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The Las Vegas Raiders hosted the New England Patriots at Allegiant Stadium in each team’s preseason finale. However, there was more focus on what happened in the stands during the game than on the field.
In this case, a couple of Las Vegas fans saw themselves engage in a vicious fight with each other. Although violence should never be encouraged, hatred should not be aimed towards your own fanbase.
A case could be made that Patriots fans might have with issues with the Raiders, as Las Vegas hired New England’s longtime offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. He became their their head coach this offseason.
McDaniels spent a total of 13 seasons with the Patriots over two different stints (2006 – 2008 and 2012 – 2021), winning three Super Bowls as offensive coordinator. As for the preseason game, Las Vegas defeated New England 23 – 6.
While it remains unknown as to the cause of the brawl, Las Vegas fans are no strangers to being at the center of scuffles in the NFL stands. In Week Five of the regular season last year, a fight took place with Las Vegas fans during their 20 – 9 loss to the Chicago Bears at home.
In that game, quarterback Derek Carr went 22 of 35 for 206 passing yards with an interception for Las Vegas. Bears quarterback Justin Fields threw for just 111 yards on 12 of 20 passes with a touchdown. Overall, it’s an exciting time for Las Vegas as the team not only hired McDaniels but made some major offseason moves.
The Las Vegas Raiders' offseason
Las Vegas had themselves a strange 2021 season. Head coach Jon Gruden resigned after his fall from grace for racist and homophobic emails. They made the postseason for the first time since the 2016 season, losing to the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card round.
This offseason, they hired McDaniels and then traded for two-time All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams.
They also signed another two-time All-Pro in defensive end Chandler Jones to shore up their defense. Competing in one of the toughest divisions in the league, the Raiders will look to make it further in the playoffs this season. With such a potent offense they could well be the surprise package of the 2022 season.
For Raiders fans, we’ll see if they can avoid fighting one another and support the team going forward.
