It’s the NFL’s regular-season rivalry — one that the Las Vegas Raiders have struggled to run for the better part of a decade.
Not for lack of trying though. As of 2020, the Raiders have had six head coaches in all. They brought in Jon Gruden Monday night football Booth back in 2018. When he resigned in a controversial mannerspecial teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia took over and helped lead the Raiders to the playoffs. However, Bisaccia was not promoted from interim head coach to full-time head coach. That title, instead, went to Josh McDaniel, whose tenure in Denver ended the same way it did a decade earlier — on a one-way flight to Foxborough after a 9-16 record. This time the robbers He did Antonio Pearce was given the job before the 2024 season and is now one-and-one after a 4-13 season.
And name the unspoken “gurus” after years of rereading, and a player coach given the job he’s qualified for, the Raiders’ 2011 season. They had to snap out of their funk when they hired Super Bowl champion and future Hall of Famer Pete Carroll in 2025. Then there was plenty of success for quarterback Geno Smith in Seattle. And somehow Carroll was the biggest risk of all, going 2-15 and becoming the second straight one-and-done head coach in Vegas.
But this time is different. Truly. After one of the most disappointing seasons in team history, the Raiders braintrust returned well to the Seahawks and hired Sam Darnold and offensive coordinator Clint Kubiak, who was helping Seattle win the Super Bowl. Although due to recent history, and a lack of talent, expectations were low for Vegas – and that seems perfectly fine for them.
In the year After winning just 2 games in 2025, the Raiders have three wins before the end of September and are one of five undefeated teams heading into Week 4. They beat the Miami Dolphins 27-13 to start the season. And sure enough, the Dolphins aren’t a good team. However, if Vegas had won or lost by much we would have crossed them, so credit to them for a decisive win. In Week 2, they went on the road to win the AFC West by a score of 26-14 against a legendary Chargers team and beat Justin Herbert twice. In Week 3, against a fellow team in the New Orleans Saints, Vegas won 35-27 over New Orleans, forcing Max Crosby late to help seal the victory for the Raiders. The win marks their first 3-0 start since 2021 and their third since the turn of the century.
Not only are the Raiders winning, but these are not blowouts. These aren’t stolen victories like Week 2 in 2024, when the Ravens blew a 23-13 fourth-quarter lead to Gardner Minshew. Not a Christmas Day win over the Chiefs, despite only gaining 205 yards of total offense. The 2026 Raiders rank eighth in passing success rate three weeks ago, and Kirk Cousins leads the NFL in touchdown passes and ranks 10th in EPA per pass. Summer sports. Not only were the Raiders good offensively, but Rob Leonard’s defense was also outstanding. Las Vegas currently has the third best defensive EPA per game behind the Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings. Their four interceptions lead the NFL, and their 10 sacks rank fourth. None of this is accidental. This group is not a mask that mocks as a threat. The burglars of 2026 are kicking down doors, not sneaking in behind them without anyone looking.
Does this mean they will be one of the last 14 teams to play in January? This is not the only point. The bottom line is that they are in the race – something we haven’t been able to say for a long time.
That’s the cold open – this is a hot read.
I am saying this to myself. Back in the summer, I released my ranking of the top 40 NFL quarterbacks , placing Purdy at No. 18 — one spot ahead of Aaron Rodgers and one spot below CJ Stroud. Allow me to excuse my mistake and let you know how great Purdy has played so far.
Through three games, Purdy led the way in total EPA. He currently sits at a 56.42 EPA mark — the next closest is quarterback Josh Allen at 28.39. He’s also completing just north of 72 percent of his passes, which ranks fourth with at least 25 touchdown passes, and nine touchdown passes tied with Kirk Cousins for the league lead.
Plus, we can throw away the narrative that Purdy is providing just by being in Kyle Shanahan’s system because Purdy has been so good when the game goes off script. He It is in third place EPA’s three touchdown passes per game under pressure and pressure are second in the league. And the 49ers went 3-0 thanks to Purdy’s strong performance to start the season. I can admit I was wrong, and I was wrong about Purdy from the start – what a player he has blossomed into over the last handful of seasons.
Aaron Rodgers, Mike McCarthy perform vintage.
After a Week 2 loss that truly felt like the first rock bottom for the Pittsburgh Steelers offense, Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy turned back the clock and delivered the explosive offense that Steelers fans vowed to hire McCarthy for in January. After scoring just 16 points in the first two games, the Steelers’ offense exploded for 30 points against the Cincinnati Bengals’ defense in Week 3 against the Houston Texans. Rodgers threw three touchdown passes and running back Jaylen Warren racked up 127 yards on the ground as the Steelers totaled 411 yards and outgained their division rivals to go 2-1. Even in the new season, it is dangerous to count out the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Case Keenum, Ben Johnson picked up the Bears against the Eagles
A performance like the one we saw from Case Keenum to the close of Week 3 is why we love sports.. After injuries to both Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent, the 38-year-old Keenum stepped into the starting lineup in what was North’s first regular season game of 1,000 days. Despite how well the University of Houston legend played, you had no idea he’d been around this long. On the first drive, he brought the Bears down the field and threw a touchdown to Luther Burden. And with a 13-7 lead in the third quarter, Keenum connected with Khalif Raymond for a 41-yard touchdown pass, becoming the nail in the coffin for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Keenum finished the game 24-34 for 247 yards and three total touchdowns, holding the Eagles to their fewest points in the Nick Siriani era as Ben Johnson made a brilliant play call against Vic Fangio’s defense.
A game that changed everything
The back-and-forth shootout between the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys featured a number of questionable decisions, but one that may have been overshadowed by the kickoff from Dallas to Baltimore at the end of regulation. After Dak Prescott intentionally sent the ball out of bounds in the air, George Pickens opened up a potential tackle in the front of the end zone, but the Cowboys kicked the game-tying field goal and gave the ball back to the Ravens with seven seconds left. However, Brandon Aubrey took no time off the clock instead of putting the ball in play. That would be forgivable if the Cowboys played the standard defensive zone we see in these situations. Instead, they played man defense, which allowed Lamar Jackson to connect with Zay Flowers, call a timeout and set up Tyler Lopp for the game-winning field goal. If the Cowboys miss the postseason, they will look back at this game and wonder how they did so much wrong in such a short series.
Purchase: Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars are 2-1, with both wins coming in impressive fashion. After demolishing the defending AFC champion New England Patriots 35-6, the Jaguars sit comfortably atop the AFC South, and their quarterback is off to an impressive start. Trevor Lawrence is ninth in EPA per game (25 minutes per game) and ranks third in the league with seven touchdown passes. The Jaguars are fourth in defensive EPA per game and you have a team that looks destined to repeat that feat starting in 2025.
Watching the Broncos is infuriating. I could see with my own eyes that the Knicks weren’t great, and yet somehow their defense would come alive and make enough plays to put their offense in perfect position and score enough points to win. And while that’s all well and good, it’s not sustainable. Especially when Bo Nix has less EPA per game than Cam Ward. I end up being right. For now, Broncos fans will continue to believe that they can win the Super Bowl.
Buy: Texans, Bucs, Chargers complete
All three of these teams had playoff hopes going into the 2026 season. And in the case of the Texans and Chargers, some would each be the AFC representative in the Super Bowl.
All we want is to talk about how great the Texans defense is – it doesn’t matter when the offense can’t score, that’s literally the only thing keeping Texans from living up to their potential. They have allowed just 39 points over the last two weeks, but their offense has scored 23 points. Yes, they overcame this exact deficit last season, but maintaining that kind of turnaround in consecutive years is a big ask.
The Chargers were our cover story last week, and I’ll ask again – what’s Justin Herbert’s excuse this week? Keep it up Herbert Hive. Tell me it’s not his fault he only scored 16 points after the defense forced five turnovers. Tell me how he can’t be held responsible for wasting a culpable recovery by throwing a calamitous intervention into the bill in a plus state. Josh Allen certainly didn’t play well, but the difference between good quarterbacks and great quarterbacks is overcoming his poor performances and still finding ways to win. Allen did that. Patrick Mahomes did just that. When did Herbert do this? The Chargers have the toughest remaining schedule in the league — they’re done.
Baker Mayfield’s thumb injury sidelined him for 2-4 weeks and Tampa has to turn to undrafted starter Jalon Daniels and you have three teams whose seasons are over before we get to October.
It hurts to say, but yes. Something is clearly wrong, and it’s not new for 2026. May hasn’t had a quality game since Week 17 against the Jets in 2025. He currently has one touchdown pass for six, and his decision-making is questionable at best and unacceptable at worst. Have we seen him go from an MVP runner to a quarterback who is a legitimate net negative for the team? This is a first-of-its-kind case study as a tragedy.
- Week 1: Steelers trade Joey Porter Jr., TBD.
- Week 2: Rams beat Broncos handily, not right.
Well, the Rams ruined what was set to be an on-site prediction, so now let’s hope Week 3 gets on the board with our predictions. With that in mind, I’d back the premium blowout and Sunday Night Football’s matchup between the Lions and Panthers as a crucial win for Detroit. Carolina After winning eight games in 2025, they were an overrated team heading into the season. My concern is that Bryce Young has been used by bad secondaries so far, and the Lions have a bad secondary so I’m really setting myself up for failure. That said, Detroit’s offense is very unlikely to have one of their annual streaks of dropping 40+ points. Detroit won 41-24 despite the Panthers meeting on some explosive plays.
