The Las Vegas Raiders have been one of the biggest surprise teams in the NFL. While they were favored to beat the Miami Dolphins in Week 1, very few people thought they could beat the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2.
Not only are the Raiders 2-0, but they’ve also won both games by 12+ points. There are a lot of things going well for the team. Kirk Cousins had a great game against the Chargers, the defense has played at a very high level and the skill position players are making plays.
The biggest question mark heading into the season was how the offensive line would play. The unit hasn’t been perfect, but has only given up two sacks so far, which is tied for fourth-fewest in the NFL. According to ESPN’s Dan Graziano, the Raiders are even surprised by how well the offensive line has played.
“The biggest surprise internally in Vegas might be the performance of the offensive line, which struggled significantly last year, and the staff had some questions about going into camp,” Graziano wrote. “The return of left tackle Kolton Miller from last season’s injury is a big part of the improvement, of course, but this situation was a mess last year under Pete Carroll’s coaching staff and has been stabilized under new head coach Klint Kubiak and offensive line coach Rick Dennison. Especially in pass protection, the Raiders have been excellent in keeping the mobility-challenged Kirk Cousins upright.
“Whenever Fernando Mendoza takes over the starting QB job in Vegas, the offense could take another leap forward due to Mendoza’s mobility and stronger arm. But there’s no rush on that. The 2-0 start has bought the Raiders even more time to work their plan of keeping Mendoza on the bench as long as possible before throwing him into the NFL fire.”
Still Room for Improvement
From a pass-blocking perspective, the Raiders offensive line has been really solid. However, the run blocking was not good in Week 2.
Ashton Jeanty was frequently hit in the backfield and only averaged 2.3 yards per carry. It was fine because Cousins had such a big game, but the Raiders need the run game to thrive if they’re going to continue their fast start.
Luckily, the early signs are very promising. The Raiders had the worst offensive line in the NFL last season, so if the group is at least average, that would be a big improvement.
Raiders Climbing Up OL Rankings
It’s not a surprise that the Raiders’ offensive line has improved. They added star center Tyler Linderbaum in free agency and hired veteran coach Rick Dennison to replace Brennan Carroll as the offensive line coach.
The offensive line is still a work in progress, but Pro Football Focus has them climbing up the rankings. Right now, they are ranked 15th in the NFL, which is one spot up from last week.
“The Raiders had a productive day in pass protection in Week 2, with three of their five starters finishing with PFF pass-blocking grades above 65.0, and all but Jackson Powers-Johnson notching PFF pass-block win rates above 90.0%,” Gordon McGuinness wrote. “However, Powers-Johnson did struggle, allowing a 78.1% pass-block win rate and ending with a 47.7 PFF pass-blocking grade.”
Insider Reveals What Has Surprised Raiders Most ‘Internally’ After 2-0 Start