The rivalry between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders goes back to the formation of the American Football League in 1960, when the Chiefs were the Dallas Texans, and the Raiders resided in Oakland. At no time in that rivalry had both teams faced each other with a record of 3-0 or better until Sunday’s game at Las Vegas’s Allegiant Stadium. An unbeaten record wasn’t entirely surprising for the Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes, but the Raiders? The team won only three games in the whole of last season, but this new Raiders team under Klint Kubiak presents all kinds of challenges for opponents.
At first, it appeared that the Raiders might go on to their first 4-0 start to a season since 2002, when they made it all the way to the Super Bowl, where they were vivisected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their former head coach, Jon Gruden. Kubiak’s team held a 13-10 halftime lead on Sunday, and Kubiak told CBS’s Tracy Wolfson at the half that his team was going to win the game.
Things looked promising the Raiders until running back Kenneth Walker’s two fourth-quarter touchdowns put the score at 30-19 in Kansas City’s favor, and as game as the Raiders were to stage a comeback, it didn’t quite happen. Kirk Cousins’ amazing 20-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brock Bowers with 1:46 left in the game, and Cousins’ successful two-point conversion to receiver Cody White, put the score at 30-27, and the Chiefs went three-and-out on their subsequent drive after an unsuccessful onside kick by the Raiders. But Chiefs punter Matt Araiza placed the ball perfectly at the Las Vegas one-yard line, and Chiefs safety Xavier Nwankpa’s interception of a Cousins pass with 10 seconds sealed the game.
The Raiders may not have won the game, but they continue to win respect they haven’t earned in years. Kubiak brought all the smarts he showed as the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive coordinator last season, and defensive coordinator Rob Leonard has a bunch of lesser-known players (as well as edge demon Maxx Crosby) playing above their projected stations. And it doesn’t hurt that Cousins, at the age of 38, is playing some of the best football of his career.
As for the 4-0 Chiefs, they are officially back to the top of the NFL after a disastrous 6-11 2025 season. Everybody who picked other teams to make the Super Bowl (and that includes just about everybody) may want to check those opinions at the door. Mahomes isn’t the force who blew away opponents at his peak, but he has been careful with the ball this season. He only has two interceptions to go alongside his seven touchdown passes, and is still unflappable on third downs. Two of his main targets were injured in Sunday’s game – Rashee Rice left with a hamstring issue and Tyquan Thornton was carted off after suffering a dislocated ankle – but the offense has been boosted by the arrival of Walker, who has rushed for 173 yards, 117 yards, 70 yards and 177 yards in his first four games since arriving in Kansas City from the Seattle Seahawks. And that’s before we get to the now routine brilliance of Steve Spagnuolo’s defensive schemes.
The Week 18 rematch between these two teams may be for a lot more than just AFC West bragging rights.
MVP of the week
CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys. Lamb’s work against the Houston Texans in Dallas’s 34-30 win may have been his single-game masterpiece. Lamb saw 21 targets, catching 17 passes for 189 yards and the game-winning touchdown with 40 seconds left. The 21 targets in a game is tied for fifth-most since records began, and the 17 catches is tied for fourth all-time.
Moreover, had Dak Prescott seen Lamb wide open on a play where he didn’t get the ball (much to Lamb’s extreme frustration), the receiver’s final numbers could have been even better. One week after the Cowboys’ coaching staff failed the players in all three phases, Lamb apparently decided to take care of business by himself – though he did have a little help from running back Javonte Williams and his three touchdowns.
As for the 0-4 Texans, we’re sure they already know that the only team ever to make the postseason with that kind of opening deficit are the 1992 San Diego Chargers.
Video of the week
Through the first three weeks of the season, the regression of Drake Maye was one of the league’s most disconcerting stories. The 2025 MVP runner-up hadn’t resembled that player all season long, but Maye looked good in a crucial 29-26 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. Maye completed 22 of 37 passes for 269 yards, three touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 97.7, and his game-winning touchdown to Efton Chism with 1:50 left was certainly a highlight for the second-year undrafted free agent from Eastern Washington, who had caught two passes on three targets for minus one-yard this season before his 23-yarder here.
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Stat of the week
It had been one of the weirdest streaks in football history. The New York Jets failed to record an interception last season, and the drought continued through the first three games of the 2026 campaign.
It appeared that relief had finally come in the first quarter of the Jets’ Sunday game against the Chicago Bears when defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat came up with a Tyson Bagent pass, but the interception was called back due to an illegal use of hands penalty on cornerback Azareye’h Thomas.
The Jets’ long nightmare would end later in the half, though, when Minkah Fitzpatrick nabbed a deep Bagent pass to Colston Loveland. It was the Jets’ first interception in 637 days, 636 opponent pass attempts, and 20 games.
We’re guessing that no team will come anywhere close to that “record” for a very long time. Aaron Glenn’s team lost the game 23-12, and the Bears had more first downs (34) than the Jets had offensive plays (32), but you take the wins wherever you can.
Elsewhere around the league
Philadelphia Eagles fans are not generally patient with their team, and they have reasons for angst after Sunday. With 7:31 left in the game, and the Eagles up 20-10, Philly had fourth-and-goal at the Los Angeles two-yard line. At this point, the Rams had a win probability of 3.2%. Jalen Hurts threw an incompletion to Darius Cooper (who had already caught two touchdown passes in the game), and the Rams – who were fighting to avoid a 1-3 start to their season – started their own drive 98 yards from the end zone.
Sean McVay’s team traveled that entire distance in a 10-play drive that included four Eagles penalties, and ended with Kyren Williams’s one-yard touchdown run. The Eagles went three-and-out on their next drive. Then the Rams went 79 yards on 10 plays and ended that drive with a Williams run that put the Rams up 24-20.
It was up to the Eagles to respond, and they didn’t. On their final drive of the game Hurts was sacked twice, and threw two incompletions. Overall, the Eagles went 0-12 on third down, their 172 yards of total offense was their lowest in a game in 12 years, and their 68 net passing yards was the lowest total for the team in 23 years.
Yes, the Eagles were missing key players, including right tackle Lane Johnson, receiver DeVonta Smith, and running back Saquon Barkley, but this is going to be a tough one to swallow for the entire city of Philadelphia.
It used to be that the field goal of 60 or more yards was pro football’s ultimate rarity. Just four such field goals were made in the entire 20th century. That has certainly changed over the last few seasons, as better kicking balls and better kickers have invaded the NFL. Kickers made 12 of 22 attempts of 60-plus yards last season, and it’s become even more commonplace in 2026.
In Week 4’s early slate alone, three kickers attempted kicks of 60 or more yards near the end of the first half, and two successfully converted them.
Brandon Aubrey of the Dallas Cowboys, who has made at least one such field goal in each of his four NFL seasons, was the guy who missed. But Chad Ryland of the Arizona Cardinals nailed a 60-yarder with two seconds left in the first half – sadly, that wasn’t enough to beat the New York Giants, who triumphed 36-24. And in his team’s 24-18 win over the Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop hit a 64-yarder.
Drake Maye has returned to form (at least for the moment), which means that the travails of Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert remain the most baffling story of the season. Herbert was supposed to match his rare physical gifts to new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel’s schematic genius, but that has not happened in any way. Against the Seattle Seahawks, Herbert threw an interception on the first play of the game. On the very next play, Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold threw it right back to the Chargers, via edge-rusher Tuli Tuipulotu. This marked the first time in pro football history that quarterbacks traded interceptions on the first two plays of a game. From there, though, the Seahawks took care of business. And now the Chargers sport an 0-4 record, which very few people expected when the season began.
Some well-deserved praise for Brian Flores, the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator. Flores’s crew has already been one of our pleasant surprises of the season, and in their 15-10 win over the Miami Dolphins, the Vikings didn’t score a touchdown. They also didn’t score a touchdown in their 9-3 Week 2 win over the Chicago Bears. Why is this relevant? Because it hasn’t happened since the earliest days of pro football. The last teams to start 4-0 while failing to score touchdowns in two of those games were (in order) the 1922 Chicago Cardinals, the 1923 Chicago Cardinals, and the 1934 Detroit Lions.
Don’t worry Bryce Young, we see you turning into a competent NFL quarterback (with some help from Tetairoa McMillan).
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