The stakes couldn’t be higher for an early-season game than they are in the Week 4 contest between the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs. First place in the AFC West is on the line, with both teams entering the battle undefeated at 3-0. That adds some importance to the three key matchups below.
Chinn vs. Kelce
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is a future Hall of Famer who famously had seven consecutive 1,000-yard seasons from 2016 to 2022. However, Kelce failed to reach that mark during the next three years.
The statistical regression and his age made it seem like retirement was on the table, where the Ohio native would just enjoy life with a celebrity wife and wait to get his gold jacket in Canton. But that hasn’t been the case.
The soon-to-be 37-year-old returned to Kansas City’s sideline for another year and has seemingly found the Fountain of Youth through the first three games of the 2026 campaign. He’s hauled in 14 catches for 231 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 77.0 yards per game, just 1.7 yards fewer than his 2022 rate that resulted in over 1,300 yards and a first-team All-Pro bid.
On top of that, Kelce is moving much more like his old self. According to Next Gen Stats, his average route speed is the highest it has been in four years (h/t Yahoo! Sports’ Nate Tice on X/Twitter). Meanwhile, the Raiders’ defense is coming off a game where they allowed 12 catches, 86 yards and four touchdowns to New Orleans Saints tight ends Juwan Johnson and Noah Fant.
Part of the reason for that is rookie free safety Treydan Stukes missed last week with a concussion, and Stukes’ replacement, Isaiah Pola-Mao, was the unit’s primary issue in coverage. Head coach Klint Kubiak confirmed that the rookie will be back this Sunday, which should keep Pola-Mao sidelined and allow strong safety Jeremy Chinn to play in the box more, where he projects to draw plenty of matchups with Kelce.
Chinn is known for what he brings as a run defender, but the 6-foot-3, 220-pound safety who posted a perfect Relative Athletic Score (10 out of 10) as a draft prospect is physically the best option the Raiders have to match up against Kelce.
While Chinn has below-average ball skills and production, allowing five catches on five targets so far in 2026, he can be effective at limiting the damage. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s only allowed 53 yards over three games, is giving up a reception once every 22.6 coverage snaps, and has 10 tackles with two ‘defensive stops’ in coverage.
Also, PFF has Chinn giving up just two grabs for 19 yards and one first down against tight ends specifically so far this season. Granted, he hasn’t faced a player of Kelce’s caliber yet, and he had a tough time against Kansas City’s passing attack last year, giving up five catches for 45 yards and a touchdown in the only game he played against the Chiefs.
To be fair, Noah Gray did more damage against Chinn than Kelce did. But expect Andy Reid to test the safety with his best pass-catcher early and often this time around.
Raiders’ LBs vs. Walker
Week 4 will be Kenneth Walker III’s introduction to the Raiders-Chiefs rivalry after signing with Kansas City during free agency this past spring. Seeing as he’s currently the NFL’s leading rusher with 360 yards on the ground, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more impactful offseason addition in the early stages of the campaign.
A big reason why Walker has gotten off to a hot start with the Chiefs is that he also has the most yards after contact (303) in the league, and leads running backs with at least 15 carries in yards after contact per attempt (4.66), according to PFF. Additionally, the former Seattle Seahawk has forced the most missed tackles at the position with 34, 12 more than anyone else.
To make matters even more complicated for the Silver and Black, Walker has been a productive receiver out of the backfield, collecting 11 catches for 82 yards and two touchdowns through three games. Those figures rank tied for sixth, eighth and tied for first, respectively, at his position.
But the Raiders have a decent counter when it comes to this matchup and impactful free-agent signings, as linebackers Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker have been strong to begin the year.
Those two enter the contest with Top-20 PFF run defense grades, with Walker ranking tied for ninth at 76.0 and Dean coming in at 17th with a 71.4 mark. Additionally, the latter is tied for 10th with seven defensive stops against the run at a fairly high rate (10.1%), which is 18th-best.
Dean has also made several impactful plays by forcing a fumble in every game so far. However, he has had some tackling issues with six misses (tied for the second-most at his position) and a 17.6% miss rate (11th-highest), per PFF. That needs to get cleaned up moving forward, but five out of six have come in coverage, and this is where Walker can step in.
The other former Georgia Bulldog’s contributions have gotten somewhat overshadowed by his running mates’. But make no mistake about it, his presence has been felt on Vegas’ defense. Walker is second on the team with 24 tackles, only three behind Dean, and he’s only been charged with one miss so far. Also, he’s yielded just 43 yards in coverage and has yet to give up 20 yards in a single game.
Given every player in the equation’s skill sets, this could be a situation where Dean’s primary focus is to stop the Chiefs’ running back in the ground game while Walker draws him in coverage. In other words, both backers have to be on their games and fill their roles.
Also, it wouldn’t be surprising to see defensive coordinator Rob Leonard try to take advantage of Walker’s unique size and athleticism (6-foot-4, 241 pounds and a 9.63 RAS) to help slow down Kelce.
Raiders’ IOL vs. Jones/Bolton
Technically, a couple of matchups are getting lumped into one here. The reason for that is one has to do with Las Vegas’ passing game and the other is centered on the rushing attack, while both involve the interior offensive line.
Like Kelce, Raider Nation knows all too well about Chris Jones, as the defensive tackle has tormented the Silver and Black for about a decade. Jones has 13.5sacks in 10 career games against the Raiders and has consistently been a pest for the club over the years. Granted, the 32-year-old has shown signs of slowing down in recent seasons and has had a slow start so far this fall.
He’s yet to get to the quarterback and only has eight pressures on 81 pass-rush snaps, while ranking just 22nd among defensive tackles with a 12.2 win percentage, per PFF. To be fair, the pressures and win rate aren’t bad numbers by any means, but it’s certainly not the standard we’ve become accustomed to from Jones. Also, he’s been battling a calf injury, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get up for a game of this magnitude.
On the other side of the trenches, free-agent signing and center Tyler Linderbaum has brought some stability to Vegas’ offensive line, especially in pass protection. He’s been credited with getting the entire unit on the same page, one of the position’s biggest and most important tasks, and has given up just two pressures on 101 opportunities so far. The guard spots are still dicey for the Raiders, though.
Left guard Spencer Burford has yielded 12 pressures, which is tied for the most among guards with Houston Texans rookie Keylan Rutledge, who has had 33 more opportunities to give up a pressure than Burford has.
Right guard Jackson Powers-Johnson has been a little better with seven pressures allowed. However, he left last week’s game with a groin injury and is questionable for Sunday at the time of writing. Second-year pro Caleb Rogers is the next man up and has pass-blocked exactly one time this season. It was a good rep, though, as he didn’t get beaten!
In the running game, linebacker Nick Bolton has built a reputation as one of the better two-down defenders in the league. This season has been no different, as he ranks 18th in PFF run defense grade (70.5) and is tied for fourth among second-level defenders with eight defensive stops against the run.
Meanwhile, Vegas has struggled to run the ball over the past two weeks. Powers-Johnson has been the biggest issue with an ugly 41.6 mark in that department, while Linderbaum and Burford have been more reliable. Granted, the latter two aren’t fairing particularly well in PFF’s grading system, with grades that are slightly below the baseline (60.0): 58.9 and 54.7, respectively. For what it’s worth, Rogers was at 74.9 on four run-blocking snaps last week.
Long story short, the Raiders’ interior offensive line will be significantly tested by the Chiefs’ combination of Jones and Bolton.
