The Las Vegas Raiders have wiped away just about any momentum the team had with a 3-0 start, dropping their fourth straight contest with the Week 7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Despite the Rams being heavily injured heading into the game, Los Angeles managed to outclass Las Vegas, leading 28-6 heading into the fourth quarter before a few garbage-time scores made the scoreboard look prettier at 35-21. That doesn’t leave much room for winners in this week’s winners and losers column.
LOSER: Quay Walker
To be fair, Walker
did have a couple of good stops against the run to give the defense a handful of quality plays. However, he continues to be a liability in coverage, allowing six catches on six targets for 51 yards and a touchdown, according to Pro Football Focus, while also drawing a flag. All of those figures were team highs, and it’s the third week in a row that he’s given up a perfect completion percentage to go along with at least five catches and 50 yards when targeted.
The story of the former Green Bay Packer’s career is that he lacks awareness and instincts in coverage. That’s continued in Las Vegas, as opposing offenses are picking on him by giving him eye candy when playing zone or taking advantage of his aggressiveness against the run via play-action passes to open up the middle of the field. On top of that, Walker has had issues against scramble drills, failing to plaster to his man.
In other words, the free-agent signing hasn’t improved on his biggest weakness.
LOSER: Tonka Hemingway
It’s no secret that the Raiders have a massive need at defensive tackle. Meanwhile, Hemingway drew plenty of praise during training camp but hasn’t done much during the regular season, including on Sunday.
While he did register his first sack of the season, that was the result of Nakobe Dean setting a great pick on a stunt rather than the defensive tackle winning on his own. Also, the second-year pro had just one other pressure throughout the game and was part of the Raiders’ run defense issues, posting a 41.6 PFF run defense grade.
Granted, this was Hemingway’s first game since suffering a concussion a couple of weeks ago, and he participated in 21 snaps against the Rams. However, these issues go beyond this past weekend, with a 39.9 run defense mark and just seven pressures in six games.
WINNER: Dylan Laube
While Laube didn’t receive any offensive snaps (outside of the fake punt), he had a pair of notable kick returns that gave the Silver and Black’s offense short fields. He returned the opening kickoff for 36 yards to give the Raiders the ball at the 38-yard line, and returned the next one for 42 to cut the field in half. The problem was that those returns resulted in just three points, but the kick returner held up his end of the bargain.
For the season, Laube has 435 kick return yards (tied for 13th in the NFL) and leads all returners who have at least seven kick returns with a 31.1-yard average.
LOSER: Caleb Rogers
The coaching staff’s decision to bench Jackson Powers-Johnson for Rogers hasn’t made any difference in the offense’s running game over the last two weeks. The Raiders managed just 65 yards and 3.3 yards per carry as a team against the Bills and had just 48 yards and 2.8 ypc against the Rams, while Rogers logged 51.8 and 28.6 PFF run-blocking grades in those contests.
To be fair, Powers-Johnson wasn’t getting the job done either, with a 43.6 mark in his four outings. But week-by-week, it’s becoming clearer that Las Vegas didn’t do enough at guard during the offseason and will have to address the position again this spring.
LOSER: Klint Kubiak
Speaking of the guard issue, Kubiak is clearly too tied to Spencer Burford. Those two have a history together, but Buford’s play continues to be uneven where every other game is a bad outing. This past week was a down performance, giving up a sack and posting a 43.5 PFF pass-protection grade to go along with a 52.6 mark in the ground game. It’s time for the head coach to put aside his allegiance and give someone else a try at left guard.
Additionally, Kubiak showed more signs of being a rookie head coach on Sunday. After scoring a touchdown to cut the Rams’ lead to 16 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, he opted for the two-point conversion instead of making it a 15-point game. That forced the Raiders to go for it again after scoring on the next possession, only for the try to fail again and allow Los Angeles to maintain a two-possession lead.
Using the kicker both times would have made it an eight-point lead with over 13 minutes left on the clock, and failing on two fourth downs in field goal range during both of the team’s third-quarter possessions looms large. The latter brings up another point: the offense is struggling mightily in the red zone, which the offensive play-caller contributes to.
Again, these are the results of a first-time head coach, and Kubiak can get better with more experience. But that starts with pointing out and adjusting to the mistakes.
LOSER: Kirk Cousins
While Cousins has certainly had more good games than bad ones, Sunday was arguably his worst performance of the year. Dropping back for 48 passes and airing the ball out down 28-6 to begin the second half led to a prettier box score, but the book is out on the 38-year-old. Per PFF, the Rams blitzed on 27.1 percent of his dropbacks, resulting in a 46.2 completion percentage (6/13), as his lack of arm strength and mobility really show up when under pressure.
But the biggest reason Cousins lands in this week’s losers column is that the calls for Fernando Mendoza to take over are only getting louder. Again, the veteran quarterback isn’t playing poorly this season by any means. But the Raiders are no longer winning with him behind center, and that should start to shift the focus to the future for the rest of the 2026 season.
LOSER: Tommy Eichenberg
According to Sumer Sports, the Rams were in 13 personnel for 50 percent of their offensive snaps on Sunday, over 41 percent higher than the league average. That led to a season-low 29 snaps for nickelback Taron Johnson and a season-high 43 snaps for Eichenberg, as Rob Leonard countered Sean McVay’s strategy with more base personnel to help stop the run.
Seeing as Los Angeles racked up over 200 rushing yards and 5.8 yards per carry before Matthew Stafford’s three kneel-downs, Leonard’s strategy didn’t work. The linebacker was part of the problem, posting a season-low 48.4 PFF run defense grade on 30 snaps as a run defender. That’s a big lost opportunity since Eichenberg got his number called and failed to rise to the occasion.
