HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Raiders coach Klint Kubiak emphasized, shortly after Las Vegas lost 30-27 to Kansas City on Sunday, the importance of getting his team's stagnant running game going.
He said any success “will be a big factor in us being a better football team.”
Las Vegas is somehow 3-1 with a ground game that averages an NFL-worst 3.13 yards per carry, and its 93 yards per game is not far from the bottom.
It's a problem the first-year coach inherited. The Raiders were the league's worst in both categories last season, averaging 77.5 yards per game and 3.57 per rush.
“I put it on myself,” Kubiak said Monday. “I got to do a lot better job of putting us in better position. We’ve got solid backs, we’ve got a solid offensive line. Myself and the coaching staff, there’s plenty of things we can do better for our players.”
He wouldn't elaborate, and no doubt Kubiak doesn't want to publicize anything that might tip off future opponents.
It was easy to blame last season's struggles on an offensive line that failed to provide then-rookie Ashton Jeanty with much running room. He averaged just 1.6 yards per rush before contact, third lowest among backs last season with more than 100 carries, according to Pro Football Reference.
The Raiders addressed their line by signing three-time Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum and veteran left guard Spencer Burford. While the pass blocking is notably better, there hasn't been much push up front on running plays.
Las Vegas is second worst in yards before contact, its 1.8 average just ahead of Cleveland's 1.6.
Jeanty, taken sixth overall in last year's draft, and rookie Mike Washington Jr. put together strong training camps, and both shined in Week 1. Jeanty rushed for 102 yards on 23 carries against Miami and Washington had 41 yards on seven attempts.
In the three games since, the Raiders have averaged 80.7 yards on the ground. Take away Washington's 36-yard touchdown a week ago that helped turn around the game at New Orleans, and that figure is 68.7.
“I think we’ve just got to be better, simple as that,” Jeanty said. “Make the plays that are out there; they’re there. It starts with us. Starts with me. Got to break tackles and just make bigger plays when they’re available.”
Brock Bowers is the headliner, but Michael Mayer is putting together such a strong season that the Raiders might have the league's best tight ends. Playing through an illness against the Chiefs, Bowers caught six passes for 86 yards and a touchdown. Mayer hauled in eight receptions for 82 yards. Oh, and Ian Thomas caught two passes for 32 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown. The tight ends were targeted 23 times.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins is going to his tight ends and running backs because the wide receivers haven't shined. Tre Tucker led the wideouts with four catches for 44 yards, but tight ends and running backs accounted for 34 of Cousins' 48 targets. Bowers often lines up wide and is a mismatch nightmare for opposing defenses, so maybe not having a No. 1 receiver is less important for the Raiders.
Cousins continued his hot start to the season, passing for 365 yards. He was especially effective when the Chiefs played zone defense, which they did most of the game. Cousins completed 24 of 37 passes for 308 yards and both touchdowns against the zone, according to the NFL's Next Gen Stats. He and San Francisco's Brock Purdy lead the league with 11 TD passes.
Dareke Young's fumble on a kickoff return after the Chiefs had just retaken the lead was a dagger for the Raiders. Then Las Vegas allowed a punt to be downed at the 1-yard line, putting the offense in an almost impossible situation given there was 1:16 left and the Raiders were out of timeouts. Such special teams blunders have been an issue this season.
RG Jackson Powers-Johnson (groin) will return to practice this week, Kubiak said. WR Jalen Nailor (concussion) will be evaluated. WR Dont'e Thornton Jr. (undisclosed) is eligible to come off injured reserve, and Kubiak said his staff is discussing the timing.
26 — The Raiders have scored at least that many points in each of their four games for the first time since a six-game streak a decade ago. They reached that number just once last season, in a 30-29 overtime loss to Jacksonville.
The Raiders visit New England on Sunday.
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty (2) is tackled by Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Mansoor Delane during the first half of an NFL football game in Las Vegas, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak watches during the second half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Las Vegas, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) tosses the football to running back Ashton Jeanty (2) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Las Vegas, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Political advertising warns about Democratic plots to defund the police. Campaign events feature law enforcement unions and tough talk about law and order. Stump speeches boast about record low levels of violent crime.
From coast to coast, Republicans are focusing on public disorder, illegal immigration and violent crime in midterm campaigns as voters sour on their party's handling of the cost of living and the war with Iran.
The messaging reflects a belief that lawlessness is safer political ground in the midterms despite Donald Trump's own criminal record for paying hush money to a porn star, making him the only president to be convicted of a felony. Democrats have tried to counter the attacks by recruiting candidates with law enforcement backgrounds and emphasizing their own anti-crime plans, but Republicans believe it's a rare opportunity to go on the offensive in an otherwise challenging year.
“Do you know that right now we have the lowest violent crime rate in 126 years in America right now? Because we emphasize the rule of law,” House Speaker Mike Johnson recently told an audience at Louisiana State University. Crime rates have generally trended down since the 1990s with a brief spike during the COVID pandemic. “We have the most secure border we have had in the past half century."
Trump returned to the topic on Monday night in Nebraska, warning about how the country used to be before he returned to the White House.
"We had a border with people pouring in, crime like nobody’s ever seen," he said.
In Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Texas and Wisconsin, Republican candidates for governor have attacked their Democratic rivals as weak on crime or warned they could cut police funding. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, for instance, has lambasted Democratic nominee and state Rep. Gina Hinojosa for not supporting legislation that would require judges to deny bail to illegal immigrants charged with a violent crime.
Hinojosa has campaigned on her tenure as a civil rights lawyer and criticized Abbott's crime policies as violating civil liberties.
Rick Jackson, a billionaire healthcare executive running in Georgia, has repeatedly attacked Democratic opponent Keisha Lance Bottoms over her tenure as Atlanta mayor.
“I grew up in the type of neighborhood Keisha Lance Bottoms abandoned," Jackson said at a summer campaign rally. “I know who gets hurt when politicians defund the police.”
In an interview with Atlanta station 11Alive, Bottoms emphasized that her administration gave pay raises to police and firefighters, and said she called for increased federal funding for public safety during her time as mayor.
It's a similar story in U.S. House races.
In Virginia’s first congressional district, Rep. Rob Wittman has attacked his Democratic opponent Shannon Taylor, a former county prosecutor, over her allegedly “soft on crime" record in office. In Michigan’s 10th district, Republican Michael Bouchard is running on his service as a Bronze Star Army captain and son of a longtime local sheriff. He's claimed his Democratic opponent, former prosecutor Christina Hines, supports “woke, soft on crime, socialist policies."
In Colorado’s eighth district, Rep. Gabe Evans touts his time as a police officer against Democratic challenger Manny Rutinel. And in Wisconsin’s third district, Rep. Derrick Van Orden hopes to win a third race against Democratic nominee Rebecca Cooke by painting her as a communist who wants to defund the police.
Republicans hope that by reprising warnings of crime and disorder the party can reenergize their disillusioned base and win back skeptical moderate voters who have drifted over concerns like affordability.
Democratic rivals have responded in kind. Taylor aired an ad featuring 13 local sheriffs who endorsed her campaign. Rutinel aired ads with local police and rolled out a safety plan that called for greater police funding and drug prevention programs. Hines said she'll continue to prioritize public safety and prosecute corruption in Washington. Cooke has vowed to fully fund police departments in Congress.
It's yet to be seen if the strategy will prove effective.
“We’ve got to talk about it. I think that in many ways, we are the victim of our own success because it’s off the headlines a little bit more,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican and former state attorney general. “Having a completely secure border now, no one even talks about it. But that’s a huge accomplishment from where we were at before.”
An AP-NORC poll conducted in September found that border security — which Trump and Republicans often link to crime — was a relative strength for Trump, with 48% of U.S. adults saying they approved of his performance on the issue. But that was still a decline from a year ago, when his approval on border security was at 55%.
Not everyone in the party is sold on Republicans rehashing the crime message.
“I don’t see that bubbling up as a major issue for the voters,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who chose not to seek reelection this year. Aiming to make the race to succeed Tillis a referendum on crime, Republicans have run ads claiming that Democratic nominee Roy Cooper went easy on convicts during his two terms in the governor’s mansion.
Black political leaders have criticized the ads as racist and reminiscent of past Republican campaigns that used dog whistles to appeal to suburban white voters. Trump made the message explicit when he invoked the infamous 1988 “Willie Horton” ad and displayed dozens of mugshots of men of color on a jumbotron during a rally stumping for Michael Whatley, Cooper’s Republican rival.
In contrast to his party’s messaging, Tillis noted his state’s safety in recent years.
“Frankly, when I hear somebody talking about crime in Charlotte, I live 25 minutes from downtown. I’m not worried about walking through Charlotte at night,” said Tillis.
National Democrats contend that Republicans’ message on violent crime is undercut by the Trump administration’s hardline immigration enforcement actions, which resulted in the killing of two American protesters in January and the fatal shootings of multiple undocumented people. They accuse Trump of corruption and have hammered Republicans for alleged complicity in the president’s self-dealing.
“This is the biggest criminal organization that we’ve ever seen,” said Sen. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, of the current White House.
He added that, “Democrats should be pushing back with the fact that, if not for the fact that he was president, this guy would be leading some type of mafia right now.”
Lauren Bis, a White House spokeswoman, said “extreme Democrats are trying to deflect from their radical soft on crime agenda.”
President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at The Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala., Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a campaign event for Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., background left, in Bakersfield, Calif., Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
