The Raiders walked out of Week 4 with a loss to the Chiefs, and the final score only told part of the story. Las Vegas entered the matchup undefeated and knew exactly what it was up against: Patrick Mahomes, who has been nothing short of flawless against the Raiders over the past decade. That backdrop made Sunday feel bigger than a standard early-season game, even if the record said there were still 13 games left.
There were bright spots, but there were also enough self-inflicted problems to tilt the night the wrong way. The biggest frustrations came after the Raiders had already done enough in stretches to stay in the fight. In the end, the difference came down to details, mistakes, and missed opportunities.
Kirk Cousins was not the issue. He threw two touchdowns and his lone interception came at the end of the game. Las Vegas still has plenty to clean up on offense, but Cousins was not one of the problems.
The running game, though, remains a mess. Ashton Jeanty is clearly not healthy, but the Raiders still need him out there.
With the Bye Week not arriving until late in the season, the team may soon have to think about giving Jeanty practices or even a game or two off. That does not seem likely, though.
Las Vegas may need to get Dylan Laube more involved on offense and possibly elevate a running back from the practice squad to help lighten Jeanty’s load, especially after also using Mike Washington. The issues on the ground run deeper than one player.
The wide receiver group got even thinner during the game. Already without Jack Bech, the Raiders also lost Jalen Nailor to a possible concussion on Sunday.
That kind of hit exposed the reality of how this position group is built. When it works, it works, but Sunday showed the downside.
The Raiders will probably keep making small signings at receiver the rest of the season, but they also need multiple additions next offseason. Still, the group did what it could with the bodies it had.
Up front, the offensive line deserves some credit. Las Vegas was without its starting right guard, yet it allowed no sacks while Cousins threw the ball 52 times.
That is a real accomplishment. At the same time, the run blocking still wasn’t enough to get the ground game moving.
Some of that comes back to Jeanty’s health, because there were moments when the line opened lanes a healthy Jeanty would have attacked in a hurry. But the line has been good enough in pass protection that it also has to share blame for the lack of production on the ground.
The tight ends carried a big chunk of the passing game. Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer were the Raiders’ top two pass-catchers by yardage, and the group bailed out the offense in more than one way.
Connor Heyward also kept popping up with quietly important plays. He seems to do that every week.
On defense, the Raiders gave themselves a chance for a long stretch. The unit held the Chiefs scoreless in the third quarter, though the final play of that period turned into a huge Kenneth Walker gain that shifted the game’s momentum.
Even with that swing, the defensive line and the defense overall did their job. No defense can keep Kansas City to 13 points through three quarters while getting so little help from its own offense.
At some point, the dam was going to break.
The linebackers were solid, and most of their mistakes came against a good scheme and strong play-calling from the Chiefs. The back end was more uneven. The inexperience in the defensive backfield showed up repeatedly at safety and cornerback, though Treydan Stukes and Jeremy Chinn both played well overall.
Special teams had its own share of good and bad. AJ Cole averaged almost 50 yards per punt on three kicks, and Matt Gay stayed steady.
He has now made at least one critical field goal in every game this season. Sunday fit that pattern.
But the biggest special-teams moment went the wrong way. The Raiders should have taken the points.
This was not a case of passing up a makeable kick. Gay made the field goal, and the Chiefs were penalized on the play.
Instead of keeping the points that were already on the board, Las Vegas took them off its own score. With the Raiders already up by three against Mahomes, that decision mattered.
If those points stayed, the game would have been tied late in the fourth, with Gay possibly lining up for another chance to win it.
The game also turned on another brutal special-teams mistake. For the second straight week, Las Vegas fumbled a kickoff return, and for the second straight week, that fumble immediately led to an opponent touchdown.
This time, it basically decided the game. Dareke Young’s fumble was the last in a long line of Raiders errors, even though the team still kept fighting late.
Laube did help with a nice return near the end to keep Las Vegas within striking distance.
Punt returns remain a problem too. It is not all on Malik Benson, but the Raiders have gotten very little out of that spot this season.
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