The Raiders are about to find out how much old knowledge really matters.
Klint Kubiak helped turn Kenneth Walker III into a star last season with the Seattle Seahawks, and now the two are back on the same stage in a very different setting. Kubiak is now leading the 3-0 Las Vegas Raiders, while Walker III has become the newest weapon in a revamped and highly productive Kansas City Chiefs offense. When the AFC West rivals meet in Week 4 at Allegiant Stadium, the matchup will come down to who knows the other better - and who can make that familiarity count.
Las Vegas has looked sharp enough overall to earn plenty of praise for Rob Leonard’s defense. The Raiders are giving up 18.0 points per game, which ranks eighth-best in the league, and they’ve shown an ability to close out games. But the run defense has not been nearly as sturdy as the overall numbers suggest.
The basic production tells part of the story: the Raiders rank 15th in rushing attempts allowed, 19th in rushing yards allowed, 11th in rushing touchdowns allowed and 22nd in yards per attempt allowed. Those rankings aren’t disastrous on their own, but the film and the game flow tell you more. Against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2 and the New Orleans Saints in Week 3, Las Vegas had stretches where it was simply getting pushed around on the ground.
And the deeper numbers are even less flattering. The Raiders are allowing 4.5 yards per carry, have missed 11 tackles against the run, and have surrendered 217 rushing yards after contact in three games. That is the kind of leakage that can get exposed fast by a team committed to running the ball.
Kansas City looks ready to do exactly that.
Through three weeks, the Chiefs have been one of the NFL’s most efficient rushing teams, with Walker III driving the operation. Last year, Patrick Mahomes had to carry more of the burden.
Now he has the league’s leading rusher taking some of that pressure off. Andy Reid’s offense has leaned into the ground game, and it has done so with conviction.
Walker III has been at the center of it all, handling more than 80% of Kansas City’s designed runs. In three games, he has piled up 303 yards after contact and forced 34 missed tackles. He has also already shown he can hurt defenses from anywhere on the field, which is exactly why Kubiak described him as having "big play ability," and said he can "hit a home run from anywhere on the field."
That’s the challenge for Las Vegas: stop a runner who is both productive and slippery, while also dealing with an offense that has already proven it can keep pounding away until something breaks. Reid is the kind of coach who keeps going back to the same approach until a defense proves it can take it away, and Kansas City has already had success on the ground against Denver and Indianapolis.
There is one twist that could matter. If anyone in this matchup understands Walker III better than the Raiders’ coaches, it’s Kubiak.
He spent last season helping maximize Walker III’s best traits and building answers around his limitations. That kind of familiarity is real.
Walker III knows Kubiak’s offense, too, but the source of the edge may still tilt toward the Raiders head coach. As Kirk Cousins said all offseason, Kubiak’s offense has changed a lot over the years.
Schemes evolve. Players, their habits, and their tendencies are harder to hide.
So if one side is going to gain a meaningful advantage from familiarity, it may be Las Vegas. And the Raiders are going to need every bit of it against Walker III.
In Other News...
Raiders Head Into Chiefs Test With One Big Availability Problem
The week leading into a trip to Kansas City has already turned into an availability check for Las Vegas, with Klint Kubiak navigating a long list of injured and limited players before a matchup that will demand as close to full strength as possible. Brock Bowers, Darien Porter, Treydan Stukes, Ashton Jeanty, Jack Bech and Jackson Powers-Johnson have all been part of the conversation, leaving the Raiders trying to sort through who can actually be counted on in a game that rarely leaves much margin for error.
The timing makes the contrast even sharper because the Chiefs enter the week in far better shape, with only Josh Simmons potentially sidelined and L'Jarius Sneed limited in practice. For a Raiders team trying to steady itself early in the season, the concern is not just the names on the injury report but how thin the margin gets if more than one of them cannot go against a division rival that is usually ready to pounce on any weakness. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Need More From Their New Receiver Than Hidden Contributions
Jalen Nailor arrived in Las Vegas with the kind of deal that suggested a real role was coming, but the first three games have mostly featured the quieter parts of his game. He has only five catches for 52 yards on 11 targets, yet the Raiders have still found reasons to keep him involved because of the work he does away from the ball, especially as a blocker and as a piece that can help open space for others.
For a team looking for more reliability in the passing game, those hidden contributions are useful, but they can only carry a receiver so far. The bigger question now is whether Nailors role starts to grow as the season unfolds, with game planning and his own production likely deciding how much more of the offense comes his way. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Receiver Shuffle Puts Unexpected Spotlight On Cody White
The Raiders receiver room took another hit this week when Jack Bech was placed on injured reserve with a broken forearm, prompting a quick reshuffle on the depth chart. Las Vegas answered by signing Cody White to the active roster, waiving Justin Shorter and bringing Phillip Dorsett II onto the practice squad as it tries to keep the position group stocked and stable.
White now gets a bigger stage after making the most of his chances in limited work, especially in the red zone. He has turned all three of his catches into touchdowns this season, and with Bech sidelined the Raiders suddenly have a little more reason to see whether that efficiency can translate into a larger role. [Read more 🡒]