The 1 Thing Raiders Must Prove vs. Chargers

Finding Ways to Win

The season is still young, as it is only Week 2. The Raiders made the necessary adjustments to beat the New England Patriots. The Los Angeles Chargers' coaching staff undoubtedly witnessed this and will do all they can to force the Raiders out of their comfort zone.

As was seen with the Raiders' ground game against the Patriots, stats are not the players' or coaching staff's concern. The Silver and Black have bought into Pete Carroll and his messaging. Winning is the only thing that matters.

“ I think it's all part of the culture that Pete [Carroll] has here. I think that it starts with Geno [Smith], our leader on the offensive side of the ball. Geno could care less if we throw it for x amount of yards or run it for x amount of yards. You don't get any more points for running it over the goal line or throwing it over the goal line,” Kelly said.

"It's still about getting points and having more points than your opponent, and we've talked about it, and it kind of goes back to the whole philosophy of this organization, ‘Just Win Baby.’ There's going to be days where it's an ugly 9-6 win, and there's going to be other days this year we're going to have a shootout, and that's just the way it happens, but at the end of the day, are you 1-0 on Sunday night?" 

The Raiders' Week 1 win undoubtedly felt good for a team that had only experienced it four times out of 17 games last season. The Raiders have shown progress, but they are aware that it is a long season. Kelly explained that the Raiders' focus is on how to beat the Chargers.

Monday night is a chance for the Raiders to take another step in their growth, and do so much sooner than many believed they could at the start of the season.

"That's the most important thing, and we checked that box last week, and then by the time we landed, we're on to the next opponent, and going against a really good Chargers team will get your attention right away. And that's really what we're trying to focus on, and what it's going to look like. We have a plan going in, but that plan always changes, and we'll see. Is this going to be a high-scoring game or a low-scoring game? I don't know. We just have to be prepared for whichever way it flows," Kelly said.