Brock Bowers' return was everything that Las Vegas Raiders fans hoped for. The star tight end made the difference in the Silver and Black's tightly contested Week 3 win over the New Orleans Saints, and Klint Kubiak proved that he won't be using the All-Pro player in the same way other coaches have.
Of course, Bowers led the game in receptions (10) and receiving yards (116), and he was a fixture in money situations, like on third downs and in the red zone. Seven of his 10 catches went for a first down, and another went for a score. But Bowers being the offensive centerpiece wasn't surprising.
What was surprising, though, was just how different Kubiak's role for Bowers was than it had been in the past. Bowers always had the versatility to line up out wide and in the slot, but he is basically just a pure wide receiver now under Kubiak, and he answered the call to that change in his first game back.
Brock Bowers transformed the Raiders' offense in Week 3 win over Saints
The numbers certainly tell part of the story when trying to encapsulate Bowers' impact on the game. But if one digs a bit deeper, it becomes clear that Bowers is not only an all-world talent but also the exact missing piece that the offense had been missing in the two games without him.
Maybe he doesn't see it that way, but it's the truth.
"As you can see, they can do it without me," Bowers said on the postgame show. "But it was great to be back and flying around and being with the team."
Through the first two weeks of the season, Cousins was up-and-down throwing downfield and had an especially hard time carving out completions and yards in that intermediate area of the field. He completed just six passes in that range, which are throws of 10-19 air yards.
These are chunk plays that the Raiders' offense needs to make, but they just hadn't without Bowers, completing only seven such passes in two weeks. With Bowers back, Cousins completed six on Sunday alone... and, to no surprise, four of them went to Bowers for 64 yards.
"He's an outstanding player. Klint did a great job with the scheme, getting him opportunities," Cousins said after the contest. "I'm still learning him, I would have to say that we don't have as many banked reps as I would like. But I think I can get accustomed to a guy like that pretty quickly."
All of a sudden, Las Vegas has a go-to guy through the air that it can toss back-shoulder balls or contested throws to. It has someone who can win in the middle of the field and on the sidelines reliably, which will open up other route-runners and receivers as Bowers gets even more attention.
And to think that he had a procedure on his knee less than three weeks ago and this was his first game back after practicing in a limited capacity just twice this week is mind-boggling. Just think about how high Bowers and this offense can go once they hit their stride.
"Brock's always been a guy we count on, but to come off an injury and to play the way he did was very, very impressive, and we needed it," Kubiak told reporters following the win. "We're not surprised by that with Brock, and again, it's a whole team effort. ... I'm very proud of Brock."
But again, Kubiak didn't deploy Bowers in the way that most thought he would.
Klint Kubiak completely changed Brock Bowers' role in first game back with Raiders
No matter how you slice it, Bowers is a matchup nightmare for opposing defensive coordinators. This is a guy who is too big and physical for most defensive backs but too fast and elusive for linebackers to cover him. It takes a special player to even slow him down, and there's no chance of stopping him.
Patrick Surtain II follows him around when the Raiders play the Denver Broncos. And on Sunday, the Saints tried to do that with No. 1 corner Kool-Aid McKinstry at times, but to no avail. It didn't matter who they put on him; Bowers went to work. Part of the success was a game plan many didn't foresee.
Bowers, by all accounts, is a wide receiver. Just take a look at his alignment splits.
% of Snaps | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
Inline | 39.1 | 42.6 | 16.3 |
Slot | 43.1 | 24.8 | 33.9 |
Wide | 16.2 | 17.2 | 47.3 |
Backfield | 1.6 | 1.0 | 1.8 |
After spending the better part of his two years going back and forth between playing like a wideout and a traditional tight end, Kubiak pretty much scrapped the playbook and just lined up Bowers as a wide receiver. And it worked because he has a wide receiver skill set in a tight end's body.
Without a true No. 1 wideout on the roster, a brief glimpse at the film shows exactly how he is filling that void. And all 13 of his targets, according to ESPN's Ben Solak, came when Bowers was lined up out wide or in the slot. That is a pretty solid paradigm shift.
The scariest part for opposing fans, and the most exciting for Raider Nation?
"I still think that chemistry is building," Cousins said. "I don't think that it's something that we fully achieved in the offseason. I think you have to do it in in-game experience together."
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