For most of the early season, the Raiders’ special teams had been one of the quiet reasons Las Vegas was playing better football. Through the first three weeks, the unit was giving the team a real lift - made field goals, steady coverage, and useful returns all helping the Silver and Black stack together a strong start in the third phase.
That version of the group vanished in Week 4.
In a 30-27 loss to the Chiefs, the Raiders’ special teams had too many breakdowns at the wrong time, and the mistakes landed hard in a close divisional game. The biggest one came late, after Kansas City took a 23-19 lead with 3:21 left.
Las Vegas still had a path to go down and answer, but Dareke Young coughed up the ensuing kickoff return. The Chiefs needed just one play after that, ripping off a 22-yard run to score again.
Suddenly, the Raiders were chasing an 11-point deficit. They still managed to pull off a wild sequence - a touchdown, a two-point conversion, and a chance to get the ball back near midfield - but Young’s fumble changed everything. For a team that had a real shot to win, it was a brutal swing.
Young has generally been solid on special teams this season, but he has not added much in the return game. On that play, the issue started before the Chiefs defender finished the strip.
Young was dancing around with nowhere to go instead of taking the safe route and living for the next snap. In that spot, the answer is simple: go down.
There were other cracks, too. After Klint Kubiak had Kansas City re-punt following a bad return, the Chiefs caught the Raiders sleeping and faked the punt to convert on fourth down. The way Las Vegas players vacated the line of scrimmage was hard to explain.
Then came a 27-yard punt return by Nikko Remigio, helped along by missed tackles and poor angles from the Raiders. Kansas City didn’t cash in on the field position, but the damage on the special teams play itself was already done.
The return game hurt Las Vegas in another way as well. Malik Benson fielded punts inside the 10-yard line twice, and three times if you count the one wiped out by penalties, but got almost nothing out of those chances. Those balls should have been left alone to bounce into the end zone for touchbacks.
And near the end, Dylan Laube let a punt go that was downed at the 1-yard line, forcing the offense to stare at 99 yards if it wanted a go-ahead touchdown, and roughly 60 just to reach field-goal range for a tie. Laube had delivered a momentum-changing kick return earlier, but that decision gave it right back.
It’s fair to ask how much of this lands on special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis. Given how well this unit had performed to start the season, it’s hard to pile on too much. But when the group gets beat this thoroughly - especially against a Chiefs special teams unit that was supposed to be a weakness - the coaching staff has to take its share.
DeCamillis didn’t fumble the kickoff, miss the tackles, or make the split-second return decisions. Young, Benson, and others own those mistakes.
Still, the line between player error and coaching failure gets thin when the same unit keeps making the wrong calls. Leaving the line early and turning heads on a punt return was a bad coaching decision.
So was not getting Benson to understand when to let the ball go.
There was good mixed in. Matt Gay hit all four of his field goal attempts.
Laube did provide a big kick return. A.J.
Cole also remains in strong form. But in a game decided by three points, the bad outweighed the good in a hurry.
This group simply didn’t do enough. Or maybe it did too much.
In Other News...
Raiders Were At Center Of A Brutal Late Chiefs Controversy
The Raiders trip to Kansas City turned into one of those divisional finishes that leaves everybody talking long after the final whistle. In a 30-27 Chiefs win, Las Vegas found itself at the center of a late controversy when a catch ruling went the Raiders way and was finalized before a review could be requested, adding a fresh layer of tension to an already tight game.
Kansas City still managed to close it out, with safety Xavier Nwankpa coming up with an interception that helped swing the ending back in the Chiefs favor. A penalty against the Raiders then further tipped the final sequence, turning a disputed moment into another frustrating chapter in a rivalry that rarely comes without drama. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Pressure Is Building Around One Move They May Not Delay
The narrow loss to the Chiefs only sharpened a conversation that has been building around the Raiders for weeks: this offense still looks like it needs a true No. 1 wide receiver. On Raider Nation Radio, Q Myers made the case that receiver help should be at the top of the teams shopping list, and the timing matters with the November 10 trade deadline drawing closer.
Marvin Harrison Jr. has even been floated as a speculative name if he were to become available, a reminder of how aggressive the Raiders may need to be if they want to change the shape of this passing game. For a team trying to keep pace in a tight AFC race, the pressure is no longer just about making a move, but about whether they can afford to wait much longer to make it. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Let Chiefs Game Slip Away After A Few Brutal Decisions
The Raiders had a chance to make life difficult for the undefeated Chiefs at home in an AFC West matchup, and for stretches they were right there. The game swung on a series of big moments, from Kansas Citys fake punt to scoring drives that kept both sides trading the lead, while Las Vegas answered with touchdown throws from Kirk Cousins to Ian Thomas and Michael Mayer.
Still, the kind of game the Raiders needed to finish cleanly started to tilt the other way on a few brutal decisions and mistakes. A critical Dareke Young fumble added to the frustration, and Kansas City kept finding answers, including a late fourth-quarter touchdown run by Kenneth Walker III, leaving Las Vegas to wonder how a winnable game got away. [Read more 🡒]