The Raiders left Sunday with another loss, but this one looked a lot different from the one-sided beatdown that can flatten a season. In a 33-30 shootout with the Bills, Las Vegas pushed one of the league’s most dangerous offenses to the edge, then watched Josh Allen and company answer every time the game seemed ready to swing.
The defeat dropped the Raiders back to .500 after opening 3-0 and extended their skid to three straight games against the Chiefs, Patriots and Bills. The road ahead is no kinder. The Rams, 49ers, Seahawks and Broncos are sitting in four of the next five weeks, and the game against the Jets in two weeks may be the only clear chance to steal a win.
For a while, it looked like the Raiders might actually do it. Down 23-13 entering the fourth quarter, Kirk Cousins led a quick surge that erased the deficit. Las Vegas covered 75 yards in 15 plays to set up Matt Gay’s 23-yard field goal, then turned around and marched 91 yards in nine plays for Cousins’ 11-yard touchdown pass to Tre Tucker.
That tied the game and forced Buffalo to respond. It did, immediately.
Allen and James Cook pieced together a 7-play, 66-yard drive that ended with Cook’s 3-yard touchdown run, and after a Bills field goal, Las Vegas was back in a 10-point hole with 1:56 left. Cousins hit Tucker again, this time on a 44-yard touchdown, and the Raiders still had life with 1:32 remaining.
But the onside kick never produced a possession, and Buffalo ran out the clock in victory formation.
That late push should have been the story of the night, but Raiders coach Klint Kubiak made it clear where his focus was. The offense went into the red zone five times and came away with only two touchdowns, and he didn’t hide from that failure.
“That's unacceptable,” Kubiak said. “That's on me.”
That bluntness fits his style, but it also matched his mood after a game the Raiders had every chance to steal. Las Vegas wasn’t handed this one by luck or garbage-time window dressing. It put itself in position to beat a team that remains one of the NFL’s most explosive groups, and for much of the night the Bills looked exactly like the Bills.
There were bright spots for the Raiders beyond the comeback attempt. Brock Bowers gave them a steady presence, even if the numbers suggested there was more there.
He caught 4 passes for 70 yards on 9 targets, and the source of the frustration is obvious: if a few more of those throws land, the Raiders may be celebrating instead of dissecting a loss. Bowers is still the team’s leading receiver with 28 catches for 382 yards and 3 touchdowns, and at 6-4 and 235 pounds he remains the kind of mismatch problem that can tilt a game.
But the takeaway here is bigger than one tight end or one fourth-quarter rally. The Raiders have now shown they can hang with top teams, including the Chiefs and Bills, and Kubiak still wants more than that.
He is looking at the missed chances, the red-zone mistakes and the wasted opportunities. Whether that hard line helps or hurts is now part of the story, too.
For now, the standings are what they are, and the schedule only gets rougher. The Raiders have been competitive. They have also been left with losses.
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Buffalo has earned a little breathing room before Week 8 brings Baltimore to town, and that pause arrives at a useful moment. The Bills are winning, but they are also carrying a familiar problem that can get exposed quickly against sharper opponents. If the penalties keep piling up and the third-down defense remains shaky, the record will not hide it for long. [Read more 🡒]