The Raiders’ 3-0 start gets its toughest examination yet on Sunday, when Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs come to Allegiant Stadium.
Las Vegas has opened the year with a defense that’s been steady and an offense that has found enough timely production to keep the wins coming. But Kansas City is a different kind of problem. Mahomes, Andy Reid and the rest of that group will put pressure on the Raiders in ways nobody has through the first three weeks.
There’s no mystery about the main challenge. Mahomes has had the Raiders’ number since he became a starter, and Las Vegas has not found many answers. Even so, with Rob Leonard directing the defense and the coaching overall looking sharper, the Raiders believe they can at least hang in and maybe steal one.
That will only happen if the offense carries its weight. The Raiders have played complementary football so far, and that formula has to hold against a Chiefs team that can make a game feel out of reach in a hurry. Their defense has given them a platform; now the offense has to lift a little more to match it.
The additions Las Vegas made across the roster this offseason matter here, too. The Raiders were trying to shrink a talent gap that was obvious last season and still exists around the AFC West. This game is the clearest test of whether that work is starting to pay off.
Earlier this week, Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins talked about Kubiak and the way he has developed as a coach and play caller.
"That'd be hard to pin down any one trait. I think he's organized.
I think it doesn't feel scattered. It feels like it's an organized plan.
I don't get surprised. Feel like we're on the same page.
Feel like he gets the play calls in quickly, and I only say that not really off the sample size of the last three weeks, but more off of 2021, and even him being my quarterback coach in '19 and '20."
“I just appreciate that organizational skills, but also the desire to continuously improve. I think at times we come back from a win, and he doesn't allow the outcome of a win to cause him to let his guard down on things that need to be coached hard, and that's comforting for me because I love kind of feeling like nothing's going to get past his watchful eye. So, I think there's a kindred spirit there from a continuous improvement mindset, and that gives me peace."
The Raiders’ 3-0 start matters because of where this team was a few months ago. It also matters because the schedule turns brutal starting now, with some of the league’s best waiting over the next month.
A 4-0 start would change the conversation fast, especially with two division wins already in the bank. Even if Sunday ends in a loss, it won’t mean much if the Raiders avoid getting run out of the building. But a win would say plenty.
For most of the last decade, the Raiders have lived at the bottom of the division while the Chiefs have sat at the top, winning it nearly 10 consecutive seasons. Kansas City is the standard Las Vegas wants to chase.
Sunday will show how much progress the Raiders have made since the teams met in last season’s finale. It should also show how far they still have to go.
The gap may not be as wide as it once was.
In Other News...
Raiders Suddenly Need More From The Offense Before Chiefs Game
Jack Bechs Week 3 injury forced the Raiders to lean harder on depth than they had probably planned, and the answer from offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko has been a familiar one: adjust on the fly and spread the workload around. Las Vegas has already started using its tight end duo more heavily, while also looking for ways to get other receivers involved and keep the formation flexible enough to hide the absence of a key target.
With the Chiefs up next, the Raiders offense needs to be more than just serviceable, because a one-player loss can quickly become a wider test of how adaptable the unit really is. Janockos approach points toward more versatile personnel packages and a bigger role for the run game and additional pass-catching options, but the real question is whether all of those moving parts can add up to enough production against a tougher opponent. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Week 4 Push Comes With A Bigger Rams Question
The Raiders head into Week 4 with a bigger-picture roster lens than the usual divisional urgency, because the game in front of them is only part of the conversation. With Kansas City on deck, the focus stays on keeping the season moving, but the evaluation behind the scenes is already widening toward next offseason and how Las Vegas can better support coach Klint Kubiaks system.
Much of that attention is landing on the Rams, where several players have become relevant free-agent names for the Raiders to monitor. Their recent form makes the fit worth exploring, and Las Vegas has reason to study how those pieces might translate if the front office decides to add more help on either side of the ball. The Week 4 push matters now, but the roster-building questions are starting to matter just as much. [Read more 🡒]
Former Raiders DC Suddenly Faces Pressure Steelers Fans Didn't Expect
Patrick Grahams move from Las Vegas to Pittsburgh was supposed to give the Steelers a fresh defensive voice heading into the 2026 season, and for a stretch it looked like the kind of hire that could settle things down. Instead, his first few weeks on the job have brought the same sort of uneven results that followed him at times with the Raiders, where the relationship between coach and organization never felt especially smooth.
Now the pressure is building in a place that rarely waits long to judge. Recent game footage appeared to catch T.J. Watt showing visible frustration toward Graham, a telling moment for a defense that is still trying to find its footing amid larger organizational issues. For a coordinator brought in to steady things, the tension is starting to become part of the story. [Read more 🡒]