Raiders' Inactives for Week 2 vs. Chargers: Bowers Update, More

The Las Vegas Raiders went two full seasons without winning a single game within the AFC West. It took a woeful win over a Kansas City Chiefs team, minus Patrick Mahomes, in the final week of the 2025 season to break the streak. That win was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Less than 24 hours after that win, Raiders general manager John Spytek cleaned house, firing former head coach Pete Carroll and beginning the process of revamping one of the league's worst rosters. No team had a more productive offseason than the Raiders.

Raiders' Uphill Battle

Although Las Vegas' Week 1 win over the Miami Dolphins was impressive, the Los Angeles Chargers are a much bigger challenge. Yet, Sunday's road matchup against the Chargers gives the Raiders a chance to quickly confirm they are not the same Raiders who struggle against AFC West foes.

Many unknowns remain about what the 2026 Raiders are and will be. One game is far from enough of a sample size to draw concrete conclusions. However, two games, especially two wins, would be enough information to gather reasonable information about this year's Raiders.

John Harbaugh, Justin Herbert, and company are looking to bounce back from a surprising loss against an Arizona Cardinals team with a lot of similarities to the Raiders. As always, game planning, execution, and adjustments will be critical to Las Vegas' chances of winning.

Las Vegas is looking for a second productive outing. However, Los Angeles' defense will be tough, especially following their Week 1 loss. Kirk Cousins explained the challenges ahead for the Raiders' offense.

"It's a home game for them. I know they always do play with intensity, but certainly that'll be the case Sunday. A lot of competitive people on that defense, and I've played against many of them over the years, and I expect it to be a tremendous challenge for us,” Cousins said before practice this week.

“I think it's still so early, and we've got a long ways to go, but we're just going to keep building. And I think it's we wanted to just lay the foundation through the offseason, through training camp. I think we did that as well as we could, and now you lean on that foundation as you go into week two and keep building from here.”

As the Raiders look to beat the Chargers, they will be challenged to move the ball downfield more than they did against the Dolphins. Las Vegas' offense was efficient when it had the lead and ran the ball well; the Chargers will likely try to take both away.

Moving forward, the Raiders will look to move the ball and score points in any way possible. Janocko added that although Las Vegas' offense did not connect on many big, downfield passes against Miami, they still called explosive plays.

"I think we say that all the time. In our lingo, ‘A shot called is not always a shot taken.’ We want to take what the defense gives us," Janocko said.

"Quarterback's always trying to listen to his feet, go through his progression, operate with intelligent aggression. Then when it's not there, get the ball and playmaker's hands underneath. Let them break tackles and create explosives that way."

Raiders' Inactives vs. Chargers

Las Vegas' Week 2 matchup against the Chargers will give a quality look at how good the Raiders' offense can be under Kubiak and veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins this season. The Raiders have prided themselves on playing various styles of football.

Los Angeles will look to make the Raiders play a much different style of football than they did in Week 1. Las Vegas will look nearly the same as they did against the Dolphins, minus one significant contributor in their defensive backfield. Sunday will test the Raiders on both sides of the ball.

Regardless, the Raiders will face the Chargers, though, without a few players. Below are the players that Las Vegas listed as inactive for Sunday's matchup against the Chargers.

Aidan O’Connell
Brock Bowers
JJ Pegues
Darien Porter
Tristin McCollum
Dalton Johnson
Bryce Cabeldue

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