Hondo’s Raiders Report Card: The Unfiltered Truth on Team Performance

HENDERSON, Nev.—The Las Vegas Raiders' (3-4) performance on Sunday was the worst of the season for the Silver and Black, and what made it worse was that it was at home against a battered team that was the unquestioned Super Bowl favorite coming into the season, whom the Raiders had a chance to knock out.

Instead, the Los Angeles Rams (3-4) leave Allegiant Stadium with not only a win, but a new breath of life for their once nearly certain Super Bowl chances.

This one hurt Raider Nation. Bad.

The Report Card

Each week, I offer my report on the game after watching copious amounts of film, drawing on my years of experience and sources both inside and outside the Raiders franchise, from around the world of football.

Let’s dig right in.

Offense: D+

That was by far the hardest grade I will give in this report.

Raiders QB Kirk Cousins leads the NFL in passing touchdowns (16) and ranks third with nearly 1,900 yards. Kirk Cousins isn’t playing well; he is playing terrific.

Every player, including Raiders owner Tom Brady, the best QB in the history of the game, can go back to every game he ever played and find one or two plays he could have done better. The other team is full of high-priced millionaire players, too

The reality is that I predicted the Raiders would be sitting here today at 2-5 instead of 3-4, and there is no way the Raiders have the success they do without Cousins.

Of course, the elephant in the room is that the Silver and Black selected the man NFL executives ranked the best QB prospect of the last four NFL Drafts, Fernando Mendoza, waiting in the wings.

I totally understand the mindset of fans who recognize what I told you all offseason: this is not a Super Bowl team, and they want to turn the page.

Cousins is not just a man I cover, but a friend. That said, when the time comes, I also look forward to seeing the Nandoloarian, but when it comes to QB development, I trust Brady, Kubiak, and the way Cousins is executing their plan.

Las Vegas Raiders GM John Spytek, and minority owner Tom Brady | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

I get it.

But the aforementioned Brady, who knew more about being a QB in the NFL long before he was an owner, talked about how sitting and watching helped him, and the franchise is sticking to the plan.

The plan is that as long as Cousins is playing well and the team is in NFL Playoff contention, Cousins is the man.

The made-up media frenzy this offseason that we told you was a farce, and the one now, isn’t reality. Kubiak pulled out a hammer and nails and put those rumors and speculation to death on Monday.

GM John Spytek, Fernando Mendoza, Klint Kubiak | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

“I want to let you guys know that Kirk [Cousins] is our starting quarterback. There is no controversy there. He’s playing at a very high level, and he’s got to continue to do that for us to win. And we’ve got to keep helping all the areas around him. So, excited for him to go play here against the Jets.”

Credit Kubiak; he knows what he has on his bench, and he signed off on him. Kubiak and I agree that Mendoza looks exactly like what they wanted, but not today.

I have said since last May that the feeling I got from people in the building was probably around the Cleveland game. That changes if the team continues to overachieve, but at some point this year, I expect Mendoza to start. Kubiak talked more about the Mendoza factor and, as usual, took it head-on.

“Eventually Fernando [Mendoza] is going to play football. We have a plan. We don’t have a timeline for that. Kirk [Cousins] is playing really well, and we’re in the hunt. It’s really important that we keep playing really well behind him and continue to develop Fernando, but Fernando is going to play at some point. It’s not going to be this week.”

But despite Cousins' terrific play, the reality is that the offensive line, as a unit, is struggling and, frankly, is brutal.

The guard play on the right side has not been good all season, and on the left side has been up and down like a roller coaster at your favorite amusement park.

Watching the film and seeing input, Kolton Miller was not elite, or even top-ten at the NFL level, but did an adequate job.

Tyler Linderbaum is a star, and the Bills game was a disaster. He has had some struggles, but as one NFL executive told me about the Rams game, “There are some plays that he is getting blamed for that has more to do with the pathetic play from the guys next to him. Was he great? No, but who the hell can be great when the two guys next to him are playing like that? He has to be able to trust those guys next to him, and he can’t trust (excrement) right now.”

Ouch.

Tyler Linderbaum, Kirk Cousins | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Delmar “DJ” Glaze, The Mule, looks like the emerging star we thought he could be. He was a problem for the Rams, who found very few along the Raiders' OL, and he played as a steady foundational piece who looks like a fan favorite and a long-term solution for a franchise with a history of elite OL play. I asked Kubiak about “The Mule” on Monday, and he didn’t hold back.

"Yeah, DJ [Glaze] was a team captain for us this week, so that tells you how highly we believe how high of a level he's playing at, how good of a teammate that he is, and how he's taking the next step in his career. And the thing about DJ is that he's not satisfied, and he's continuing to get better, which he's a very self-motivated young man."

I asked Kubiak bluntly if the poor play at guard was going to get Trey Zuhn III and Bryce Cabeldue consideration for reps this week, and without hesitation, he said, “Yes.”

They deserve the chance. They have to earn them, but players know what is going on, and Kubiak’s locker room trusts him and Rick Dennison.

Neither Dennison nor Kubiak is the problem; they are the answer, and hopefully the three young men who have been playing guard can grow into the spots, but they aren't good enough now. After Sunday's performance, Zuhn, the rookie, and Cabeldue can do no worse and deserve a chance on a team that prides itself on competition.

Ashton Jeanty continues to shine in the passing game, but rookie Mike Washington Jr., who was injured last week before the game, continues to rack up impressive plays and earn more carries.

The tight ends aren't the issue, but the wide receivers, as a unit, haven't been good. Dont’e Thornton Jr. appears to be headed out of town later this week, and Jack Bech should be back this week, but that doesn’t change the fact that Cousins has to throw quick because the pressure is on him nearly as fast as Tyler Linderbaum puts the ball in his hand.

We knew coming into the season the Raiders don’t have a WR1, and credit GM John Spytek and Kubiak for dealing with it in a rebuilding year, rather than wasting picks or money on Elmer’s Glue and Scotch tape fixes, as this franchise has relied on for the last two-plus decades.

Their discipline may infuriate some fans who don’t understand it now, but they'll thank them down the road in 2028.

Defense: F

I will get more into coaching later, but for now, the Raiders' defense had some players playing at a good level. Still, even with a terrific player (injured) at WR, Puka Nacua, and a future Hall of Fame QB in Matthew Stafford, they have no excuse for embarrassing themselves as they did, hindered as they were.

Missed tackles, missed assignments, and an inability in the first half should have embarrassed the men wearing the Raiders patch. They are good men, they are proud men, and many of them are better players than they looked on Sunday, but I am grading Sunday, and it was terrible.

True to his character, Kubiak didn’t hold back any punches when discussing why his team continues to struggle against the run, and teams are literally doing whatever they want to them on the ground.

"It's all team. It's all phases. It's tackling, it's at the front, it's putting them in situations to be successful as coaches, so we're all accountable."

The reality is that this defense is struggling for legitimate reasons; it is a rebuilding year. But these men are paid a lot of money, and missed tackles, especially those executed terribly, are inexcusable. These men are paid a lot of money to do a job, and Brady, Mark Davis, GM John Spytek, and Kubiak are not being unrealistic in asking defensive players to show the acumen to tackle properly. That is totally on them.

Special Teams: A

Last year, the Raiders' special teams were a total flop. Terrible, perhaps worse than the guard play from Sunday. But that was last year.

Kubiak pulled off a major coup by luring special teams savant Joe DeCamillis back to the NFL. While special teams have improved all year, they haven’t been perfect. This is a rebuilding year, but DeCamillis has done an amazing job of turning it around.

Kubiak praised his superstar coordinator when asked what DeCamillis brings to the Raiders: “Grit. He’s a veteran. He has a very talented staff with Marquice [Williams] and Tim [McConnell]. Hardworking, demanding, excellent football coach."

There are a lot of people to praise from the player's perspective. DeCamillis knocked on wood recently and asked me, “Don’t mention him ever again,” so that player shall now only be called “He who shall not be named.”

But another player to talk about is one fans have had to warm up to. The reality is that three different administrations and staffs have loved Dylan Laube, and he's gone from a guy at the end of the roster holding on to a bona fide special teams star. I asked Kubiak on Monday to elaborate on the young man he talked to me about early in his tenure as coach, and the kid whose grit and toughness he absolutely loves.

Joe Decamillis | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Laube may come from the Hamptons, but he plays like a blue-collar kid from the other side of the tracks with a work ethic of Paul Bunyan in a body the size of an accountant, and not what you think of an NFL player.

"Yes, I think if you're not the starter at any position, then you have to provide value on multiple different parts of the team, on special teams. As a third down back, you have to wear a lot of hats and do them well, and all the while be a talented teammate, and that means being accountable and having people count on you all the time. So that's what Dylan [Laube] is."

Coaching: F

Dylan Laube | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

The defense not going after an aged (38-year-old, 18-year NFL Veteran) non-mobile Matthew Stafford was inexplicable. One long-time and successful NFL player and coach told me on Monday, “How do you let him do what he wants? I have no words that you let him sit back there. Why don’t you order him a Starbucks for f---'s sake.”

One Super Bowl-winning coordinator said of the defensive play of the Raiders, “All of the movement by Ram TEs from 13 PG (personnel grouping) is changing gap responsibility and run fits when a moving player crosses from 1 side to the opposite side of the formation. Forces discipline and gap integrity on the move.”

He added that the Rams game-planned only to stop Maxx Crosby and no one else: “As much as Maxx hustles, this 13 PG with TEs on both ends of formation negates a lot of his abilities to make big plays because he is not aligned just on air.”

I make no excuses; I believe in and support Raiders DC Robbie Leonard. He is a terrific young coach.

He was outcoached by the man many consider the second-best head coach and offensive mind in the NFL, Sean McVay.

He will rebound from this. So will the Raiders.

I told you multiple times before the season that when you hire first-year coaches (Kubiak HC, Leonard DC, and Andrew Janocko OC), there are learning curves just like with young players.

Klint Kubiak, Andrew Janocko | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Kubiak made some questionable decisions on two-point conversion attempts (timing) and personnel, but no one should be surprised.

Don’t you think Andy Reid or Sean McVay were ever outcoached as young stars in this league? Of course.

The fact that the Raiders' coaches took seven games into their first year to look this bad tells you how much they have overachieved in this league.

Raiders GM John Spytek, DC Rob Leonard | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

I know, and I respect these men and their football acumen. It is 2:09 AM on Tuesday as I write this, and while I don’t know, I would bet they are still mulling over Sunday's lessons.

If you expected this team to make a Super Bowl in 2026, you should be livid right now, and also have a scheduled mental acumen test later this morning at your closest psychiatric facility.

But if you were realistic, you don’t have to like what happened; they don’t. But you can see the roster they have: some positions they don’t even have a player at, some are thin, and others are in a full-blown youth movement. None of those are excuses; they're realities we talked about even when they were 3-0, and I warned you to tap the brakes.

Sunday stunk, but the future is bright.

Raider Nation: A+

Raider Nation showed up, and they were deafening. Fans don’t know this, but in the press box, a special PA announcer gives us the pertinent details of the play or drive. I have been to every Raiders game and practice at Allegiant Stadium, and I can tell you I have never once, ONCE, not heard the announcer because of the crowd. Until Sunday. Three times.

Since the Raiders moved to the desert, I've said that if this franchise gave fans legitimate hope, they would come.

The franchise, despite Sunday, has given you legitimate, tangible hope, and you are coming, and Raider Nation, you have been simply amazing.

Watch Our Latest Podcast

Add us as a preferred source on Google