When things go awry, so do the Las Vegas Raiders.
Stop me if you’ve heard that before. It’s a tale as old as time: the Raiders folding, a tendency even Marty Schottenheimer openly noted during his coaching career leading AFC West rivals the Kansas City Chiefs and the then San Diego Chargers. Like degenerate gamblers in Sin City who don’t know when to quit, Las Vegas’ penchant for wilting when things go wrong is a stigma that predates the latest incarnation of the franchise, dating to the Oakland (twice) and Los Angeles teams.
“Let Oakland beat themselves. Just stay close and the Raiders will think of something,” Schottenheimer used to boast.
So watching how the Raiders handled adversity in Week 1 mattered a great deal to me, and that and how special teams performed (for the uninitiated, I’m a bit of a special teams truther). And things certainly went sideways in Las Vegas in Klint Kubiak’s regular-season debut as the rookie head coach.
Something’s different…
But even when Kubiak’s chosen veteran starting quarterback, Kirk Cousins, misfired for two costly interceptions, and when the Raiders’ kickoff coverage unit lost its lane discipline and allowed Dolphins running back Jaylen Wright to return one 79 yards, Las Vegas held firm. There was no “woe is me” moment, no familiar “here we go again” collapse, even when it would have been easy to slip into one.
The Dolphins, led by fellow rookie head coach Jeff Hafley, did find the end zone after Cousins’ first interception to cut the Raiders’ lead to 17-13. But Kubiak answered with a five-play, 50-yard touchdown drive, set up by running back Dylan Laube’s 50-yard kickoff return, pushing Las Vegas back ahead 24-13. Two possessions later, practice-squad call-up and wide receiver Cody White chased down Wright to prevent a would-be kickoff-return touchdown, and defensive coordinator Rob Leonard, another rookie in his role, had his defense dialed in enough to force a missed field goal. The Raiders’ lead held at 27-13.
Perhaps this version of the Silver and Black won’t fold after all…
“Yeah, that’s what we expect from our guys. Head down, no, ‘Woe is me.’ Let’s go get the ball and see what we can do,” Kubiak said in his postgame news conference Sunday afternoon. “It’s easy for a game to go the other way, and I was proud of our players, how they responded and the way the coaching staff got them ready to go for the next try.”
How the Raiders build on this moment is pivotal. Even during the team’s dismal 2025 campaign, the season opened with an impressive road win over the New England Patriots in Week 1. What followed was an ugly four-game losing streak, then a 10-game winless stretch from Weeks 7 through 17. For all anyone knows, this opener could be just another aberration for a franchise defined by disappointment. That’s why turning this kind of performance into a habit matters so much, or Kubiak risks becoming one of many Silver and Black head coaches who stepped into quicksand and never got out.
Related: Knee-Jerk Reactions Following Week 1
Still, the Raiders are confident in their new head coach…
“I think it definitely does,” wide receiver Jack Bech, who caught Las Vegas’ first touchdown of the season, said when asked whether this Week 1 win felt different from last season’s. “I think just the amount of work and amount of detail that we have is something I’ve never been a part of before. Being able to build on this, come back in tomorrow, and get right back to work—it’s going to be awesome.
“We all just can’t wait to get back in there. That’s what the guys are talking about. We came in and celebrated, but everybody’s like, ‘Let’s get better, let’s get back in there tomorrow, and let’s keep getting better, and let’s just use this as a building block for the rest of the season.'”
The Raiders get their next chance to show they’re a different breed next Sunday on the road against AFC West rival the Los Angeles Chargers. The Bolts were stunned by the underdog Arizona Cardinals 26-14 this past Sunday, a loss so lopsided that head coach Jim Harbaugh said afterward he regretted not playing his starters more in the preseason, something Kubiak did more of for his own team.
Often the NFL’s darling, the Chargers are likely fuming and looking for a resounding rebound. The Raiders are plenty motivated themselves; losing tends to do that to a team, and a taste of victory is intoxicating for a franchise that’s gone thirsty for so long.
If Kubiak and company have truly changed the narrative, we’ll find out quickly when things go south in Inglewood this Sunday.
*Top Photo: Ramble Illustration/Getty Images