Raiders Now Days Away From Chance to Quiet the Doubters

The Las Vegas Raiders have an opportunity to make a huge statement to the national media on Sunday.

Oct 1, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) is sacked by Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby (98) in the fourth quarter at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

All offseason, the Las Vegas Raiders have constantly been dismissed as a team that will once again have to rely on next year's NFL Draft for future success.

Whether it's their "unideal" quarterback battle, the challenge of having to compete with the defending Super Bowl champions for contention in the AFC West or the inexperience of their new full-time head coach Antonio Pierce, not many outside of the Raiders organization expect the Silver and Black to have a turnaround first season under Pierce.

The latest of many predictions that have counted out the Raiders before their 2024 season even kicks off is that of CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin, who recently listed Las Vegas as one of five teams he predicts to be among the worst in the NFL.

"In terms of raw talent, the Raiders actually boast some of the game's top players at individual spots, be it Davante Adams out wide, Christian Wilkins on the interior or Maxx Crosby off the edge," Benjamin wrote. "Rookie tight end Brock Bowers should enhance the offense as well. New coach Antonio Pierce will be trying to prove he's got more than an interim spark, however, and he'll be doing so with some combination of Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell at quarterback. Both guys are scrappy, but there's a reason their offseason competition lasted all the way to the preseason, where even Pierce seemed reluctant to crown a winner. It'd be one thing if this group played in the NFC South. In the AFC West, where the Kansas City Chiefs are a juggernaut and the Los Angeles Chargers should be improved, win streaks could be particularly hard to come by in Sin City."

Yep, we've heard this all before. And per usual, there are flaws in this assessment.

The Raiders were the last team to defeat the Chiefs -- at Arrowhead Stadium, mind you. You can say it was a fluke, but Pierce has made it clear his team has a blueprint for the NFL's top team. And there's no reason to doubt him.

As far as the Chargers goes, yes they've most likely improved, and they will have their star quarterback, Justin Herbert, back under center.

That's what makes Sunday's meeting between the Raiders and Chargers so crucial -- if Las Vegas can pull off the win in SoFi Stadium, it will announce itself to the league as a team not to be reckoned with and one that can very well compete for the AFC West crown, which has now been worn by Kansas City for eight straight years.

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