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When Raiders fans think of offense in the AFC West, they think of a Mahomes no-look pass, Tyreek Hill burning safeties, or Andy Reid's confusing pre-snap motions. When people think of offense in the AFC West, they think of the Chiefs.
After three weeks of NFL action, Raiders fans will be thrilled at having stolen the Chiefs' stranglehold on first place in the West and the crown of the best offense in the NFL.
Las Vegas Raiders rising: The most explosive offense in the NFL?
The Raiders didn't make any massive additions in the offseason, but they've made a jump like they signed every big free agent available.
After three games, the team is ranked first in the league in yards per game. Henry Ruggs III, Bryan Edwards, Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller are all on pace for 1,000 yards this season.
Henry Ruggs III has 237 yards and a touchdown. Bryan Edwards has 210 yards. Hunter Renfrow has 204 yards and a touchdown, while Darren Waller has 224 yards and a TD.
With defenses needing a crowd of depth to deal with the four-headed monster that is the Raiders offense, teams are struggling to keep up a lid on Las Vegas' firepower.
The Raiders are earning about 40 yards more per game than the next closest team, the Dallas Cowboys. Granted, the Cowboys have yet to play their third game, so they still have a chance to overtake the Raiders. But with the Cowboys playing the Eagles in a divisional matchup, odds are that Dallas won't be able to make up the 40-yards-per-game average required.
What's more impressive than how the Raiders have played is who they've played en route to earning the number one spot.
Over the past three weeks, the Raiders have played the Ravens, Steelers, and Dolphins. All three teams have a high level of defensive prowess.
The Ravens were missing their top cornerback Marcus Peters, but the rest of the defense was intact after a year in which they finished seventh in total defense. The following week, the Raiders played the Steelers, who were ranked third in total defense. Most recently, the Raiders played the Miami Dolphins, who have a cornerback who racked up ten interceptions last season.
Of course, with the exception of the Steelers, the other teams had their own problems on defense. Even with those problems, conventional thinking dictates that they should have had enough firepower to slow down the Raiders enough to keep them from running away with the top-ranked offense in the NFL.
However, the defense could not stop or slow the Raiders down and thus their rise to the top of the league is an accomplishment and then some. Teams will begin to play the Raiders differently, taking this into consideration, though.
