Why Raiders' Pleasant Surprises Must Reappear in Week 2

Carroll is Fired Up

The Raiders did many things well in their first regular-season game under Carroll that they had struggled with at times in the past. The Raiders' offense rightfully received most of the attention for the team's win, but they were far from alone in their efforts.

Before practice on Thursday, Carroll praised the Raiders' defense for playing well throughout the entire game. The unit was every bit as important as the offense, as it held the New England Patriots to just six total points after the first quarter.

"Yeah, I was really fired up about the consistency in our effort chasing the football on defense. I thought that all the way through the game, the guys were really on it. The hitting was there, our tackling was sharp. Guys knocking the piles back, all of that, just the effort that they brought, I was really fired up about," Carroll said.

"We'd only played probably eight or nine snaps at any one time in a game, so you can't tell. And so, you get 40 and 50 plays in the game, and they're still going. D-linemen are chasing the screens and all that stuff out on the perimeter. That's what we hope to see, and so we're really pleased about that."

Carroll also noted how pleased he was with the lack of missed tackles and overall mistakes from his team in Week 1. The Raiders must continue to play sound football, especially Monday night against a disciplined and well-coached Chargers team.

"Well, we've been working really hard at it. I'm not surprised by it. I'm thrilled. I’m going the other way; I'm on the positive end of it. Yeah, that was a really good start, and particularly on the perimeter, and the DBs did a really nice job of cleaning things up," Carroll said.

"And we were aggressively attacking our opportunities. We weren't just getting the guys on the ground. We went after it, really, really cool. On the sidelines, there was a bunch of really good hits and all." 

The Raiders will have their hands full on Monday night. They must bring the same energy and intensity they played with on Sunday.