In a recent article by ESPN, they ranked all 32 teams after Week 1 and the Raiders came in at No. 19. That was up from No. 23 after an impressive win over the Broncos. In the article, each beat writer wrote about the most impressive debut for their respective teams.
For the Raiders, that was none other than Jimmy Garoppolo, who helped lead his team to a road win over the Broncos. Here is a snippet of what the site had to say about Garoppolo in his debut with the Raiders:
As solid as his stat line was, Garoppolo’s huddle presence, leadership and willingness to run for a game-clinching first down won over the Raiders locker room. Or, as running back Josh Jacobs said, “Man, he’s a dog. Any quarterback that’s willing to take a hit in a big moment to secure a win, got my respect.”
At one point, Garoppolo had to go to the medical tent for testing and missed two plays after taking a hit to the head, but then threw a touchdown pass upon returning. After nine years with Derek Carr as the starter, this is now Garoppolo’s team.
Garoppolo did have one bad red zone interception that nearly cost the Raiders the game. But he was able to bounce back and make enough plays to help lead the team to a victory. It certainly wasn’t a flawless performance, but he got the job done and made the plays when they needed them.
Garoppolo will have an even harder test in Week 2 as the Raiders will travel to Buffalo to take on the Bills. If he and the Raiders can find a way to steal that game, then the expectations for the entire 2023 season will change.
