By Tiffany Williams –
The Raiders walked into Dallas and played the Cowboys dead-even for long stretches, but left with a stat sheet that says everything about what this team is becoming: a defense that keeps dragging games into the mud and an offense that’s still searching for teeth. Las Vegas finished with 236 total net yards while the Cowboys racked up 381, but the Raiders defense once again kept the whole thing from turning into a blowout. Dallas managed 267 passing yards and 114 rushing yards, and that 114 fits neatly into a season in which Vegas is allowing just 107.3 rushing yards per game, sitting middle of the NFL pack and grinding opponents down. The Cowboys averaged only 3.7 yards per rush, and the Raiders are holding opponents to 3.8 per carry this season, the second-stingiest mark in the league.
This is the formula all year: force teams to earn every inch. Dallas averaged just 5.9 yards per play, right in line with the Raiders’ season-long 5.2 yards allowed per play, one of the better marks in the NFL. Thomas Booker IV slapped down another pass, giving the defensive line 16 passes defensed in 2025—more than any other defensive line in the league—and the unit added two more tackles for loss, pushing its season total to 57. They held the Cowboys to 4-for-10 on third down and 1-for-3 on fourth, and Maxx Crosby punched out another forced fumble, adding to the Raiders’ total of five this year. Fifteen different Las Vegas defenders logged multiple tackles, the first time they’ve done that all year, the kind of across-the-board swarm effort that makes this defense look like it’s playing with twice as many bodies as its opponent. And while the offense has been inconsistent, the distribution is evolving: this was the second game of the season with at least eight different receivers catching a pass, a number the Raiders hit only twice last season.
The Cowboys were forced into just one three-and-out, but that still bumps Vegas to 26 such stops on the year, one of the better totals in the league. It’s a defense that refuses to collapse, strain after strain, even when the offense can’t flip the field.
Brock Bowers remains the offense’s gravitational force. He led the Raiders with seven catches for 72 yards and three gains of at least ten yards. He keeps stacking historic pace: 11 career games with at least 60 receiving yards, part of a receiving streak nobody in the Raiders’ tight end history has matched, and he’s hit at least 30 receiving yards in 20 straight games. He’s one of only five tight ends ever to deliver multiple catches in 23 of his first 24 games, now up to 151 career receptions—passing Anquan Boldin and Puka Nacua, tying Michael Thomas, and trailing only Odell Beckham Jr. through 24 games. Among NFL tight ends this year he’s top ten across receptions, yards, and yards per catch despite playing only seven games. The Raiders didn’t just draft a weapon; they drafted a metronome.
Daniel Carlson remains the heartbeat of the Raiders’ scoring consistency. Three-for-three on field goals—35, 48, 38—and a perfect extra point for ten points. It’s his 31st career game with at least three field goals, tying him for seventh most by a kicker in his first eight seasons. This was his 34th career 10-point game, a mark that keeps him glued near the top of the league going back to 2018. He’s now 218-for-251 on field goals since 2018, hitting at an 86.9 percent clip while leading the NFL in field goals made over that span. If the Raiders cross midfield, Carlson is practically an automatic deposit.
AJ Cole did what AJ Cole always does—changed field position by force. Three punts, 53.3-yard average, a drop inside the five, and a 64-yard missile. He now has three punts downed inside the five this season, 19 since 2019, and he keeps stacking an eye-popping résumé: 181 punts downed inside the 20 since entering the league, 30 games with a punting average of at least 50 yards, and 69 punts of 60 or more yards. He’s not just a specialist; he’s a cheat code for a defense-first team.
Maxx Crosby once again played like a one-man demolition crew: five tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, a tackle for loss, and two quarterback hits. He’s now at 6.0 sacks this season—marking seven straight years hitting at least six—and owns 65.5 career sacks, one of the top totals in the NFL since 2019. He added his 14th tackle for loss of 2025, sits atop the league in TFLs since 2019, and has piled up 155 quarterback hits in that span. Crosby is the living, snarling reminder that the Raiders defense still has a superstar at its center.
Geno Smith’s night was steady if unspectacular: 27-of-42 for 238 yards, one touchdown, one pick, and 14 yards rushing. He’s at a 66.3 percent completion rate on the year, top ten among high-volume quarterbacks, and he added two completions of 20 or more yards, bringing his season total to 26. Tre Tucker gave the offense a spark with four catches for 47 yards and a touchdown, including a 26-yarder and a six-yard score that marked his fifth touchdown of 2025. He’s now reached ten career receiving touchdowns at just 24 years and 254 days old, becoming one of the youngest Raiders ever to hit that milestone.
The Raiders walked out with the same problem they came in with: a defense that plays like it wants to drag opponents into the dirt, paired with an offense that can’t consistently deliver the knockout. This team hits, claws, disrupts, tips balls at the line, flips the field with its punter, and refuses to give up easy yards. But until the offense catches up to the defense’s relentlessness, they’ll keep finding themselves in knife fights where one mistake undoes an entire night of heavy lifting.
Sports Insider Daily 