Raiders' Key Potential Equalizer in First Season Under Klint Kubiak

It is no secret that even after an offseason full of wholesale changes, Klint Kubiak's first season as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders will be an uphill battle. Those many changes have led to what appears to be tangible progress from the 4-13 2025 Raiders team.

Still, the reality is that Las Vegas plays in one of the toughest divisions in football, with three of the best quarterbacks and head coaches in the National Football League. The additions they made helped quickly bolster one of the worst rosters in the league.

This is important to keep in mind as the Raiders' rebuild started, meaning that this offseason's additions, while respectable, were just the first few steps of a years-long rebuild. This season will inevitably have its growing pains. Las Vegas has a challenging schedule.

They also have no shortage of new coaches, players, schemes, and plays that they are implementing. This is in addition to the holes the Raiders' roster has that every roster has. Yet there are things those players and coaches can do to help compensate for the shortcomings that appear on their roster.

DeCamillis' Value

One of the Raiders' most significant problems was a poor special teams unit, especially during the first half of the season. The Raiders finished 4-13 last season but lost multiple games on one or two special teams plays. A bad special teams unit is never a good thing.

This includes a blocked game-winning field goal that cost them a loss to the Chicago Bears. They missed a field goal in a three-point loss to the Denver Broncos. They gave up big special-teams plays against the Washington Commanders and Indianapolis Colts that swung momentum.

Earlier this offseason, the Raiders hired Joe DeCamillis as their special teams coach. DeCamillis' decades of experience on multiple levels of football have already begun paying off for the Raiders. So far, it is evident that Las Vegas is emphasizing the importance of special teams.

In training camp and throughout the preseason, DeCamillis has used that experience to help get the most out of a special teams unit, learning the intricacies of an ever-changing special teams landscape around the league. More than anything, DeCamillis has stressed proper technique.

“I try to do it every day. I know we had some penalties last week, and nobody's sicker than me. The two that I'm mainly sick about for the first two weeks, the Kansei [Matsuzawa] penalty where we get a landing zone violation, that should never happen, and then the penalty on DeCam [Decamerion Richardson], he ran out of bounds. He's been drilling that every time, and again that cost us,” DeCamillis said.

“Going from starting at the five to the 20. People say, 'Hidden yardage' in the kicking game, that ain't hidden yardage, that's 15 yards we should have had back there. So, those are the ones that I'm upset about. But the holding calls, I look at them as teachable moments. Like you need to get that stuff on tape now, so it doesn't happen during regular season. And that's how we're approaching it right now."

Raiders' Equalizer

As the Raiders work their way through one of the most difficult schedules of any team in the league, they will need all the help they can get. However, special teams is an area that can help Las Vegas even out games in which they may seem outmatched on paper.

Special teams can help teams shorten the field on offense and help defenses pin opposing offenses deep in their own territory. Kubiak and DeCamillis know just how vital special teams can be to the outcome of games.

“In it's really started since he's been here. He got it from his dad. His dad was the same way. There's a reason that I came here, I can tell you that much. And I've known the family for a long time. Gary [Kubiak] was exactly the same way, and this Kub [Klint Kubiak] has been the same way too,” DeCamillis said.

“So, he supports it. He knows it's complementary football all the way across the board, and he knows that for us to be where we need to get to, we've got to be good on teams, and that's exactly what you want to be when you're at a place like."

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