Tenacious, clever, with equal mental and physical strength.

This is the kind of football team that Antonio Pierce and Jim Harbaugh want to lead in their respective 2024 seasons.

And it’s a perfect Week 1 matchup, with Pierce’s Las Vegas Raiders heading to Inglewood to face the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium, two AFC West opponents with new head coaches (new for Pierce) looking to instill an old-school style of tough football.

A key ingredient for a violent, pain-inflicting football team is running the football. And on the other hand, stopping the run. That’s long been a calling card for Harbaugh (both Jim and his brother, and John, the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens) and it’s something Pierce wants in the Raiders’ DNA.

That’s why stopping the run is crucial for Las Vegas’ defense.

Harbaugh praises the running game and Patrick Graham, defensive coordinator of the Raiders, said that the Chargers’ planned running strategy under their new head coach is a smart decision.

“Because if you can’t stop the run of the defense, it’s going to be a long day,” the Las Vegas defensive playmaker said. “I mean, the coordinator could call anything, and that’s a defensive playmaker’s worst fear. But I think it’s smart. And to be tough, you have to be able to run the ball and stop it. So I know toughness is a big part of what they preach, and that makes sense to me, and he’s been successful in executing it.”

The Raiders’ entire defense will need to be on point this Sunday in their regular season opener against the Bolts, but the defensive line in particular will need to win the line of scrimmage. And that’s not impossible for the Silver & Black.

The team boasts elite edge rusher Maxx Crosby and defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, who are both effective run stoppers and quarterback hunters. Las Vegas will be without the much-improved Malcolm Koonce from the other side, as second-year defensive lineman Tyree Wilson is slated to take his place. But the Raiders have veteran nose tackle John Jenkins, who, when he’s not stopping tailbacks, draws double coverage and takes a blocker out of the play that could have been filled by someone else.

Yes, linebackers Robert Spillane and Divine Deablo, slot cornerback Nate Hobbs and safety Marcus Epps will also play big roles. But the aforementioned group of defensive linemen will have to be at the forefront of blocking the run game in order to do what Crosby and Wilkins do best: pressure the passer.

You can’t prick up your ears and attack Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert when he hands the ball off and LA moves the chains. Crosby, Wilkins and Koonce have to do their part to stop the run and create rushing opportunities on pass attempts.

“That’s what we have to understand, and the first game is always weird,” Wilkins noted. “You don’t know what teams they are and who they really are, so you might have a rough idea, but you just have to be willing to adapt as the game goes on.”

In-game adjustments will be one of the countless things the Raiders will be looking at.

That includes not only keeping Chargers running backs JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards in check, but also keeping an eye on Herbert not only on his run attempts, but also on planned runs. Harbaugh has reunited with Greg Roman, and the team of head coach and offensive coordinator has experience planning plays for mobile quarterbacks.

“I mean, just think about the third and nine last year, I mean, he took off. So he looks pretty mobile to me,” Graham said of Herbert’s mobility. “So again, you all ask me that all the time. I take everything into account; I have nothing else to do. I mean, he can move, he can move, so we have to prepare for anything. I don’t know what they’re going to do. That’s the beauty of Week 1; a little bit of fear, anxiety, nervousness, whatever you want to call it. But that’s the beauty of Week 1.

“Everyone is going through this right now; the game tonight, they’re going through this. They don’t know what they’re going to do, but we get to play football.”

If the Raiders are to successfully navigate a double homecoming – Pierce returns to LA as head coach and general manager Tom Telesco, who served the same role with the Chargers last year – the defense will not only have to deal with the Harbaugh-Roman running game, but also stop it to force Herbert to drop back and become the target of the Raiders’ fearsome pass rushers.

Telesco noted that this version of the Raiders was different than last year’s, and Pierce offered his own insight into how the Silver & Black differ from the 2023 version.

“The squad, the mentality, our start, the expectations. We expect to win,” Pierce said.

Time to prove it.