Graney: Raiders must win Sunday if they want to be taken seriously

We see them every week. NFL scores that raise eyebrows. Results that, by all accounts and point spreads, shouldn’t occur.

It’s a trap the Raiders can’t fall into.

Not against the lowly Carolina Panthers on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.

Can’t lose this one. Can’t stumble this week.

Not to an 0-2 team that has lost 17 of 19 dating back to the start of last season.

Opportunity knocks loudly for the Raiders over their next three games. Coach Antonio Pierce has talked often about getting off to a fast start this year. About not chasing a losing record. Star defensive end Maxx Crosby talks about stacking wins. It’s all there for them. All there for a 4-1 start.

Amazing at losing

The Raiders team that won 26-23 at Baltimore last week as almost a double-digit underdog plays its next two games at home against Carolina and Cleveland (1-1). It then travels to face Denver (0-2), which is having all sorts of problems to begin the season.

Lose any of the next three and, suddenly, the shine of the Baltimore win comes off the Raiders.

“I don’t think this team has that mindset where anybody’s thinking we’re just going to go in there and roll over (Carolina) or they’re going to lay down,” wide receiver Davante Adams said. “It’s not that type of team, really. I mean, they have a lot of good individual talent. The record hasn’t proved that they’re an amazing team, but things can change at any point.

“Like you said with us, nobody had us winning that (Baltimore) game, and we went out and took care of it. It’s not about how good you are — it’s about how good you play.”

Look. The Panthers aren’t amazing at anything but losing. The Raiders are also not talented enough to overlook anyone. They haven’t run the ball at all in two games. Their offensive line has been awful. And this is exactly the sort of game the Raiders of old would lose.

So it will take supreme focus from all involved to take care of business. The sort of concentration that Pierce and Adams and quarterback Gardner Minshew talked about this week. Carolina is easy to overlook.

But good teams find a way to handle success. That’s the challenge for the Raiders coming off their win in Baltimore.

Pierce’s hope: That his team doesn’t ride a roller coaster of results, of ups and downs during games. That it discovers consistency for four quarters, playing with the same level of effort and discipline and passion from start to finish.

The Raiders in getting to 1-1 haven’t come close to playing a complete game yet. Had a nice half here. Had a nice fourth quarter there.

“I mean, that’s every week that you have to earn it,” Minshew said. “There are no free passes in this league. It doesn’t matter who you are. Everybody can win in this league.

“So, we got to have a great week of practice and we have to show up. We have to play our best ball no matter what.”

They believe home-field advantage will make a difference, even though visiting fans have often overtaken Allegiant Stadium for Raiders games.

But the Panthers are a dire bunch and won’t have the same drawing power as, say, the 49ers or the Chiefs. Silver and black should dominate the atmosphere Sunday. And the Raiders need it.

This is an imperfect team in many ways.

Taken seriously

“We all look at the standings each and every week, and there’s shockers each and every week,” Pierce said. “I know last week (at Baltimore), it was us, right? And we don’t want to be on that headline.

“The only thing we can worry about and control is us, and we need to do a better job of being detailed.”

That, and they can’t lose.

Not to this opponent.

Not if they’re serious about, well, being taken seriously.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.