The Las Vegas Raiders entered Week 4 with a chance to take command of the AFC West, but fell three points short, squandering the opportunity with the 30-27 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The difference came down to the trenches, as both teams ran the ball 26 times, but the Chiefs turned that into 189 rushing yards (7.3 ypc) and the Raiders managed just 72 yards on the ground (2.8 ypc). That’s a big point of emphasis in this week’s winners and losers.
LOSER: Klint Kubiak
Kubiak drew plenty of praise for starting his career
3-0, but the other end of that is that he has to shoulder the blame when his team loses. Also, while it can be debatable whether or not the decision to take the field goal off the board was the right decision, the NFL is a results business at the end of the day and Kubiak’s call didn’t work out.
To the coach’s credit, he took accountability for the loss after the game and admitted that he “blew it” on the final drive. There’s still plenty of reason to believe in the first-time head coach. One loss doesn’t erase how the Raiders have already exceeded expectations with a hot start to the season. However, Kubiak certainly has to figure out the offense’s running game woes since his unit hasn’t had success on the ground since Week 1.
LOSER: Kolton Miller
While Miller has been a steadying presence on Las Vegas’ offensive line for several years, including the beginning of the 2026 campaign, he was anything but that on Sunday. According to Pro Football Focus, the nine-year veteran had only given up five pressures in the first three games combined but more than doubled his season total by giving up six to the Chiefs.
Miller struggled to handle George Karlaftis’ power in the passing game, and he had issues in the running game, getting beaten several times to log a 51.2 run-blocking grade from PFF. Again, the Raiders’ left tackle and longest-tenured offensive lineman has been playing well for most of the season. But he certainly wasn’t at his best in Week 4.
LOSER: Caleb Rogers
To be fair, lining up against Chris Jones in your first start of the season isn’t an easy task. However, the Raiders needed Rogers to provide more resistance than giving up five pressures and an ugly 7.6 PFF pass-blocking grade. On top of that, this was an opportunity for the second-year pro to establish himself as a regular starter moving forward with Jackson Powers-Johnson out of the lineup. But Rogers didn’t rise to the occasion, likely giving Powers-Johnson his spot back if he can return from injury next week.
WINNER: Michael Mayer
If you’re looking for silver linings from the Silver and Black’s tough loss, Kubiak’s ability to use the team’s tight ends is one of them. Fighting an illness, Brock Bowers did his thing by being the team’s leading receiver with six catches for 86 yards and a touchdown, while Kubiak had a great play design for Ian Thomas to score a 27-yard touchdown.
On top of that, Mayer had one of the best games of his career, hauling in eight passes for 82 yards. Both of those figures are the second-most he’s had in a single game. The fourth-year pro did exactly what is expected of him in the Raiders’ passing attack: serve as a check-down option by getting yards after the catch and moving the chains (37 YAC and five first downs, per PFF), in addition to making contested catches (three-for-three on such targets).
That’s the type of performance the Raiders have been looking for since giving Mayer a contract extension right before the season.
LOSER: Rob Leonard
Of course, the defensive front seven shoulders some of the blame for Kenneth Walker collecting 177 rushing yards and 8.0 yards per carry, but so does the defensive play caller. Also, Leonard got burned when trying to dial up the heat on Patrick Mahomes, as three Cover 0 calls resulted in the Chiefs adding over 50% win probability, according to former director of analytics Ryan Paganetti on X/Twitter.
Additionally, Mahomes was seven-of-11 for 120 yards with one “big time throw” and no “turnover-worthy plays” when the Raiders blitzed on Sunday, per PFF, and Vegas’ fourth-quarter defensive magic ran out. The Chiefs scored 20 of their 30 points in the final frame and weren’t forced into any turnovers throughout the game. Leonard did a great job of creating havoc in the first three weeks of the year, but not so much against Kansas City.
WINNER: Kirk Cousins
Cousins certainly isn’t to blame for the loss, throwing for a season-high 365 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns. Granted, 52 attempts definitely helps with that. But the quarterback has been playing pretty well over the last three weeks. He’s tied with Brock Purdy for the most passing touchdowns in the NFL (11) so far this season, and has posted a solid 71.8 PFF passing grade.
There’s no need for the Raiders to put Fernando Mendoza on the field right now because Cousins is playing well enough to keep the team in the playoff conversation through the first quarter of the season.
LOSER: Kwity Paye
After a solid performance in the season opener, Paye has been pretty quiet. He had six tackles, two TFLs, two sacks and four quarterback hits against the Miami Dolphins, but has five, zero, zero and one in the three games combined since then. Paye’s outing on Sunday was especially underwhelming, failing to show up on the box score while also recording zero pressures on 18 pass rushes, a missed tackle and a 43.8 run defense grade, per PFF.
That’s not what the organization had in mind when it signed the free agent to a three-year, $48 million contract in the offseason.
LOSER: Mike Washington Jr.
Kubiak mentioned that Washington had earned more touches with his play during the first three games of the season, and the rookie received the most carries he’s had with nine against the Chiefs. However, that resulted in the second-lowest rushing yards (18) and worst yards per carry (2.0) of his young career. On top of that, Washington struggled in the passing game with one drop on two targets and was beaten for a pressure in pass protection.
The Raiders may have issues in the running game, but it’s pretty clear who their top back is right now.
