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Daniels-less Commanders trounce Raiders as Las Vegas falls under .500
- Terrel Emerson
- Sep 21
- 3 min read
For the second time in the first three weeks of the season, the Las Vegas Raiders fell victim to a loss but this time it happened in a big way.
Las Vegas was dominated by a Jayden Daniels-less Washington team, 41-24, Sunday, Sept. 21 from Northwest Stadium in a Week 3 matchup. It was the team’s second road game through the first three games of the season.
“No way, [I didn’t see this coming],” head coach Pete Carroll said. “If I had known that, I would’ve done something.”
With a 1-2 record, the Raiders will now return home to Allegiant Stadium for a Sunday, Sept. 28 matchup against the Chicago Bears. Kickoff is set for 1:25 p.m.
Two of the next three games will take place in the desert as Carroll and company look to right the ship.
“Nothing’s going sideways,” quarterback Geno Smith said. “It’s Week 3 in the NFL, we have a long season ahead of us. It’s never easy to lose a game, you want to win all of them but that’s not the reality.”
While the final score ended up very one-sided, the game was tied at 10 apiece before things went south for Las Vegas. From that point, Washington scored 24 straight points to go up 34-10 heading into the fourth quarter.
That run began with a 60-yard rushing touchdown with running back Jeremy McNichols bouncing off of would-be tacklers. In total, the Raiders gave up more than 200 total rushing yards with an average of more than six yards in the loss.
To make matters worse, the Commanders would get the ball back with 36 seconds left in the first half and would bang home a field goal to take a 10-point lead into halftime. That drive was aided by a facemask penalty by defensive end Malcolm Koonce.
Special teams even had its fair share of troubles in the kick and punt return game.
In the third quarter, Washington raced past the special teams coverage for a punt return touchdown to go up 17 points. Prior to that, the Commanders opened the game with a 69-yard kick return to start the game’s opening drive at the Las Vegas 27-yard line.
That opening drive was capped with a touchdown run by former Raider quarterback Marcus Mariota, who got the start in place of the injured Daniels. He went 15-for-21 with 207 yards and two total touchdowns.
“Huge plays,” Carroll said. “That’s just not the football that we play. That’s why I’m saying we have to be better because it starts with that. If you give up big plays, you’re no good and we were no good today.”
Smith threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns on 19-for-29 through the air. All three of his touchdowns went to receiver Tre Tucker, who had a career day in more than one way.
Tucker hauled in eight catches on nine targets for 145 yards and three touchdowns, all of which were career-highs.
“There’s a lot that we can build on,” Smith said. “But the game’s about winning and that’s all. There’s no moral victories, there’s nothing that I can say that I feel good about because we lost the game.”
Two of Tucker’s touchdowns came in the fourth quarter with the second cutting the deficit to just 10 points with 3:42 left in regulation. On the ensuing Washington drive, Mariota found receiver Luke McCaffrey for 43 yards on a 3rd and 6.
“We just didn’t do enough in any phase of the game,” Smith said. “I felt like we gave them too much, we were tied up early on and there was a chance for us to really take control of the game. Then I felt like we let it get away from us.”
Rookie running back Ashton Jeanty carried the ball 17 times for a total of 63 yards. He now has a combined total of 144 yards on 47 carries through his first three career games in the NFL.
“It’s not college,” Smith said. “That’s the reality. It’s a big boy league and it’s going to be tough every week. There’s [are] no cupcakes, there’s no lollipops. It’s big boy football week-in and week-out.
“We’ve got to help him, all around him. We’ve got to be better so he can go out there and he can show what he can do because he can do it.”
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