The Raiders looked like a team ready to turn a corner.
The Chargers looked like a team that walked into a wall.
Now comes the intriguing part: figuring out whether opening Sunday offered an honest introduction to both teams or another reminder of how convincingly the NFL can lie to us in September.
Their meeting Sunday at SoFi Stadium should help clear that up.
Or make the whole thing even more interesting.
Because if the Raiders leave their second home with a victory, they will take a 2-0 record back to Vegas while leaving the Chargers buried in an 0-2 hole. And a division matchup that looked like a measuring-stick game for the Silver-and-Black would suddenly become the source of some uncomfortable questions for the Bolts.
Nobody penciled in that particular role reversal.
But life moves fast in the NFL. Sometimes, the team everyone expects to spend the season chasing gets a head start. Sometimes, the supposed contender discovers its reputation cannot block anybody.
The Raiders and Chargers have another three hours Sunday to tell us who they are.
For the Raiders, the first impression was promising.
The season-opening victory over the Dolphins offered evidence of an actual plan under new coach Klint Kubiak. Ashton Jeanty gave the offense someone to lean on. The short passing game helped move possessions along. A defense that too often needed Maxx Crosby to supply the disruption produced five sacks with plenty of help from others.
There was a sense of different parts working toward the same purpose.
For a franchise that has spent too many seasons trying to assemble an identity, that qualified as a meaningful development.
But the Dolphins were one opponent. Sunday was one afternoon.
The Chargers will ask harder questions.
Can Kirk Cousins complete enough passes downfield to keep a defense from suffocating everything underneath? Can the offensive line keep opening running lanes when the opponent makes stopping Jeanty its first priority? Can the defense pressure Justin Herbert without allowing him to turn its aggression into an explosive play?
Those are reasonable questions about a team still establishing what it’s capable of doing.
The questions facing the Chargers carry a different tone.
Their opening loss to the Cardinals was disappointing because more was expected. They have the better roster in Sunday’s matchup. They have the more dangerous quarterback. They were supposed to enter this game looking to reinforce their standing against a rebuilding division opponent.
Instead, they need to demonstrate that last week was an aberration.
Their offensive line struggled to protect Herbert. Their defense failed to sufficiently disrupt an Arizona offense that used the run game and short passing attack to get what it needed.
Now here comes Kubiak with Jeanty and an offense comfortable working along similar lines.
The blueprint is sitting right there.
Of course, Chargers defensive coordinator Chris O’Leary has a copy, too.
That is what makes Sunday more compelling than simply asking whether the Raiders can repeat what worked against Miami. The Chargers have spent the week studying their own failures and the Raiders’ successes. They will have adjustments ready.
Kubiak needs answers to those adjustments.
If the Chargers crowd the line of scrimmage and close the underneath windows, Cousins has to make them pay somewhere else. Taking a shot downfield is only useful if there is a reasonable chance of completing it.
Eventually, the Raiders need those throws to become production.
They also need Cousins to stop giving possessions away. His two turnovers against Miami did not prevent a victory. Against Herbert, the Raiders might not get away with being nearly so generous.
None of that erases the encouragement of the opener. It explains why Sunday matters.
The Raiders are trying to determine how much of their new foundation can withstand a stronger opponent. The Chargers are trying to prove theirs is sturdier than it looked.
And the circumstances should bring an edge to the Bolts.
With the schedule getting tougher over the coming weeks, the Chargers understand the danger of losing their first two games, particularly when the second would give a division rival a two-game advantage.
Desperation does not guarantee execution. But the Raiders should expect to face a team fully aware of the consequences.
That makes Sunday an opportunity worth more than another encouraging performance.
Beat the Chargers and the Raiders will have earned the right to raise expectations. Nobody would need to start mapping out a playoff parade but dismissing consecutive victories as early-season noise would become harder.
Lose a competitive gameand there could still be evidence of progress. Building something sustainable does not require winning every test immediately.
For the Chargers, the room for a reassuring interpretation is considerably smaller.
Maybe Sunday restores the expected order. Maybe Herbert makes the difference, the Chargers settle themselves and the Raiders return home with a clearer understanding of the distance they still need to travel.
Or maybe the first week was telling us something worth believing.
By Sunday evening, one of these teams will have won an argument with its opening impression.
The other might have to start living with it.
