It was all there for the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night against the Los Angeles Chargers—a chance to take an early lead in the AFC West, an opportunity for coach Pete Carroll to best his longtime rival, Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, and a national audience to impress.
The Raiders failed on all fronts in their 20-9 loss to the Chargers. Despite having Tom Brady in the coaches’ box, Las Vegas struggled and ended the season at 1-1.
But the largest missed opportunity for the Raiders lies elsewhere. Allegiant Stadium was packed with Raiders fans, a rare occurrence since the team moved to the desert. Due to the incredibly high resale value of Raiders tickets and, most importantly, the Raiders’ ineptitude since their move, Allegiant is almost always packed with visiting fans.
Who can blame them for paying exorbitant prices for tickets? They’re eager to visit the entertainment capital of the world and watch their team, in all likelihood, secure an easy win. Who needs gambling when a trip to Allegiant is a sure bet?
This week, the Raiders failed to do the one thing that excites home fans the most—score a touchdown—despite a Silver and Black crowd roaring with pride at home. Raider Nation was ready to rock but had nearly nothing to cheer about.
Except for the defense. But we’ll get to that in a minute.
Last week’s hero, quarterback Geno Smith, threw three interceptions, all on passes longer than 10 air yards. That’s a stark contrast from his performance last week, when he completed nine explosive passes for more than 20 yards. Still, it’s silly to overreact about Smith’s performance. Over the course of 17 weeks, it’s unlikely that Smith will be the Raiders’ No. 1 reason for potential failure.
But for the rare Raiders-heavy home crowd at Allegiant, Smith may be the reason season ticket holders sell their seats for Las Vegas’ next home game, Week 4 against the Bears.
It didn’t help that star tight end Brock Bowers showed lingering effects from his knee injury last week and had just 38 receiving yards. Nor did it help that first-round pick, running back Ashton Jeanty, could only muster 43 yards on 11 carries.
But failing to score a single touchdown? With a rowdy Silver and Black contingent ready to explode on Monday Night Football? That’s a disaster for a franchise that hasn’t enjoyed a true, consistent home-field advantage since moving to its new $2 billion stadium.
Considering the solid performance of the Raiders’ defense, even a single visit to the end zone could have helped sustain the home fans. Now? Las Vegas is still the place opposing fans are clamoring to visit, with big Las Vegas dreams of beating a downtrodden franchise in their swanky home confines, with the Las Vegas Strip their landing spot for celebration.
The Raiders weren’t supposed to win…
The Raiders weren’t supposed to win this game against a talented Chargers squad, but they were supposed to entertain their home fans. Even a late touchdown after a forced fumble from defensive end Maxx Crosby, when the Raiders were trailing 20-9 in the fourth quarter, could have kept the momentum from Las Vegas’ Week 1 win intact.
So what will the next Raiders home crowd look like? The last time the Bears were in town, Chicago fans took control of the seats and watched their team win, also by a 20-9 score. Will the opposing fans take over again, as usual?
After this week’s performance, that’s likely. Though much depends on the Raiders’ performance on the road against the Commanders in Week 3.
But this week, the Raiders again failed to build a home-field advantage that’s been nearly nonexistent at Allegiant. If the franchise is ever to regain its winning ways, a rowdy home crowd is a must. In a city that loves winners and spits out losers, the Raiders must show out when their fans show up. On Monday night against the Chargers, they once again fell short.
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*Top Photo: Getty Images