One litmus test is in the books. And another one is on tap for Klint Kubiak and his Las Vegas Raiders football team.
Against a division foe, no less.
It was widely assumed Kubiak and his desert marauders would top the visiting Miami Dolphins in Week 1 and the Silver & Black obliged with a 27-13 victory. In Week 2, a higher quality opponent awaits the Raiders in Inglewood: The 0-1 Los Angeles Chargers.
Unlike Las Vegas — which waxed an underdog opponent — the Bolts were thunderstruck by the Arizona Cardinals
26-14 this past Sunday. Like Miami and even Las Vegas, Arizona is very much in a new-era phase with neophyte head coaches in rookie Mike LaFleur (Jeff Hafley for Dolphins and Kubiak, obviously, for Raiders).
The loss was a sobering reality check for the Chargers — a hackneyed media darling pick as a team that can make noise in the playoffs. So much so, head coach Jim Harbaugh had this to say after the defeat: “We made some preseason type of mistakes. Now I wish we played our starters more in the preseason to give them some game reps.”
Kubiak and Harbaugh are knee-deep in prepping for the Week 2 clash in SoFi Stadium and it’s an opportunity for both the Raiders and Chargers to prove Week 1 was not or was a fluke. After the season opening slate, Las Vegas and the Kansas City Chiefs finds itself atop the AFC West at 1-0 while the Chargers and Broncos (who played the Chiefs this past Monday night) are winless. Standings are likely to fluctuate as the season goes forward, but the initial matchup between the Raiders and Chargers presents a pivot point for the two rivals.
So let’s take a look at Chargers that can give the Raiders headaches in this Sunday afternoon tilt. Edge rusher combo Tuli Tuipulotu and Khalil Mack present a formidable duo for Kubiak’s offense to combat. And defensively, quarterback Justin Herbert can make all the throws to stress Rob Leonard’s defense.
Edge-ucational Opportunity
The duo of Tuipulotu and Mack was rendered ineffective by the Cardinals in Week 1 — there’s no sugar coating it. While the former had five total tackles and two quarterback hits and the latter had two total tackles, that’s well below the contributions the Bolts’ pass rush combo have produced before. And the combo provides both veteran savvy (Mack is 35 years old) and youthful exuberance (Tuipulotu is 24).
Expect the Chargers defense to be champing at the bit to prove the season-opening loss was a fluke.
Los Angeles is going to force one-on-one matchups between their two premiere pass rushers and Las Vegas offensive tackles Kolton Miller (stalwart on the left) and DJ Glaze (heavy presence on the right) when Tuipulotu and Mack deployed as two-sided rushers opposite each other. The Chargers are keen on sending the duo after the quarterback from the same side, too.
This can create lethal stunt and twists where Tuipulotu uses his well-built 6-foot-3 and 266-pound frame to power through gaps and draw multiple blockers while Mack uses his effective speed-to-power transition for closing speed on a direct path to the quarterback. Not only will that stress Raiders’ lineman, but tight ends and running backs, alike.
Mack also tends to save his best for matchups against the Silver & Black — he was drafted by the team fifth overall in the 2014 NFL Draft — as he’s faced off against the Raiders in 10 games and racked up 13 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and 42 total tackles.
Offensive line boss Rick Dennison did some heavy lifting this offseason to get the Raiders trenches up to snuff and we’ll get to see how far (or how far they still have to go) Las Vegas O-line has come since a disastrous 2025 campaign.
And that’s just the aerial attack.
Tuipulotu and Mack aren’t just selling out for sacks, they’re disciplined, patient, and savvy run defenders, too. They both can set the edge and diagnose and destroy blocking designs to blow up plays in the backfield — what Raiders’ elite edge rusher Maxx Crosby excels at, too.
The Bolts’ edge duo are tone setters and if they’re firing on all cylinders, Kubiak’s offense can be grinded to a halt if the Raiders’ can’t replicate what the Cardinals did.
Herb-al Remedy
The sixth overall pick of the 2020 draft, Herbert remains a thorn in not only the Raiders’ side, but the rest of the division. The 28-year-old stands 6-foot-6 and 236 pounds and started off the game against the Cardinals well enough. But as the game progressed, Herbert was rattled (as were the rest of the Chargers) finishing 17 of 27 for 209 yards with a touchdown pass and interception while getting sacked three times by Arizona.
Harbaugh has said numerous times Herbert is the engine that drives the Chargers and a rebound game is a must. Herbert has done fairly well against the Silver & Black all-time in the 11 times he’s faced the team going 8-3 overall while connecting on 255 of 390 passes for 2,909 yards and 22 touchdowns to just three interceptions. He’s been sacked 22 times by the Raiders, however.
Defensive coordinator Rob Leonard is all too familiar with Herbert and will have to orchestrate the defense to stymie a quarterback that can make all the throws but is susceptible to getting hit and/or taken down for sacks. Another strong outing by Crosby and fellow edge rusher Kwity Paye is in order alongside disciplined performances from linebackers Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean along with the secondary holding up in coverage.
The interesting thing here: The ways Los Angeles can deploy their dynamic duo of Tuipulotu and Mack is eerily similar to how Las Vegas can attack with Crosby and Paye. We saw in Week 1, that Paye can line up as an interior rusher and take advantage of stunts and twists, too.
Head-to-Head
Sunday’s matchup between the Raiders and Chargers will be meeting No. 133 between the two AFC West squads. The Silver & Black lead the all-time series 69-62-2 (68-62-2 in regular season, 1-0 in playoff action). The Bolts, however, are riding a four-game win streak dating back to September 2024. The last Raiders win was on Thursday night back in 2023 (63-21 shellacking). The Chargers own the longest win streak in the series with 13-straight from 2003 to 2009. Kicker here: The Raiders haven’t won in SoFi Stadium with fans present. The team is 1-7 in that particular venue with the win coming in an empty stadium in 2020.
Quote of Note
“Execution fuels emotion, so if you execute at a high level everybody’s getting excited. When everybody’s getting excited, good things happen. And it’s not just one person. Malcolm (Koonce) is right in that category too. He’s an energy giver. He makes a play and starts headbutting people. Kwity did that. As a coach, you want to feel that from everybody.”
—Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Leonard on how much Maxx Crosby and Kwity Paye feed off each other as edge rushers
