Nearly a month into the NFL season, fans of the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers are quite hopeful about the direction their favorite teams are heading.

After years of living in the dark far from postseason relevance, the Raiders (2-1) have returned to the limelight and found a way to succeed with an explosive offense led by quarterback Derek Carr.

But Oakland’s defense, which struggled at times last year and looked so-so Sunday against Washington, could derail any playoff hopes the Raider might have.

“I think the Raiders have 50/50 chance of their defense coming through,” said English teacher Evonne Perotti, a serious Raiders fan. “They could have made more moves during the offseason to improve the defense.”

The Raiders are giving one last chance for defense coordinator Ken Norton, Jr. to turn around a defense with potential but cannot come together. The biggest worries on the defense are in the secondary.  This could be a concern with the Raiders facing  a schedule filled with teams that boast elite wide receivers.

Despite overlooking the defense, an explosive offense has emerged in Oakland that can help win close games with talented players at nearly every skill position and an stout offense line to hold everything together.

The addition of retired running back Marshawn Lynch adds an explosive punch to an expanding offense that has  featured quality wideouts Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree and Seth Roberts for the past two years.

This offense looks to improve on what they accomplished last year even after the firing offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave. But the Raiders have confidence in the previous quarterback coach Todd Downings as their new offensive coordinator

The division rival Kansas City Chiefs (3-0) are looking to continue dominance this season after winning the AFC West last year. The Chiefs pose the biggest threat to the Raiders for supremacy atop of the AFC West. But a lot of eyes are on the Raiders this season because they are expected to make it deep into the playoffs, but the team’s youth and inexperience in the postseason could hurt.

Although a return to the playoffs seems achievable for the Raiders because of their stacked offense, past playoffs have generally shown that defense wins championships. The Raiders will have to continue to improve  in this area this season if they want to claim another Super Bowl title.

49ers more competitive

After two years of awful seasons, the 49ers have rebuilt their entire roster and now look to start new with head coach Kyle Shanahan, their fourth coach in as many years.

Shanahan looks to help the defense with young talented players and an offense that needs playmakers to step up this season. The team will have to produce more wins if they want to sell expensive tickets to its loyal fanbase. Although being a winning team doesn’t seem likely for the 49ers this year, their main focus should be coming together as a team on both sides of the ball while being more competitive.

During the offseason, the 49ers mostly focused on defensive players to bolster what used to be strength of this team and grabbed a few key offensive starters in Pierre Garcon and Brian Hoyer.

“The 49ers need Brian Hoyer to become a leader on a struggling offense,” said  freshman Arya Rathee.

But Shanahan will have to adjust his mindset from his previous seasons with the Atlanta Falcons since the talent he has on offense is almost non-existent, so they will have to get creative to beat other teams.

Henry Geach believes that Kyle Shanahan will elevate the 49ers to another level in the upcoming years.

This quarterback position will not be addressed until next off seasons because the 49ers don’t want to invest in a young quarterback if they are trying to rebuild a struggling offense.

Their first two weeks against Carolina and Seattle proved that this underrated defense can create turnovers by helping an offense that didn’t score a touchdown until week 3. The 49ers have shown signs of improvement despite an 0-3 start.