How 2026 Raiders Are Proving To Be Different

The Las Vegas Raiders won seven games in the past two seasons combined. In each of the past two seasons, Las Vegas lost 10 games in a row. Fast forward to Week 3 of the 2026 season, and Klint Kubiak's Raiders are undefeated with two solid victories under their belt.

In the season's first two games, the Raiders have shown improvement from last season in every category. That is not hyperbole. Las Vegas' front office made vast improvements to its roster and coaching staff. Their 2-0 start confirms, at the very least, that they are on the right track.

New Raiders

Entering the fourth quarter of their win over the Chargers, the Raiders only had a three-point lead. Las Vegas lost multiple games in the past two seasons by one score or less. Several mishaps threatened to make Sunday's win another one of those losses. Yet, the Raiders took control late and won.

The Chargers appeared to have the better roster entering the game. However, strong game planning and execution helped the Raiders immensely. Los Angeles had chances, but failed to execute as well as Las Vegas. Kubiak shared his thoughts on the team's hard-fought victory.

It Is Okay To Believe

"This is the NFL. It’s the most competitive business in the world. Our players, our coaches, we are all competitors, we all want to win and that’s our job is to win. We have 15 more games. I’m really proud of today, but the way you win more is you forget about it quickly, and you get back to work on the next one,” Kubiak said following the game.

As the team's leader, Kubiak has to stay as even-keeled as possible about his team's hot start. Yet as much as he may not want to say it, it is already apparent to anyone who has watched Las Vegas in recent seasons that this team is solid on paper and on the field.

It is a long season, and it is too early to believe much about any team yet. Things change quickly in this league. Yet for the first time in many years, the Raiders appear prepared enough for most of the curveballs that can reasonably be expected. That alone is different for Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is 2-0 but still has one of the league's toughest schedules ahead. The Raiders refuse to take too much time celebrating their first two wins of the season. They have bigger plans than two regular-season wins. Cousins echoed what Kubiak expressed about the team's winning streak.

“Well, I think it’s the NFL. I just think that these games come down to the final drive so often, and the difference between 2-0 and 0-2 could be two plays, one in each game, and I’ve lived that, and I’ve been on the wrong side of that a lot. I’ve been on the right side of that, and so I’ve learned how hard that is,” Cousins said following Sunday's win.

“It takes everything you got and so you never know what direction it’s going to go but we got to find those inches. We got to finish. That’s what we’ll be talking about tomorrow as we go watch the film because we know it was close to going the other way, too."

Aside from a little bit of better health, it would be hard to say the past few months were any better than they were for the Raiders. Their first two weeks of the season confirmed they mostly made the right decisions across the board. Las Vegas still has a long way to go, but it has improved significantly.

The Raiders played well in their first two games of the season in games they would have lost in past seasons. Sunday confirmed that Las Vegas can hold their own against some of the league's best. That is something that has not been said about a Raiders team in several years.

The Raiders are sure to have their highs and lows this season, as every team does. However, it is okay to sound the alarm. Two games aren't enough to say much about how the season will go overall, but it is enough to confirm that this team means business.

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