No one expected the Las Vegas Raiders to win their Week 2 tilt with the Baltimore Ravens. This was understandable, given how bad the Raiders looked in Week 1 against the Los Angeles Chargers and how the Ravens were coming off a close loss to arguably the best team in the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a road game for Las Vegas. The Ravens' greatest strength, running the football, was a terrible matchup for a Raiders defense. Thankfully for Las Vegas, games aren't played on paper. If it were, they never would have pulled off what was one of the biggest upsets early into the NFL season. After the Raiders secured their first win of the 2024 campaign, general manager Tom Telesco met Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce in the tunnel. The two shared an embrace that saw the Raiders head coach let all his emotions out.

“Congratulations to our offense and our team, but we've still got work to do,” Pierce said after the win. “There's a lot of meat on the bone. I'll be honest. We've got to run the ball better. But I do say this, we came out in the second half, especially late in that third quarter, protected the quarterback.”

The Raiders will have a golden opportunity to grab their second win of the 2024 season in Week 3 when they welcome the flailing Carolina Panthers to Allegiant Stadium.

How the Raiders pulled off the big-time upset over the Ravens

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce reacts after the defense makes a stop during the second half against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.
Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images
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The Ravens were dominant in opening the game, limiting the Raiders to 43 yards in the first half. However, Las Vegas flipped the script in the final two quarters with their passing attack. Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams played a crucial role in the Raiders' comeback. He caught four passes for 86 yards, drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone on consecutive scoring drives in the fourth quarter, and caught a touchdown. Adams finished with nine receptions for 110 yards.

Quarterback Gardner Minshew also found success connecting with rookie tight end Brock Bowers.  On the Raiders’ first drive of the second half, while down by 10 points, they advanced 45 yards to Baltimore’s 25-yard line, including a 25-yard completion to Bowers. The rookie tight end notched 98 receiving yards on nine receptions. Meanwhile, Minshew completed 30 passes out of 38 attempts for 276 yards. Las Vegas found a way to torch Baltimore's secondary and steal a victory on the road. Hopefully, they can keep it up against the Panthers next week.