Week 1 Winners and losers: O-line holds team back vs Chargers

Much like last year, the offense let the defense down in the season opener

The Las Vegas Raiders Week 1 performance of the 2024 season was a déjà vu.

The Raiders dropped the season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers 22-10 and Las Vegas’ offense let down the team’s defense, much like last year.

The Silver and Black managed to keep the Chargers in check throughout most of the afternoon, but the team’s inability to consistently string drives together kept them from capitalizing and ultimately cost them the game.

Thus, this week’s winners and losers favor one side of the ball more positively than the other…

LOSER: Offensive Line

The primary reason why the Raiders weren’t able to score many points was because of the line. A big issue was the team’s best and most senior linemen, Kolton Miller and Andre James, didn’t have their ‘A-games’. Miller gave up two sacks and four total pressures while James gave up a sack and Pro Football Focus graded him as the third-wost offensive player (53.3).

To make matters worse, Cody Whitehair (47.7) was the team’s lowest-graded offensive player and Thayer Munford Jr. posted a 49.8 mark as a run-blocker. Also, Dylan Parham was guilty of surrendering a sack as well, though Parham did receive the team’s highest grade (83.2) on that side of the ball.

Ultimately, the offensive line wasn’t good enough and it felt like every time Las Vegas needed to get a push in the running game on a crucial down, the unit ended up getting stuffed as the team rushed for just 3.2 yards per carry.

WINNER: Robert Spillane

As mentioned above, the defense had a strong showing and Spillane was arguably the Raiders’ best player on the field.

He led the team in total tackles with 10 and made several impact plays with four ‘defensive stops’, per PFF. Also, he was targeted twice in coverage and allowed just 10 yards. The linebacker finished as the team’s highest-graded (84.0) defender and ranks sixth at the position league-wide heading into Monday Night Football.

LOSER: Antonio Pierce

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

Losses follow the head coach more than anyone else so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Pierce lands on the losers list after Sunday. But what really did him in was the bad fourth-down decision to punt on fourth and one trailing by six points in Los Angeles’ territory with 7:15 to play.

While Pierce said after the game that the Raiders “got what they wanted”, meaning pinning the Chargers at the eight-yard line, the ensuing plays showed why you go for it in that situation. The Bolts marched right down the field and scored the game-sealing touchdown.

Yes, the Las Vegas offensive line was bad, but the law of averages would suggest they could have picked up the lone yard. Also, the team’s short passing game was one of the things that was clicking offensively.

At the end of the day, this was a learning moment for a young head coach as Pierce got too conservative.

WINNER: Defensive Line

There were plenty of defensive linemen who could have gotten individual shoutouts but the whole group played really well. For example, behind Spillane, the next four highest-graded defenders for the Silver and Black were defensive linemen, according to PFF.

John Jenkins posted an 83.6 mark while leading the team with five defensive stops and racking up two pressures. Christian Wilkins had a good Raiders debut, posting an 80.8 grade and tying for the second-most tackles on the team with five.

Then, Maxx Crosby (76.5) did his thing with four pressures, one being a sack, and a couple of defensive stops. Rounding out the group was Adam Butler (76.3) who had a couple of pressures as a pass rusher and, somewhat surprisingly, stood out as a run defender with a 70.9 grade in that department while accumulating three stops.

LOSER: Zamir White

White entered the contest as the Raiders’ lead-back but didn’t finish that way. A big part of it was on the offensive line, but he only averaged 3.4 yards per carry and had just one first down. However, the bigger issue was his fumble right before halftime which led to a Chargers’ field goal.

Alexander Mattison ended up getting more snaps than White—36 to 23—and was the better back, highlighted by a 31-yard catch for the team’s only touchdown in the contest. No changes on the depth chart need to be made just yet, but the third-year pro has to rebound quickly.

LOSER: Divine Deablo

Las Vegas’ defense did struggle to tackle down the stretch of the game with nine misses as a whole. The biggest culprit was Deablo as he accounted for three whiffs, per PFF. Additionally, he was targeted twice in coverage and gave up 29 receiving yards on two catches.

It feels like it’s been several seasons where the organization has been waiting for the fourth-year pro to take the next step, but he hasn’t and Sunday’s performance was another reflection of that. The Raiders have some young talent at linebacker, so Deablo needs to bounce back before he gets replaced.