Las Vegas Raiders playmakers introduced themselves in win
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The Las Vegas Raiders 2026 season got off to a hot start with a 27-13 victory over the Miami Dolphins. Rookie head coach Klint Kubiak got his first victory. Starting quarterback Kirk Cousins threw his 299th, 300th and 301st career touchdown passes. Additionally, he also threw his first and second interceptions of the season as well. Cousins was marvelous in the game management role, but displayed a disturbing lack of arm strength.
The ballers
Ashton Jeanty ran 23 times for 102 yards and led the team in receiving. Catching six passes for 67 yards, including two touchdown passes. One was a beautifully run option route that faked out the middle linebacker and angled into the end zone. The other was a play-action pass where Cousins threw a touch pass that he caught up to and beat Jordyn Brooks to the end zone. Mike Washington Jr. made his debut in a backup role and rushed seven times for 41 yards, with the longest run of the day at 18 yards.
Jack Bech caught the first touchdown pass of the year from Kirk Cousins. Michael Mayer, the recently extended $45million dollar man, caught six passes for 32 yards and was a constant force as an inline blocker as well.
The hit squad
Free agent edge acquisition Kwity Paye had himself a silver-and-black party and invited all of Raider Nation to attend. Not only was he the first to sack the quarterback, but he would do so multiple times and be credited with a team-leading two sacks. Maxx Crosby had the highest pass rush win rate of the entire league, winning on 33% of his rushes and finishing with 1.5 sacks in the game. If you can read body language, Crosby was happy, feeling like he finally had the help around him he so desperately had been craving. Crosby would finish the game with 1.5 sacks and was on a “play count.”
Second-round draft pick free safety Treydan Stukes’s interception was the first turnover of the season. Stukes was all over the field, narrowly missing a second interception just off his fingertips later in the game. An extremely rangy safety with length and speed, Stukes displayed ball-hawking abilities that have been missing from the free safety position for years.
Strong safety Jeremy Chinn forced the first fumble of the year with a clean peanut punch. Letting it be known, if the ball gets too close to him, he’s still that dude. Pairing him with Stukes, who has the traditional free safety role, allows Chinn to focus and apply himself to what he does best. Defending the box, and locking up backs and tight ends.