The Las Vegas Raiders are already sitting at 1-0, fresh off a dominant Week 1 win against the Dolphins, and guess who’s at the helm? None other than Klink Kubiak, our very own Super Bowl-winning offensive coordinator from his Seahawks days, now leading a divisional rival. This Sunday, the Raiders are looking to turn an early 0-1 start for the Chargers into a brutal 0-2, with a former Emerald City hero orchestrating the offense. Talk about a surprise early in the season!
Klink Kubiak’s Raiders Are Playing With House Money, But Don’t Tell Him That
Remember when Kubiak was crushing it as our OC, helping us hoist that Lombardi trophy? Well, he took that championship swagger straight to Vegas this offseason. The Raiders brought him in specifically to pair him with their first-overall pick, Fernando Mendoza, signaling a new era. The word around the league, and from Matt Holder of Silver & Black Pride, was that this was supposed to be “year one of a likely two-year rebuild.” Everyone expected low expectations in terms of wins and losses, just watching a young team grow together and build chemistry for 2027 and beyond. Sounds like a patient approach, right? But apparently, Kubiak didn’t get the memo about taking it slow.
Last year, the Raiders finished a dismal 3-14 and landed the No. 1 pick. Fast forward to Week 1 this season, and they flat-out dominated the Miami Dolphins. Let’s be real, the Dolphins are already heavy favorites to land the 2027 No. 1 pick, so for Vegas to be favored AND then stomp them? That’s a huge statement, especially for a team supposedly rebuilding. They did all that without Brock Bowers, one of their best players, even hitting the field! The buzz in Vegas after that season opener is totally justified; this team might actually be a little ahead of schedule. Who knew our guy Klink would turn them around so fast, making them look this competitive so early? It’s wild to see, and it definitely caught the AFC West’s attention.
Can Kirk Cousins Keep the Spark Alive Against the Chargers?
Even with all that first-overall pick hype around Mendoza, the Raiders decided to roll with veteran Kirk Cousins in Week 1. And it looks like Cousins is gonna hold the reins of the offense “for the foreseeable future,” which has the fanbase “kind of split” on that decision, according to Holder. You can totally see why; you draft a guy first overall, you want to see him play. But if Cousins is leading dominant wins like that, maybe they’re just letting Mendoza cook on the sidelines for a bit, soaking it all in before his time comes.
This Sunday, they’ve got the 0-1 Chargers coming to Allegiant Stadium, and the motivation for the Raiders is crystal clear: upset their divisional rival and make them start the year 0-2. The Chargers are already reeling from their opening loss, and the Raiders are playing with a newfound confidence that was supposed to be a year or two away. Can Kubiak and Cousins keep this unexpected momentum going and solidify their early-season statement? We’ll see if the Raiders can truly distance themselves from the bottom of the barrel and continue to defy those low expectations. Watching Klink work his magic with this squad is going to be something else this weekend.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bolts from the Blue.
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