The Las Vegas Raiders were one of the surprises of the 2026 season, starting the year 3-0. The team’s first loss was even impressive, as Vegas dropped a close game to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4. With the Raiders sitting at 3-1 after going toe-to-toe with the Chiefs, the NFL world was starting to take them seriously.
Unfortunately, the masquerade may be over. Las Vegas was dominated by the New England Patriots in Week 5, losing 45-17. All teams will eventually have an off day, but there’s a valid fear for the Raiders, because of their past. Las Vegas didn’t look like the new and improved team it had been in the first four weeks of the season; it looked like the abysmal team it has been in recent years.
Because of that, there’s a reasonable fear that Las Vegas might be reverting back to a terrible team.
Raiders must quickly shake off embarrassing loss to Patriots to restore confidence
No team like Las Vegas, that’s trying to transform itself into a serious organization, wants to hear the words: the Raiders look like the same old Raiders. Unfortunately, Las Vegas’ performance on Sunday gave people ammunition to say those exact words.
The Raiders played an embarrassing game from start to finish, on both sides of the ball. Defensively, there were blown coverages, defensive backs getting toasted deep, and the defensive front couldn’t stop he run. The Patriots had 536 total yards of offense, 371 passing and 165 rushing, and scored 45 points.
Offensively, it was just the Brock Bowers show, as his eight receptions for 110 yards and one touchdown was the only real positive of the day. Las Vegas couldn’t run the ball or sustain drives, so they were quickly left behind by a Patriots offense that was having its way.
In fairness to the Raiders, they do have a first-year head coach in Klint Kubiak, and are navigating several other significant changes, so there will naturally be growing pains. Games like Sunday are a part of the process of going from bad to good; it’s not always a linear path without setbacks.
However, considering how good Las Vegas looked in the first four weeks of this season, fans had quickly gotten accustomed to a new brand of Raiders football. Sunday was a display of a brand of football that Raiders fans are unfortunately familiar with, but are trying to forget. Anytime that brand rears its head, there will be a fear that it’s hear to stick around for a while.
Las Vegas must prove that’s not the case this time, and that Sunday was simply just a bad outing. The Raiders’ next opportunity to prove that will be in Week 6, against a tough 4-1 Buffalo Bills team. With how the Bills are playing, things will either get ugly for the Raiders, or they will once again be demanding respect.
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