Complementary football has been an afterthought for so many years for the Las Vegas Raiders. That is why it was so refreshing when all three phases of the game were making contributions to kick off the 2026 NFL season, and the special teams unit was a big part of that.
According to several metrics, the Silver and Black had one of, if not the best, special teams outings in the first three weeks. Between made field goals, sufficient kick and punt coverage and solid returns, Las Vegas was getting a huge boost from the game's often-forgotten third aspect.
But they had several significant slippages during the Week 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, which cost the team dearly in a close divisional battle. This was an uncharacteristically bad performance from Joe DeCamillis' group, and they simply have to get back on track next week before things spiral.
Raiders' special teams blunders cost them in Week 4 vs. Chiefs
Let's just start with the big one: the Chiefs scored a touchdown to go up 23-19 with 3:21 left in the game. The Raiders had an opportunity to drive down the field and score a touchdown to win, but Dareke Young fumbled the ensuing kickoff. Kansas City scored one play later on a 22-yard run.
All of a sudden, Las Vegas was down 11. It took a miracle for the Raiders to score a touchdown, get a two-point conversion and somehow get the ball back near midfield with a chance to tie. Young gave away the ball at a crucial point in a game that the Silver and Black could have won. It was inexcusable.
Young has been largely a good special teamer this year, but he hasn't brought any juice in the return game. And the problem on that play began before a textbook punch-out by a Kansas City defender, as Young was dancing around with nowhere to go and trying to make something out of nothing.
In that scenario, you just go down. You live to fight another play, and you give your team a chance. Considering Young was signed to be a great special-teamer, his inability to come up big is somewhat of an issue. But his blowing the game in a pivotal sequence by coughing it up is difficult to reconcile.
That wasn't the only issue with this group on Sunday, though. After Klint Kubiak had the Chiefs re-punt the ball following a bad return, Kansas City pulled a fast one and faked the punt to convert on fourth down. A look back at the Raiders' players vacating the line of scrimmage is very perplexing.
Las Vegas also gave up a big punt return to the Chiefs' Nikko Remigio, as he logged a 27-yarder, thanks to a handful of missed tackles and bad angles. Luckily, Kansas City did nothing with the good field position, but that doesn't change what the special teams unit allowed.
Lastly, the Raiders made poor decisions on punt returns. Twice (three times, if you count the one that was called back due to penalties), Malik Benson fielded a punt well inside the 10-yard line and made little ground on returns. Those should have been left to bounce into the end zone for a touchback.
Then, at the end of the game, Dylan Laube let a punt go that was downed at the 1-yard line, giving the offense 99 yards to go if they wanted a go-ahead score, and around 60 yards to even get into field-goal range for the tie. Laube had a momentum-altering kick return, but he screwed that one up.
How much of the onus is on STC Joe Decamillis?
Given how successful this unit has been to begin the year, it is difficult to be too hard on DeCamillis. Clearly, he is a good coach. But the Chiefs' special teams were supposed to be a weak link, and the fact that the Raiders got thoroughly outdone in this realm falls in large part on the coaching staff.
Of course, DeCamillis didn't fumble the ball; Dareke Young did. And he didn't miss those tackles or take poor angles, nor did he make the in-the-moment decisions about fielding punts. But when there are so many miscues, it falls back on the head of the snake.
Players leaving the line of scrimmage and turning their heads on a punt return was a bad call; that is firmly on DeCamillis. And an inability to adjust and teach Benson to let those punts go could also be construed as a coaching failure, even though we don't know what conversations were had.
The kicking game was on point, as Matt Gay nailed all four of his field goal attempts. Laube did have a huge kick return as well, and A.J. Cole's game is in tip-top shape, too. But the bad far outweighed the good in Week 4, and in a 30-27 game, every little bit mattered. This unit didn't do enough.
Or maybe it did too much.
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