On Sunday, theKansas City Chiefs face the Las Vegas Raiders in the late window of Week 4 games. We welcome Matt Holder of Silver and Black Pride — our sister SBNation site covering the Raiders— for Five Questions with the Enemy.
In case you missed it, Matt took time to answer your questions in the Feed on Thursday morning. Check out his post for more enemy perspective.
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1. The Raiders have already matched their win total from last season and are 3-0 for the first time since 2021. How much has this start changed the expectations surrounding the team in Las Vegas
A lot has changed in Vegas over the last three weeks. Heading into the season, I think even the most optimistic Raiders fan had the team topping out at eight or nine wins and sniffing the playoffs but falling just short. However, with an undefeated start and an opportunity to finish the first quarter of the season in first place for the AFC West, the postseason feels like it’s a more realistic possibility than it was at the end of August.
To be fair, the Raiders were favored against the lowly Dolphins, and the 0-3 Chargers are a dysfunctional mess right now. On top of that, the Raiders are about to hit a gantlet in their schedule with the Chiefs, Patriots (on the road), Bills and Rams over the next four weeks. So, the upcoming stretch will tell us a lot about how much of a contender the Silver and Black really are. However, make no mistake about it: the franchise is taking a step in the right direction by separating itself from the bottom of the league, and the rebuild feels like it’s ahead of schedule.
2. Kirk Cousins leads the NFL with nine touchdown passes, and Brock Bowers returned against New Orleans with 10 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown. How does having Bowers back change what Klint Kubiak can do with this offense?
Bowers’ return gives Cousins a go-to target and someone who can win in the intermediate range. The tight end was expected to be and is the centerpiece of Klint Kubiak’s offense, making it surprising that the Raiders were able to put up 53 combined points in the two games without him. But it’s no surprise that the offense had its best performance to date in his season debut last week.
While they play slightly different positions, Kubiak is using Bowers similarly to how he deployed 2025 Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba with the Seahawks last year. Smith-Njigba would line up all over the place for Seattle, making it difficult for the defense to account for him since they didn’t know where he’d be, allowing Kubiak to scheme up favorable matchups. Bowers’ unique skill set, where he’s closer to being an X-receiver than a true tight end, allows that to happen. He actually took more snaps out wide or in the slot than he did in-line last week.
As for Cousins, Vegas has a good deep threat in wide receiver Tre Tucker, who hauled in some shots down the field against the Chargers (five catches, 119 yards and a 40-yard touchdown). And running back Ashton Jeanty has been a decent check-down option — though he did have three drops in L.A. — and so can No. 2 tight end Michael Mayer. Meanwhile, Tucker is decent on intermediate routes, but his bread and butter is in the vertical passing game. That’s the void Bowers can fill with his route running and ability to beat man coverage, giving Cousins a weapon in all three areas of the passing game.
3. Ashton Jeanty has rushed for 206 yards on 63 carries—an average of 3.3 yards per attempt—and has yet to score a rushing touchdown. What has been the primary reason for his slow start on the ground?
Jeanty is still 10th in rushing yards, and he had a 100-yard performance on the ground in Week 1. So, I wouldn’t 100% agree that he’s had a “slow start”, but the production over the last two games has certainly been underwhelming.
In Los Angeles, the second-year back likely had flashbacks to his rookie season. The Raiders’ offensive line — more specifically, the interior three — had a tough time handling the Chargers’ defensive tackles and got punched in the mouth. For example, Pro Football Focus charted Jeanty with 54 yards after contact while he only rushed for 48 yards total. Last week was more on him, though, with 35 yards after contact and 56 total rushing yards.
Jeanty suffered a sprained ankle at the end of training camp and might have reaggravated it against the Saints. The CBS broadcast team reported that he was getting his ankles taped (or retaped) mid-game, and he didn’t have the same explosion or lateral movement skills that we’ve seen from him in the past. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if rookie fourth-round pick Mike Washington Jr. gets more carries this week.
Washington is a home-run hitter who has 15 carries for 102 yards (6.8 ypc) and scored his first NFL touchdown on a 36-yard scamper last week. The problem is that two runs have accounted for over half of the Arkansas product’s production, where he’s averaging just 3.7 ypc when removing those from the equation. So it remains to be seen if he can still be efficient with a bigger workload and more attention on him.
4. The Raiders’ defense has generated nine takeaways and 10 sacks through three games while creating pressure without relying heavily on the blitz. Can that defensive approach remain effective against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense?
The Raiders finally have their version of Steve Spagnuolo with Rob Leonard getting promoted to defensive coordinator in the offseason. Like Spags, Leonard has been creating a lot of confusion for quarterbacks by constantly rotating coverage post-snap and dialing up simulated pressures or creeper blitzes. Las Vegas has also been running a lot of pattern-matching concepts to avoid getting put into bad matchups in the secondary, similar to what Spagnuolo does on the backend of the Chiefs’ defense.
That gives me hope that the Silver and Black can continue to put pressure on Mahomes and force him into a mistake or two. However, the 10-year pro is the most experienced and best quarterback they’ve faced so far. Tyler Shough (12 career starts) and Malik Willis (six) have about a full season’s worth of starts between them. Meanwhile, Justin Herbert (98) played better against Las Vegas than his stat line suggests; the Chargers just had several drops and one play where a tight end had a PBU on a pass intended for his teammate (yes, you read that correctly).
So, I’m optimistic that Leonard can force Mahomes to hold onto the ball and heat Mahomes up given how good Leonard’s scheme has been over the last three weeks. But, simultaneously, I’m realistic that he hasn’t put together a game plan and called plays against a quarterback of this caliber yet. We’ll have to see how it plays out on the grass!
5. With both teams entering Sunday’s game 3-0 and the early AFC West lead at stake, what is your prediction for how this matchup plays out?
I’ll be honest with you: the Chiefs should win this game. Experience is on their side since they’ve been in games like this plenty of times over the last few years, and Kansas City certainly has the more talented roster from top to bottom. Hence why the Chiefs are favored on the road and have much higher expectations than the Raiders do this season. But screw all of that!
Kubiak’s crew hasn’t given me a reason not to believe in them, so I’m going to be a homer and not bet against the Raiders until they prove me otherwise. Give me the Silver and Black, 35 to 31!
