The divide between the AFC West-leading Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders is still there, but the gap appears to be dwindling.
Call it the Klint Kubiak Effect.
The Silver & Black’s patience in wanting to interview and eventually hire the hotshot offensive-minded 39-year-old as its new head coach is paying dividends early in the team’s 2026 campaign. “Ahead of schedule” is synonymous with this rendition of the Raiders who are in phase one of the rebuild with Kubiak and general manager John
Spytek at the helm.
Three straight wins gave way to a tough 30-27 defeat at the hands of the visiting Chiefs this past season — hence the lessening competitive gap between the two division foes. Kansas City narrowly escaped Las Vegas and Kubiak’s coaching and decision making played a part in that.
To his credit, Kubiak was quick to own up to the shortcomings immediately after the game.
“Wish we would’ve won the game but got a lot of really hardworking guys that care about winning and fell short tonight,” the rookie head coach said to begin the postgame press conference. “And obviously, there’s a point there where I took three points off the board, and we were going to be aggressive going into the game. I don’t regret it. I regret not getting it.
“And at the end of the game, however, I’ve got to get the play in faster. We had an illegal shift, that’s on the play caller, not getting the play in fast enough.”
The accountability continued the following day during his media session on Monday.
It’s becoming abundantly clear that while Kubiak and his coaching staff have done a marvelous job creating the eighth-ranked offense in points scored (115) and 11th-ranked defense in points allowed (84) through the initial phase of the season, a key element of the Silver & Black attack — the ground game — is lacking.
We all knew about Kubiak’s affinity for running the football heading into Year 1 at the helm of the Raiders. And the 119 rushing attempts he’s dialed up ranks as fifth most amongst the 32 teams in the NFL is a testament to that. However, Las Vegas ranks 24th with 372 yards gained on the ground and with only one touchdown, are 28th in that department. And the paltry 3.1 yards per carry average is dead last in the league.
Against the Chiefs this past Sunday, the Raiders were limited to 72 yards on 26 carries with starting tailback Ashton Jeanty pacing the team with 15 carries for 58 yards (3.9 yards per carry average) with a long run of 19 yards. Promising rookie running back Mike Washington Jr. garnered nine totes for 18 yards (2.0 yards per carry average) with a long carry of 11 yards. And fullback Connor Heyward finished with two carries for negative four yards.
As such, Kubiak was asked about anything particular that stands out about what’s going on with the production — or lack thereof.
“Yeah, there is. I put it on myself. I got to do a lot better job of putting us in better position,” Kubiak responded. “We’ve got solid backs, we’ve got a solid offensive line. And myself and the coaching staff, there’s plenty of things we can do better for our players.”
“Scheme them up better,” is how Kubiak answered the follow up question looking for specifics on what he feels the team can do to improve the ground game.
Again, Kubiak’s accountability is indeed sound. Admitting an issue and taking ownership of it is the first step into solving it. But true accountability requires tangible behavior for change and repair. It fails without action and true accountability is visible in future choices, such as fixing specific problems or change the environment that allowed it to happen.
Without it, Kubiak’s words are empty.
Can Kubiak make that happen?
It’s difficult to say the head coach can’t.
His team’s turnaround so far and holding a 3-1 overall record heading into Week 5 action. This rendition of the Raiders showed it can overcome in-game adversity and win ball games — that’s a considerable achievement considering prior versions of the Silver & Black routinely folded in the face of pressure. Thus, overachieved these Raiders have indeed done so far.
But a defeat was certainly inevitable and how this team rebounds and responds will be intriguing.
“We just got done meeting with them. They’re disappointed, and they’re a very mature group that wants to win. So, we’re fixing the corrections,” Kubiak said. “We’re trying to make ourselves better. Whether we win or whether we lose, we’re telling each other the truth and just seeing what we can do to be a better team moving forward.”
And we’ll get to see soon if Kubiak continues to be all about that action — shout out to former Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch who frequently used that phrase, by the way — with the team headed East to take on the New England Patriots (2-2) for a 10 a.m. (Pacific Standard Time) Sunday matchup.
The host Patriots rank 14th in rushing yards allowed in their four games (416 yards yielded) with the 4.4 yards per carry average ranking 21st. But overall, New England’s defense is sixth in both points allowed (77) and yards yielded (1,175).
Which makes for a concerted effort from the Raiders coaching staff to scheme and adjust in-game and the players to execute in-game a must-do this coming Sunday.
Kubiak and Co. embark on a grueling slate with the Patriots up first, followed by tilts with:
- Buffalo Bills (home), October 18
- Los Angeles Rams (home), October 25
- New York Jets (away), November 1
- San Francisco 49ers (away), November 8
- Seattle Seahawks (home), November 15
- Denver Broncos (away), November 22
- Cleveland Browns (away), November 29
All those contests before a Week 13 bye where Las Vegas can take a true breather. And we’ll know a whole lot more about Kubiak’s accountability and action over that course of time and if the Raiders’ overall record heading into the bye week is reflective of that.
