Week 2 is the Perfect Time for the Raiders' First Upset Victory of the Season

The Las Vegas Raiders will have to win a few games they are not favored to win if they hope to have a successful season. Their Week 2 road matchup against the Baltimore Ravens would be a good time to make that happen.

Sep 13, 2021; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) against the Las Vegas Raiders during Monday Night Football at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Las Vegas Raiders enter the upcoming season with high hopes, as they are expected to have one of the best defenses in the National Football League. This is in addition to numerous offseason moves made by General Manager Tom Telesco and the Raiders, which helped the team improve in areas of weakness from last season. The Raiders will soon set their roster for the upcoming season and hit the road to play the Los Angeles Chargers in the first game. 

As bad as things went for the Raiders during the first half of the season, after firing Josh McDaniels and promoting Coach Antonio Pierce, the Silver and Black nearly made the playoffs. They were in playoff contention until late in the season, even after all that went wrong for them last season. 

There were plenty of reasons the Raiders failed to make the playoffs last season. They had a flawed roster and undependable play from the quarterback position, the most critical position on the field. This was all in addition to unreliable coaching during the first half of the season, which led to an unengaged and unproductive football team during the first nine games of last season. However, the Raiders still could have made the playoffs last season, even with all of those issues, had they won a game or two more than they did. 

The two games that come to mind in which the Raiders dropped the ball last season were two games they lost by three points. One was a 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, in which the Raiders’ defense played one of its best games last season. The other game was a three-point loss to quarterback Gardner Minshew II and the Indianapolis Colts. Had the Raiders won one or both games, they likely would have been in the playoffs.  

The Raiders enter this season looking to improve on many of the things they struggled with last season. They must find a way to win games they are not expected to win. This is something they rarely, if ever, did last season but will be necessary if they hope to make the playoffs this season. Coach Pierce has continued cultivating the Raiders’ locker room culture this summer. As the Raiders begin the season with two challenging road games, beating Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens on the road, while unlikely, would be the perfect upset victory to spark a playoff run for the Silver and Black.

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