeks. However, they are 1-2 during those three games and were a failed Cleveland Browns comeback away from being 0-3 during that time frame.

After failing to start the game in a productive manner, the Raiders finally started playing well in the beginning of games. Unfortunately, they repeatedly failed to sustain their good play, often fizzling out after the first drive. Raiders offensive coordinator Luke Getsy agreed the offense needs to perform better for an entire game and not just the start, but he believes a large part of the problem is the offense’s turnovers.

"Yeah, I mean, if we just look at it very critically, we've just got to take care of that ball,” Getsy said. “That's the thing that a lot of that stuff that will go away if we get rid of that part of it. And these other teams are good, too, so you're going to have plays that don't go your way. And I think handling the adversity of all that stuff is really important, and I think we're getting way better at that each and every week. And so, we've just got to continue to do that."

Getsy believes the message has gotten through to the offense and that progress can already be seen among the unit. Specifically, Getsy noted how well young players on the offense have played and how much their play has improved over the first few weeks of the season.

“And whether it's a fast start or whether you've got to play the middle right or you've got to finish strong, I think those guys are all on the same page, and we're just going to continue to get better with it all,” Getsy said. “I really do believe that. I think you see it out there, I think the way you see these young guys like DJ [Glaze] and Jackson [Powers-Johnson] and Brock [Bowers] and all these guys, it's just getting better each and every week. I think it's all really positive, and we're really excited about where it's going."

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