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SANTA CLARA, CA — The Las Vegas Raiders fell to 4-5 on the season following a 38-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers (7-1) at Levi's Stadium on Sunday. The story wasn't just that the rebuilding Raiders lost; it was that an overmatched Raiders team competed but ultimately succumbed due to poor play by veterans.
In his weekly winners and losers column, the analyst provides a broad overview of the game before diving into film review. The focus quickly shifted to defensive struggles, particularly against the run. When asked why his team couldn't stop the run, defensive coordinator Klint Kubiak deflected blame, stating, "We all share the blame. There's no finger-pointing, it's thumb-pointing. So, we'll figure it out together." However, the Raiders have allowed 150-plus rushing yards in five of the last six weeks and have given up 30-plus points in six consecutive games. Kubiak added that they will review the film and make decisions with cooler heads.
Superstar defensive end Maxx Crosby, who consistently performs at a high level, was asked point-blank whether the issues are schematic or personnel-related. His answer, while potentially sounding political, was truthful: "There are multiple things. There are a lot of things up front. You have to be tied together at the back end and linebackers do as well. It's communication, it's leveraging the formation, several things that tie into stopping the run. It's not just one player. It has to be all 11, all hands on deck. It's something we're going to have to continue improving on, and I think we will."
Slow Defensive Starts
The Raiders defense made critical halftime adjustments, but Crosby explained why his unit struggles early in big games: "Going into every game, it's different. You have to give credit to them. They had some answers to the things we're doing. And we got to make more plays defensively. We have to take the ball away. We can't wait until late in the game to start taking the ball away. There are a lot of things that go into it, but you have to give them their credit. The Niners play really well. They're a really good team. They've been in great adversity often, and have been in multiple Super Bowls, and they know what it looks like. So, you can't give them layups and things like that, or it's going to be really difficult. We believe in each other, I know this locker room does. Some of the turnovers, I know guys had zero intention of having that happen, but it's how you respond. I'll go to war with these guys every single day of the week. That's what we're going to keep doing."
Rookie cornerback Hezekiah Masses and safety Treydan Stukes are the only rookie defensive back duo in the NFL this year with multiple interceptions. Kubiak praised Stukes' performance on Sunday: "Yeah, absolutely. He's been a bright spot throughout the season. Very instinctive playmaker, hard worker. Proud that we have him on our roster." Stukes, however, deflected credit and took blame: "It was good communication all around. I got some pre-snap communication with the other players and that's what helped me be able to be in front of the play and have a chance on that one. We have to find a way to do that more often, get our offense more chances so we can win these games."
Win the Ones You're Supposed To
Credit the Raiders; in the midst of their rebuild, they are beating the teams they should, a sign of progress. In their five losses, three have been blowouts against superior teams. Kubiak was direct about what it takes to win these games: "You got to start the game a lot faster. You got to go toe-to-toe in the first half so that the second half isn't a throwing fest."
Looking ahead, the NFL trade deadline is Tuesday at 1 PM PT, and the Raiders are under scrutiny. Kubiak was asked about potential moves: "We're always talking about that with Spy [General Manager John Spytek] and looking at everything." He added that every day the calculus changes with new information. Quarterback Kirk Cousins, having an amazing year despite a bad day on Sunday, has been mentioned as a trade target, especially with the 2026 NFL Draft's top QB prospect, Fernando Mendoza, waiting. Cousins commented, "It feels a little bit out of my hands. So, I'll just let decision makers make decisions and react accordingly, but love it here. Love the guys here and feel good about what we have here."
At 4-5, the Raiders are overachieving relative to preseason predictions, but no one sane thought this was a Super Bowl team. They remain in the hunt, though not for a Super Bowl. Kubiak addressed his roster: "At this time of year, we're focused on winning games. I really like our team. I don't like losing games like this. We've got to have a lot more resilience when you're playing a really good team like we played today. When you start that slow, you don't put yourself in a good position, but I'm proud to coach the guys that we're coaching."
Self-Inflicted Wounds
The Raiders lost due to veterans' self-inflicted wounds. Crosby didn't make excuses: "I think anytime you lose a game like that, regardless of turnovers or not, there are things to clean up schematically and with ball security. So, I'm sure we've got to clean up a lot of things." Cousins addressed the wounds head-on: "I think it's just a little more painful, certainly when you come away and you feel like maybe you could have been in that game had you played to the standard you expect of yourself or of your group, and I think that's the hard part." Tight end Michael Mayer, who has matured as a player and leader, was guilty of some of those wounds and didn't dodge responsibility: "We have to score, that's our livelihood right there. We have to get in the dang end zone, and I have to protect the football. That football is my entire life. So, for me to fumble like that, that close to the end zone, is totally unacceptable. I have to go back to work and work on it."
Crosby laid it out plainly: this team is close, better, and must keep fighting. "We just have to play better complementary football. It feels like when we have good stretches of defense, we struggle on the other end. And when we're struggling, the offense is playing well. We have to play better as a unit. There are a lot of things that we need to improve on. We have to take care of the ball. We have to take the ball away. It's not like our intentions are 100% right. We're working on everything." He sees the seeds planted and germinating: "We're working together, and it just hasn't gone our way, and it hasn't been our best. We have to continue executing at a higher level if we want to truly be in playoff contention. We're right in it. We're in the thick of it. It's a really good team, and you can't give the ball away. You can't start the game defensively like that and expect to win. We have a lot of things to improve on, but I know this team's going to stay close-knit and looking forward to getting a lot better this week and getting ready for Seattle."
Cousins echoed the importance of complementary football: "I think it was hard today with just not playing complementary football. I thought our defense did a great job in the second half of really limiting them, and I felt like if we, as an offense, had done our part, we're right there at the end in that game. I think that's the hard part, not feeling like we're all playing our best ball at the same time to then kind of give us that chance in a game like today, but that's something to look to in the future, is just all of us playing our best ball together to then be able to come out with a win."
Mayer elaborated on the locker room's structure: "We've got a bunch of hard workers on this team. We've got gritty football players and veterans. We love to play football. We love to come to work and play football. So, we're just going to get back to work and keep practicing. I'm obviously going to focus on the ball security details. We've got a bunch of people on this team who love football and love to win, so that's not going to be a problem for this team."
One thing about this season is that these guys, from coaches to players, are on the same page. Crosby said it will stay that way; there won't be any issues, and these guys are in this together.