In a battle of what seemed to be two true AFC contenders, the Las Vegas Raiders narrowly lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4 of the 2026 NFL season. The 30-27 defeat was just as close as the score indicates, with the contest being back and forth for all 60 minutes and coming down to the wire.
What hurts most is that this was a winnable game for the Silver and Black, and with one correctable mistake going the other way, Las Vegas may be alone atop the AFC West right now and looking like a true frontrunner. But what happened happened, and the Raiders are who the Raiders are at this point.
And right now, they are a young team that is light-years ahead of where most thought they would be, which is good. But promise and exceeding expectations don't change the result in the win-loss column, as there are no moral victories in this league.
But we'll go through some silver linings anyway, so long as we also give you those crucial negatives.
Positives and negatives from Raiders' crushing loss to the Chiefs
Silver linings
1. Brock Bowers
If the referees were inclined, they probably could have called defensive holding or pass interference every time Bowers ran a route. The Kansas City secondary had no answer for him, as he collected 6 catches for 86 yards and a touchdown while battling an illness. Bowers is 1 of 1. And he's a wideout!
2. Kirk Cousins
Nobody told Cousins that he is washed, it seems. Hats off to the veteran quarterback for hanging tough in the pocket, evading pressure and throwing some real dots on Sunday. Was he perfect? Not at all. But the Raiders' signal-caller had 365 passing yards and 2 touchdowns; he was very good.
3. Michael Mayer
Mayer is TE1, and Bowers is WR1, in case anyone was still unclear. Mayer led the team in receptions in Week 4, catching 8 passes for 82 yards and making a handful of great moves after the catch to gain extra territory. His 10 targets tied a career high, and Mayer made the most of them.
4. Maxx Crosby
Crosby only got home for 0.5 sacks in the contest, and he mustered just three tackles. But he made Patrick Mahomes feel him, as Crosby had six pressures and five quarterback hits. Crosby peppered the Chiefs' offensive tackles and kept Mahomes on his toes all night.
5. Adam Butler/Tonka Hemingway DT duo
Butler quietly had a good game. He met Crosby at the quarterback for 0.5 sacks and had a handful of other nice plays against the run. Hemingway shed a block against the run and slowed down Kenneth Walker III on a play, and he also batted a pass down. The two combined for 7 tackles and 3 pressures.
Crucial negatives
1. Klint Kubiak
Kubiak is a young coach and will be just fine, but he probably wants that decision on the punt back. And although he stood by his choice to go for it early in the third quarter, he needed a better play call in that situation. Kubiak did dial up a lot of great stuff, but he critically wiped 3 points off the board.
2. Run Defense
26 carries for 189 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a 76-yard jaunt. Need I say more? This group didn't wrap up, didn't plug holes and just generally lacked juice against the run. No one person was at fault, as everyone contributed, but you can't have a massive breakdown the minute Crosby steps off.
3. Special Teams
Malik Benson fielded two punts too deep in Raiders territory, and Dylan Laube didn't field the one he should have. Dareke Young fumbled on a kickoff return. Las Vegas gave up a sizeable punt return and a fake punt conversion as well. To their credit, they made every field goal and had a big kick return.
4. Dareke Young
Young didn't provide any big plays on special teams against the Chiefs, except for his backbreaking fumble that gifted Kansas City another touchdown and an 11-point lead. Yes, he had a catch on the first possession, but giving the ball away in that scenario is the kind of thing that gets you cut.
Not saying I want that for him or the team, but it wouldn't surprise me.
5. Run Game
Whereas the Chiefs ran all over the Raiders, the Raiders could not find an inch of space. 26 carries for 72 yards is, in a word, pathetic. And everyone is to blame; the offensive line isn't paving great lanes, but Ashton Jeanty and Mike Washington Jr. aren't exactly making people miss or the OL's job easier.
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