The Chargers will look to bounce back from an opening loss against the Cardinals on Sunday when they face off against the 1-0 Raiders.
Here's a few reasons to be concerned that Los Angeles will not get it done in Week 2.
Jeanty in revamped offense
Second-year running back Ashton Jeanty looked like the player the Raiders hoped they would get when they took him 6th overall with 23 carries for 102 yards against the Dolphins. Jeanty also got plenty of work as a receiver, lining up in the slot four times and catching 6 passes for 45 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Chargers are fresh off seeing Jeremiyah Love, this year's 4th overall pick, in last week's game and struggled at times to contain him on outside runs. If Jeanty is a consistent 100+ all-purpose yardage player, that will
make things much harder for an LA defense that looked sluggish against the Cardinals.
Interior offensive line struggles
It was a poor showing for the Chargers' guards and center last week in their respective LA debuts. Rookie center Jake Slaughter was decent in pass protection, but was overpowered at the point of attack at times in the run game. Right guard Cole Strange allowed a team-high 5 pressures. Kayode Awosika will start at left guard, with Trey Pipkins III out with a knee injury. Pipkins has not practiced this week with a knee injury. Las Vegas signed Folorunso Fatukasi at defensive tackle just before the season, but he played a phenomenal game against the Dolphins last week. Returners like Adam Butler and Jonah Laulu have given the Chargers problems before as well. There's also the looming specter of Maxx Crosby, who could get more stunt work than usual to get him some easy matchups as he looks to follow up on an 8-pressure performance last week.
Operational issues
All three units struggled with their respective operations last week: Mike McDaniel's offense incurred a number of presnap penalties and dealt with some miscommunication issues with receivers, Chris O'Leary's defense looked tentative and passive for most of Sunday's game, and Ryan Ficken's special teams struggled to gain yardage in the kick return game and allowed a blocked punt backed up against their own end zone. That's a lot of issues to fix in one week, even if the Raiders are theoretically a weaker opponent. Las Vegas, meanwhile, looked like a well-oiled machine under new head coach Klint Kubiak, although the caveat for optimists would be that the performance came against the Dolphins, who are regarded as one of the favorites for the No. 1 pick this season.
Missing McConkey
Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey (rib) is questionable after taking a hard hit from Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. last week. LA's offense was anemic without McConkey in the game, as he was seemingly the only receiver whose timing with Justin Herbert was on point. If McConkey can't return to practice Friday and misses Sunday's game, the Chargers will have to hope that Quentin Johnston and Tre' Harris - who ran the wrong hot route twice last week - have gotten the timing down better this week. LA might also have to turn to rookie Brenen Thompson and Gary Jennings, who was just elevated to the active roster to replace KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who is on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.
This article originally appeared on Chargers Wire: 4 causes for concern for Chargers against the Raiders in Week 2
