The Las Vegas Raiders will be looking for their first win of the season in Week 2 when they face the Baltimore Ravens.
Not only will the Raiders have the tall task of stopping Ravens quarterback and reigning MVP Lamar Jackson and running back Derrick Henry, both top players at their respective positions, but they will also have to battle an early start time for them as they transition to the East Coast schedule.
In recent years, the Raiders have performed poorly in games played on the East Coast. But they aren't making any excuses. They will prepare as best they can to be ready for their formidable opponent.
"We try to speed up our clock. Like we are doing today," Raiders coach Antonio Pierce told reporters on Wednesday. We woke up earlier. Started our day at 6 o'clock in the morning. Trying to be on the same time as the East Coast. So when we go out to practice, it will be around 11, and we will shorten that down to about 10:30 on Friday. Just trying to speed up our clock. Get guys up, so when we get over there on Saturday at 4 p.m., we kind of get on that East Coast clock.
"But at the end of the day, man, it's just get off to a fast start. I think for any team that travels on the road -- I don't care if we just went one state over like we did last week to California. Cannot turn the ball over. Got to play good red-zone defense, and you got to be good on third down. Those things travel, and obviously, defense does travel. And we are banking on that as well.
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