Raiders Confidence Meter: How I Feel About Week 1 Chances

It seemed like it was just yesterday that the Las Vegas Raiders fired Pete Carroll and began their head coaching search. Fast forward a few months, add in a ton of moves by the Raiders' front office and a summer filled with tangible progress on the field, and you have the 2026 Raiders.

Las Vegas is set to face the Miami Dolphins at home in Week 1. It will be the first game under head coach Klint Kubiak's new staff and will feature no shortage of new faces across the board for the Raiders. Week 1 will almost certainly give us all a much better idea of what to expect this season.

Sunday presents many unknowns for and about the Raiders. For the first time in a while, no one really knows what to expect from Las Vegas under Kubiak. That will change over the season, but for now, it leads to significant questions about their chances of winning on Sunday.

Although they have improved, Las Vegas is still in the early stages of its rebuild. Their roster is extremely vulnerable and still has plenty of unanswered questions. Injuries to some of their best players in the weeks leading up to Week 1 only exacerbate those issues.

Tight end Brock Bowers, offensive guard Jackson Powers-Johnson, and running back Ashton Jeanty have all suffered injuries of some sort ahead of Week 1.

Raiders' Reality

Still, this is part of why Kubiak was hired. Injuries have plagued the Raiders for several seasons. Every team in the league deals with injuries, but few have lost entire seasons as often as Las Vegas has due to injuries. Kubiak knows injuries are a part of the game of football.

"That's the NFL. Every week, there's new guys in and out of the lineup, and that means opportunity for the guys that step up. So, we have young guys that have been given a tremendous opportunity," Kubiak said earlier this week.

Kubiak is right: Las Vegas cannot focus on players who aren't available, no matter how impactful those players may be. However, that is easier said than done when injured or not fully healthy players are among the best players on the roster.

The Raiders' new coaching staff has gone to great lengths to prepare their reserves at every position group. Raiders offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko echoed a similar sentiment to Kubiak, noting that Las Vegas cannot allow injuries to derail their season.

“It's a 17-game season. The thing that I would say is, 'In a 17-game season, we have a 70- man roster.' So, there's going to be different opportunities for each and every single player on this roster at different points between each season,” Janocko said.

"We prep each week as a different week. We prep each week to get our guys ready to go. Whoever's available, whoever's not available, we're prepping to get the guys that we have ready to go, get the best out of them, do what they do well, and give us the best chance to win."

Confidence Meter

I have watched Las Vegas lose nearly 40 games in the past three seasons. I am cautiously optimistic about their chances of beating the Dolphins. However, I also know how quickly things can change and how often things simply seem not to go the Raiders' way, even when it seems like it should.

At full strength, Kubiak's Raiders likely would not have problems with the Dolphins. However, with Bowers out and Jeanty not at full strength, this game is much more of a toss-up than it initially seemed. It is truly anyone's game, but the Raiders should have enough to leave with a win.

Overall, I think the Raiders can beat the Dolphins. Whether they do will come down to their ability to execute and adjust on offense and their ability to stop the run on defense. However, Bowers' injury has made me less confident than I was about this game during the offseason.

The Raiders must seize opportunities when they arise. A close game would be just what the Dolphins want. Assuming they stop the run and get off the field on third down, Las Vegas will be fine defensively.

Confidence Meter: Somewhat confident

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