Electric Atmosphere For Raiders Home-Opener Ends With A Whimper For Silver & Black As Chargers Beat Las Vegas, 20-9, On Monday Night Football
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Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
– Overall, flat Raiders performance on offense with quarterback Geno Smith making several poor choices on throws that resulted in interceptions; 218 yards of offense
– Many Raiders fans left after Smith’s third interception with about six minutes left in the game
– Spirited stadium atmosphere at start for Raiders home-opener
– Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert with solid workman-like performance, including a beautiful 60-yard TD toss
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LAS VEGAS, Nevada — At 6:04 PM, gum-chomping Pete Carroll emerged from the Raiders tunnel onto the natural and spray-painted grass of Allegiant Stadium for Monday Night Football.
The former longtime Seattle Seahawks head coach, known for his enthusiasm and for teaching a USC course called, “The Game Is Life,” at the university’s Marshall School of Business.
And Carroll learned that of the game is interceptions, then he’s going to lose the game. His quarterback, Geno Smith, threw three picks, and the Chargers beat the Raiders in their home-opener, 20-9.
“That really feels like is a real missed opportunity just in general,” Carroll said in his postgame comments.
“Monday night was just part of that, but in the division, it’s a real opportunity, and we didn’t play well enough on the offensive side with the turnovers that add up,” he said. “That’ll be what you talk about and all, but it really was — we didn’t play well enough, and they covered us up pretty good.”
You have to hand it to Raiders owner Mark Davis. In the five years of running an NFL team here in Las Vegas, he has hired just about every type of head coach. Glib Jon Gruden was followed by steady interim Rich Bisaccia, calculating Josh McDaniels, former linebacker Antonio Pierce who liked to scream, “Rayderssssssssssssssss,” and ultimately in Year 5 in Vegas, the oldest coach in NFL history, Carroll.
The Raiders’ opponent for their 2025 home-opener is the Las Angeles Chargers, a team that made the playoffs in head coach Jim Harbaugh’s first season as the Bolts’ head field man in 2024. Only two seasons ago in the 2023 season, the Raiders dropped more than 60 points on the Chargers during the interim coach Pierce’s era.
But my, times have changed.
The Raiders won only four of 17 games in 2024 under Pierce and look to rebound with a respectable sason in 2025 under Carroll.
The Raiders enjoy honoring their winning past. The game program cover features a former Raiders quarterback, who was the first Hispanic NFL coach to win a league title.
Then, there’s Fred Biletnikoff, the stellar former Raiders wide receiver who remains a fan favorite to this day. There he is on the bench before the MNF game.
Before the game, minority owner Tom Brady teamed up with Saudi Arabian sports promoter Turki Alalshiekh to say that he is teaming up with FOX, Fanatics and OBB Media to have a round-robin flag football event at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, saudia Arabia as part of this year’s Riyadh Season.
Brady, FOX Sports’ lead NFL game telecast analyst, later spent time in the Raiders coaches’ box.
In the first quarter, Raiders quarterback Smith threw an interception on his first play of the game. The Chargers cashed in with a 38-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker — one that was matched by a 54-yard FG by reliable Raiders placekicker Daniel Carlson.
Smith said this after the game: “I’ve got to learn from it. This game is all about learning from your experiences. I’ve had similar games in the past where the ball is bounced in an unfortunate way, or I haven’t made the best decision on a given play, or the best throw. That’s a part of the game, but you can never just say you can flush it.
“You got to learn from it, and so I’m going to be super hard on myself, extremely hard on myself, because that’s all I know,” Smith said. “I’m going to get better this week, find ways to get better from this film, and we’ll be better as a team as well.”
It’s an impressive and loud fan environment inside the domed stadium on the west side of the interstate across from Mandalay Bay hotel-casino.
“I thought the crowd was excellent. I thought that was a fantastic crowd. And they were a factor, and you can feel them.” Carroll said. “They roast us, the big occasions when we needed them to. We need to give them more to cheer about and get ahead in this game so we can feel what that would be like. But I thought it was a really good showing. It felt like a real home game with an advantage. So I was really pleased, but I didn’t know what to expect. So I was really pleased with that.”
Many Raiders home games include many visiting team fans, but a rough eyeball estimate would say about 20 percent of the fans tonight are rooting for the Chargers.
Twenty seconds before the first quarter ended, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert fired a 10-yard touchdown pass to veteran receiver Keenan Allen in the corner of the end zone.
After one quarter: Chargers 10 Raiders 3.
The Raiders cut into the Chargers lead with another field goal by Carlson, this time from 40 yards. It’s Chargers 10 Raiders 6 midway the second quarter.
Herbert put his throwing arm on display with a gorgeous 60-yard throw to receiver Quentin Johnston for a touchdown strike. It boosted the Chargers lead to 17-6 with less than two minutes left in the first half.
Raiders QB Smith made some bad throw choices, including a long toss about a minute before the half ended that was picked off. Halftime: Chargers 17 Raiders 6.
The Chargers tacked on Dicker 20-yard field goal in the third quarter for a 20-6 lead before Carlson hit a 37-yard FG to cut the LA Chargers lead to 20-9 with 11:15 left in the fourth quarter.
Overall, it was a flat performance by the Raiders offense. Smith tried to connect with receiver Jakobi Meyers in the end zone with about six minutes left in the fourth, but Meyers was well covered and the tipped football was intercepted. The Chargers retained their 20-9 lead with 5:58 left in the quarter.
Raiders fans began leaving their seats.
A night that began with a high-adrenalin vibe to the stadium atmosphere ended with a whimper for Raiders fans as the Chargers wrapped things up at 20-9.
The Raiders are 1-1 on the season and play the Commanders on the road Sunday.
PSA
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