It was a big win in the Big Easy for the Las Vegas Raiders, as they took down a talented and emerging New Orleans Saints team on the road by a score of 35-27. The Silver and Black are 3-0 to begin the Klint Kubiak era, and while this team hasn't reached near its peak, it's hard to be too upset thus far.
Las Vegas has already proven that it can win in a variety of ways, and the defense has a penchant for stepping up exactly when it needs to. Call that good fortune if you'd like, but this Raiders team finally appears to be the real deal three games into the 2026 NFL season. They are at least competent.
And a competent team that hasn't lost yet always has more positives than negatives to focus on, especially after another victory. So, here are seven major positives that came from Sunday's win, as well as three fairly obvious negatives.
Positives and negatives from Las Vegas Raiders' Week 3 win over New Orleans Saints
Positives
Brock Bowers
The return of Bowers was a huge boon to the Raiders' offense, just as everyone expected. But it was so exciting to see this come to life and to see how Bowers was utilized. In pretty much a pure wide receiver role, Bowers caught a massive 10 passes for 119 yards and a game-clinching touchdown.
Bowers completely changed the style and approach of the offense, too, as he was able to dominate in the short and intermediate areas of the field, where Las Vegas had been lacking production. This is an all-world talent that teams simply can't guard, and Sunday was a glaring reminder of that.
Nakobe Dean
Dean was everywhere for the Raiders' defense, logging a game-high 12 tackles, including 11 solo, a tackle for loss, a pass deflection and two forced fumbles, one of which helped cinch the game. He is a heat-seeking missile and the heart and engine of this unit. Dean is worth more than he was paid.
Malcolm Koonce
Koonce appears to be back, as he strung together his second consecutive strong performance. He was slow to get going but brought it when he needed to, totaling three tackles, a clutch strip sack in the fourth quarter and a quarterback hit. With him ballin' like this, the pass rush is in good hands.
Mike Washington Jr.
Washington Jr. continues to be just a small part of the running back rotation, but he took advantage of his opportunities on Sunday. His 36-yard touchdown jaunt was game-changing and the clear highlight, but Washington Jr. totaled 54 yards on five carries, good for 10.8 yards per attempt.
He deserves more reps...
Rob Leonard's defense
Giving up 27 points isn't ideal, but in the context of the Raiders fumbling the ball deep in their own territory on a kick return, it looks a little better. And once again, they came through when called upon, getting takeaways on each of the last four possessions. This unit is doing what it needs to do.
Kirk Cousins
Cousins made his share of mistakes and bad throws, but for the third straight contest, he had three touchdown passes to accompany a good completion percentage and a solid amount of yards in the air. Cousins is operating the offense well and contributing to wins, so he's a major positive.
Klint Kubiak
This team is resilient, makes good adjustments and wins in a variety of ways. All of that is a testament to good coaching. And after proving that they can play with a lead in the first two weeks, the Raiders proved in Week 3 that they can come from behind as well. Kubiak has this team humming at 3-0.
Negatives
Isaiah Pola-Mao
No surprise here. Pola-Mao gave up three touchdowns in coverage and missed a bad tackle that launched the Saints down the field. Raider Nation knew that things wouldn't look as good without Treydan Stukes in the lineup, but perhaps we underestimated how bad it would be with Pola-Mao in.
Spencer Burford
Burford is quietly the weakest link on the offensive line. He did spring Washington Jr.'s big touchdown run, but he was a disaster in pass pro again, giving up five total pressures, including one quarterback hit. He needs to clean things up, or else Las Vegas will have to consider replacing him.
Eric Stokes
Stokes did not bring his "A" game. He gave up a touchdown catch and three other grabs for a total of 40 yards, 39 of which came after the catch. Not to mention, Stokes had no clue that Tyler Shough was running on his big scramble, as he kept his head turned in coverage and gave up a big gain.
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