.png)
Raiders off to 3-0 start after wild final 18-plus minutes in Superdome
Nineteen unanswered points in the final 18-plus minutes of regulation catapulted Las Vegas to its first 3-0 start since 2021.
The Raiders kept pace at the top of the AFC West in the first month of the season with a 35-27 win over the New Orleans Saints Sunday, Sept. 27 from the Caesars Superdome. That marked the second straight road win for the franchise under first-year head coach Klint Kubiak.
With the perfect start, Kubiak is the third head coach in franchise history to start his tenure 3-0 alongside Bill Callahan in 2002 and John Madden in 1969.
”Just want to give a big shout out to our defense,” Kubiak said. “Four turnovers in the second half and that was the catalyst of the game so I’m proud of them and all the guys fighting to the end.”
Looking to get back to allowing nearly 14 points per game as it did through the first two weeks of the season, Las Vegas will return home to take on Kansas City Sunday, Oct. 4 from Allegiant Stadium with kickoff set for 1:25 p.m.
With both teams sitting at 3-0 on the year, the game will be for first place in the division.
“It’s a 17-game season,” Kubiak said. “So we can’t be happy or satisfied with this win. We put ourselves in a good position [and] we know what’s coming to our place next week in the Chiefs. So we’re just taking it one game at a time, that’s how you win games: You don’t look too far ahead, you don’t look behind, you just keep your eyes on the prize and get better everyday.”
In this most recent win, the Raiders’ 19-0 close to the game came largely as a result of the four fourth quarter turnovers committed by the home team.
Defensive end Malcolm Koonce opened the quarter with a sack of quarterback Tyler Shough, forcing a fumble that fellow defensive end Maxx Crosby would scoop up. Koonce now has two and a half sacks and two forced fumbles in the last two weeks.
“It’s a four quarter game,” Kubiak said. “You just keep playing and our guys kept playing.”
Rookie defensive back Hezekiah Masses hauled in his third interception in the last two weeks on New Orleans' next possession. He is now tied for the league lead in that department.
After logging a fumble recovery coupled with a 43-yard return on the back end, safety Jeremy Chinn tallied a forced fumble on a sack in this one. Defensive back Taron Johnson recorded the fumble recovery.
Las Vegas’ final forced turnover of the game came with about a minute left in regulation when linebacker Nakobe Dean recorded his second forced fumble of the year. In the win, he logged 12 tackles, a tackle for loss, a pass deflection and that forced fumble.
“It just starts with the leadership of that position,” Kubiak said. “You’ve got to be able to get everybody on the same page and he’s producing on top of it. He’s a heartbeat of our defense, we’re counting on him every week and the other guys thrive off of his maturity No. 1 and his play style No. 2.”
Defensive back Eric Stokes recovered that forced fumble by Dean after forcing a fumble himself last week. As a team, the Raiders have forced 10 fumbles over the last two weeks. Last season’s Raider team had 10 forced fumbles all year long.
“That’s the great job by our players,” Kubiak said. “That’s what they’ve been doing since April, they believe in each other and they’re a tight group. It wasn’t pretty but they found a way to win and that’s what it takes every week in this league.”
Already having entered the game tied for first place in the NFL with six touchdown passes on the year, quarterback Kirk Cousins launched three more touchdowns for a third straight week.
Cousins and the rest of the offense was bolstered by the return of tight end Brock Bowers to the lineup as he made his season debut.
“Brock’s always been a guy we count on,” Kubiak said. “But to see him come off an injury and play the way he did was very, very impressive and we needed it.”
Bowers made his presence felt immediately with three receptions for 37 yards on the team’s first drive on his way to 42 yards on four catches in the first quarter. By halftime, he had seven catches on eight targets for 87 yards.
In the fourth quarter, Bowers scored Las Vegas’ final touchdown of the game en route to a game-high 116 yards and a touchdown on a game-high 10 receptions.
Fellow tight end Michael Mayer also scored a touchdown in the win as Cousins threw for 248 yards and three touchdowns on 22-for-33 through the air.
“[Cousins has] been leading this way since April,” Kubiak said. “I’m not surprised with what he’s doing and he’s leaning on his teammates. He’s a leader on our team, again it’s three games into the year, we’re not taking anybody’s flowers. It’s a one-game season from here on out every week.”
The Raiders didn’t punt for the first time until after halftime. On that ensuing Saints’ drive, the home team would take its first lead since early in the second quarter.
Entering Week 3, Las Vegas had trailed for just five minutes and 56 seconds on the season.
Now trailing on the scoreboard, running back Dylan Laube fumbled the kick return allowing New Orleans’ offense to take over at his team’s 32-yard line to which it would cash in with another touchdown as it went up by 11 points.
As part of the comeback effort, rookie running back Mike Washington Jr. broke a 36-yard touchdown run on the next Raiders possession to begin the journey back.
Starting running back Ashton Jeanty posted 56 yards on 19 carries in the win.
Comments