The Raiders most intriguing and pivotal game fo the 2025 season happens very early on
The Raiders most intriguing and pivotal game fo the 2025 season happens very early on
Raider Nation will be eagerly watching this year's team. There's significant optimism with the new coaching staff and front office that the Raiders are in better hands moving forward. And quick results are expected.
There's every reason to believe this team can hit the ground running with head coach Pete Carroll reunited with QB Geno Smith who has several weapons with which to work. The first big test of that will come very early on.
One of the most pivotal litmus tests of the Raiders 2025 season schedule will come in the team's home opener when they host the Chargers at Allegiant. This happens in week two. And it's in primetime on Monday Night Football.
Not only will it be a big test for this team, whether the Raiders come out with a win or not could go a long way as to where they will ultimately stand in a potential playoff chase. But there's an added intrigue to this game that involves their long time rival head coaches as Matt Zemek of Trojans Wire recently pointed out.
What adds to the attractiveness of the matchup is that it reunites Pete Carroll with old enemy Jim Harbaugh. The two went at it when USC played Stanford nearly two decades ago, and then in the NFL when Carroll's Seattle Seahawks battled Harbaugh's San Francisco 49ers for NFC supremacy.
The two head coaches seem to be doing a bit of rivalry stalking. They clearly know each other very well. The question is, which of them has changed up their tendencies enough to be less predictable?
The Chargers are coming off a playoff season in Harbaugh's first year on the job. And they swept the Raiders along the way. Then again, so did the rest of the division. But this is a different team under Carroll. One that is much more confident that their head coach is going to give them the best chance to win, rather than make the wrong decisions in the most critical moments as happened a lot last season under Antonio Pierce.
We can now get back to the more common philosophy that you can throw the records out the window in division rivalry games.
I made my early pick for who wins this matchup in my Raiders game-by-game predictions. And whether the Raiders come out of this one with a win or not could mean the difference between heading into the week eight bye with a winning record or a losing record.
So, yeah, we can all agree that game will be a big one.
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