How easy would it have been for the Silver & Black to wilt after the opposition not only scored a touchdown to take the lead, but recovered the fumble on the ensuing kick off, and two plays later, made another end zone visit.
But Klint Kubiak, his coaching staff, and players apparently don’t like to do things “easy”.
For the third straight game on the young 2026 season, Kubiak’s Las Vegas Raiders stared down adversity in the face, smirked, got the job done. This time, it was on the road against the New
Orleans Saints, and instead of succumbing to quick-sand situations the Raiders were well-accustomed to do in year’s past, Las Vegas answered the ball, rose to the occasion, and earned an impressive 35-27 victory.
Once more we saw complementary Raiders football where the defense picked up the offense and vice versa, despite special teams gaffes. Instead of collapsing under the immense pressure — on the road against a quailty New Orleans squad, Las Vegas persevered and won.
The performances and results harken on the old adage: Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern. The first time the Raiders showcased resolve to win in the season opener against the Miami Dolphins was eyebrow raising. The second time they did it by beating the Los Angeles Chargers piqued interest. Doing it for the third time at New Orleans certainly firmly establishes a pattern.
And it harkens on this: We’re witnessing a different breed of Silver & Black with Kubiak at the helm.
After trading touchdowns in the second quarter to knot the score at 13, Las Vegas moved the ball into the red zone during a two-minute drill and hit a field goal to take a 16-13 lead into halftime. The potential double-dip was thwarted, however, as the Raiders did receive the second-half kick off only to go three-and-out.
And this began the downward spiral for the Silver & Black.
Kellen Moore’s Saints offense went on an impressive 12-play, 87-yard touchdown drive that chewed 6:50 off the clock. And with 20-16 lead in hand, New Orleans scooped up in inexplicable fumble by Las Vegas running back and kick return man Dylan Laube. Like noted above, two plays and 32 yards later, Saints quarterback Tyler Shough found tight end Noah Fant for a 16-yard touchdown, 27-16 New Orleans.
Instead of wallowing in the series of unfortunate events, however, Kubiak’s offense ran five plays culminating in rookie running back Mike Washington Jr. finding daylight and immolating New Orleans defense on a 36-yard touchdown run. Trailing just 27-22 after the two teams traded punts to close the third quarter, the Saints went on a spiral of their own.
As our Matt Holder noted shortly after the game, all four of the Saints’ possessions in the fourth quarter ended in turnovers. That great equalizer gave the Raiders ample runway for two final stanza touchdowns — a four-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Kirk Cousins to wide receiver Cody White and four-yard dime from Cousins to tight end Brock Bowers, 35-27 Las Vegas.
Let’s hit the quick slants as fast as Rob Leonard’s Raiders defense took the ball away from the Saints:
—Cousins went 22 of 33 for 248 yards with three touchdowns, no interceptions, while getting sacked three times against the Saints. The veteran quarterback has thrown three touchdown passes in the first trio of games validating Kubiak’s decision to roll with the 38-year-old signal caller over No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza.
—“Brock-tober Fest” arrived early as Bowers’ had an outstanding season debut with 10 catches for 116 yards and one touchdown. The tight end lined up all over the formation from traditional in-line and split tight end and even in the slot and perimeter that’s normally reserved for a wide receiver.
—Raiders starting running back Ashton Jeanty carried the rock 19 times for 56 yards and a paltry 2.9 yards per carry average. One has to wonder if his ankle is 100 percent but Washington provided juice of his own with five carries for 54 yards including the scintillating touchdown.
—Linebacker Nakobe Dean is proving the Raiders wise for giving him a big-money deal in free agency as the veteran paced the team with 12 total tackles, a stop for loss, and a forced fumble to slam the door on the Saints collective faces. This after he forced a key fumble to help Las Vegas win last week.
—Leonard’s defense forced four turnovers from the Saints. A trio were forced fumbles — two on sacks; one from defensive end Malcolm Koonce and the other from strong safety Jeremy Chinn — and the other an interception by rookie cornerback Hezekiah Masses (his third pick on the young season).
—Getting rookie safety Treydan Stukes back in the Raiders secondary can’t happen soon enough. Inactive due to a concussion sustained in Week 2, veteran Isaiah Pola-Mao got the start and the Saints picked on him frequently as he was charted giving up three of Shough’s four touchdown passes.
Quotes of Note
“When I hit him, I saw the ball come up. I thought the ball was going forward so I just assumed it was a strip sack. It was very rewarding. We knew whole time (in) the second half, we knew the defense was going to have to show up.”
—Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Malcolm Koonce on his forced fumble
“We knew we had to rally back, we had to start back playing our type of football. And that’s our style of play, taking the ball away. We got a goal every week, ‘How many takeaways are we going to get?’ We had none in the first half, so we had to come back in the second half strong.”
—Las Vegas Raiders middle linebacker Nakobe Dean on defense’s mentality
Up Next
It’s a battle of AFC West unbeatens next Sunday when the Raiders (3-0) host the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs (3-0) who picked up their first road win of the season with a 24-10 victory over the Miami Dolphins this past Sunday. Powered by Patrick Mahomes efficient afternoon and running back Kenneth Walker III’s two-touchdown outing (one rushing, another receiving) the Chiefs sit atop the division alongside the Raiders. It’s an AFC West that features Kansas City and Las Vegas on top, the Denver Broncos at 2-1 and the Los Angeles Chargers at 0-3.
