Photo by Andrew Nelles

The start of the 2022 NFL season so far has played out exactly how everyone expected, except the Las Vegas Raiders themselves, and that is with the Raiders sitting at the bottom of the AFC West.

After blowing a 20-0 half time lead against the Arizona Cardinals in week two ,the Raiders lined up against the Tennessee Titans, also 0-2. The Titans, who had not looked good in their first two match-ups this season, started off blazing hot by scoring touchdowns on their first three offensive possessions.

Tennessee went into the locker room at halftime up 24-10, with a touchdown from Davante Adams to keep the Raiders in the game. 

After getting destroyed in the first half of the game, the Las Vegas defense pitched a shutout in the second half. But it was too little too late, as the offense had to play catch up the entire day and was unable to establish a running game against the Tennessee defense which looked weak against the run in their first two games. The Raiders offense amassed a total of only 96 yards on the ground over the entire 60 minutes of playing time. 

The two bright spots this season for the Raiders are wide receivers Mack Hollins and Davante Adams. Adams is expected to be the Raiders best offensive weapon in 2022. Even though he did not have the biggest day against the Titans, Adams again found his way into the endzone which he has done in each game so far this season. Hollins had his most productive game of the season with 8 catches for 158 yards and a touchdown. Hollins is looking to prove he can be the Raiders real number two option and brings hope for the receiving core.

The offensive line held its own, allowing only one sack, but the inability to run for big gains and to punch the ball in the end zone is holding back the Raiders. The team gave their best effort to come back but ultimately ran out of time again and lost 22-24 to the Titans, and are now the only team without a win in the NFL. Raiders will look to be the seventh team to reach the playoffs after an 0-3 start since the AFL-NFL merger in 1966.