If you had asked me before the season which AFC West team would be undefeated after three weeks, the Las Vegas Raiders probably wouldn’t have been my first answer.

Or my second.

Maybe not even my third.

Yet here we are. Three weeks into the Klint Kubiak era, the Raiders are 3-0, coming off a 35-27 comeback victory over New Orleans (another surprise team) and sitting alongside the Kansas City Chiefs atop an AFC West that spent the entire offseason generating hype around just about everybody else. It’s Las Vegas’ first 3-0 start since 2021 and only its third since 1991.

Do I suddenly think the Raiders are going to win 13 games and make a deep playoff run? No. We’ll get to that schedule in a minute.

But something interesting is happening in Las Vegas, and whether this hot start lasts another week or another three months, I think we’re already seeing evidence that the foundation being built by Kubiak, Tom Brady and this new Raiders regime might be considerably further along than anyone expected.

The funniest part? The quarterback they drafted No. 1 overall to eventually lead it hasn’t even played yet.

Maybe Klint Kubiak Was Ready for This

The Raiders hired Kubiak because they believed he could help build their next era. Three games obviously aren’t enough to determine whether any coaching hire will work long term, but it’s difficult to imagine his tenure beginning much better.

Las Vegas opened the season by beating Miami, went on the road and defeated the Chargers, then traveled to New Orleans and erased an 11-point second-half deficit to remain undefeated. Against the Saints, the Raiders scored the game’s final 19 points, turning a 27-16 deficit into a 35-27 victory.

That’s the part that has impressed me more than the 3-0 record itself.

This doesn’t look like a team simply benefiting from a few lucky bounces. Kubiak already appears to have established some resilience within this group. Against New Orleans, the Raiders could have folded after falling behind by double digits. Instead, the offense responded, the defense started creating turnovers and Las Vegas completely flipped the game.

Through three weeks, the defense has forced nine turnovers and boasts the best turnover differential in the NFL, while the offense has found a veteran quarterback playing some of his best football in years.

For a franchise that went 2-15 last season, matching surpassing that win total before September is even over is incredible progress by any standards.

Kirk Cousins Has Been Exactly What the Raiders Needed

When Las Vegas selected Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick, the natural assumption was that we’d see him sooner rather than later. That’s how the NFL operates now. Draft a quarterback early, hand him the keys and hope he figures everything out before the pressure overwhelms him.

The Raiders chose a different path.

They brought in Kirk Cousins and made it clear during training camp that the veteran would begin the season as their starter. Kubiak resisted the temptation to rush Mendoza simply because of where he was drafted, and three weeks into the season, that decision looks pretty smart.

Cousins has thrown three touchdown passes in each of Las Vegas’ first three games, giving him nine through three weeks, tied at the top of the NFL. Against New Orleans, he completed 22 of 33 passes for 248 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions while helping engineer that second-half comeback.

That’s not simply a placeholder keeping the seat warm for the rookie. That’s winning quarterback play.

And Cousins seems to understand exactly what his role is. He’s trying to win football games now while also helping prepare Mendoza for the future. The veteran has spoken positively about the similarities he sees between himself and the rookie and has embraced the mentorship component rather than treating the No. 1 pick as somebody waiting to take his job.

This is exactly why I’ve never understood the obsession with immediately throwing every highly drafted quarterback onto the field. If Mendoza eventually becomes the franchise quarterback Las Vegas believes it drafted, nobody is going to care that he spent September of his rookie season holding a clipboard.

Let him watch. Let him learn Kubiak’s offense. Let him watch how Cousins prepares during the week, handles protections, responds to mistakes and manages an NFL huddle.

Most importantly, let him develop without being asked to rescue a franchise.

Right now, there isn’t anything to rescue. The Raiders are undefeated.

Oh Yeah, Brock Bowers Is Back Too

As if Cousins needed another reason to enjoy his new surroundings, Brock Bowers returned against New Orleans.

That went about as well as you would expect.

In his first game back from injury, Bowers was targeted 13 times and caught 10 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. His return immediately gave Cousins one of the best security blankets in football and added another dimension to an offense that had already won its first two games without him. That’s a pretty significant development.

If Las Vegas could start 2-0 while waiting for Bowers to return, what does Kubiak’s offense look like once he’s fully integrated?

We saw a glimpse against New Orleans. Cousins found Bowers for the touchdown that pushed Las Vegas ahead late, and the star tight end looked remarkably comfortable for someone playing his first game of the season.

That’s another reason I’m enjoying this start so much. This isn’t Fernando Mendoza unexpectedly carrying a rebuilding team and forcing the Raiders to completely rethink their timeline. The pieces that were supposed to make life easier for Mendoza in the future are beginning to work before he even takes the field.

That’s almost the perfect scenario.

Brady and Kubiak Are Building Something

I’ve thought since the offseason that the combination of Kubiak on the sideline and Tom Brady having significant influence within the organization gave the Raiders an interesting long-term direction.

Brady has become deeply involved in the football operation alongside owner Mark Davis and general manager John Spytek, and the organization has spent the last couple of years trying to establish something Las Vegas desperately needed after years of instability: an actual identity.

Draft Mendoza. Don’t rush him. Bring in Cousins. Build around Bowers and Ashton Jeanty. Keep Maxx Crosby as the heartbeat of the defense. Develop the young players around them. Give Kubiak time to establish his system and culture. That’s a plan I can understand.

What I didn’t expect was for the Raiders to start winning this quickly.

That’s what makes 3-0 so encouraging. Even if Las Vegas comes crashing back to earth over the next two months, we’re already getting a glimpse of what this could eventually become when Mendoza is ready.

And speaking of those next two months…

Okay, Now Comes the Hard Part

Before Raiders fans start booking February hotel rooms, we should probably acknowledge the elephant in the room. Las Vegas’ first three opponents—Miami, the Chargers and New Orleans—are currently a combined 1-8.

The Raiders took care of the teams on their schedule, which is all you can ask them to do. But we’re about to learn considerably more about this team. The upcoming stretch is borderline cruel.

Kansas City comes to Las Vegas this weekend. Then the Raiders travel to New England before hosting Buffalo and the Rams. After a trip to face the Jets, they’ll get San Francisco, Seattle and Denver in consecutive weeks before Thanksgiving.

That’s the Chiefs, Patriots, Bills, Rams, 49ers, Seahawks and Broncos packed into a seven-week stretch with only the Jets interrupting it. Good luck!

There are multiple legitimate Super Bowl contenders in there, several difficult defenses and a collection of quarterbacks capable of exposing every weakness Las Vegas still has.

So yes, 3-0 could become 4-4 in a hurry. It could even get uglier than that…and that’s okay.

This Season Was Always About Something Bigger

I’m not ready to call the Raiders a playoff team. Three games shouldn’t erase all the questions that existed in August, and beating teams with a combined 1-8 record isn’t enough for me to suddenly put Las Vegas alongside Buffalo, Baltimore or the other established AFC contenders.

But I also don’t think that’s the most important takeaway here.

The Raiders entered 2026 trying to build something sustainable. Mendoza was supposed to represent the future at quarterback. Kubiak was supposed to establish the offensive identity and culture. Brady, Spytek and Davis were supposed to finally give this franchise some organizational stability.

If the Raiders had started 1-2 while showing progress in those areas, there probably would’ve been reasons for optimism. Instead, they’re 3-0.

Cousins has nine touchdown passes. Bowers just returned with a 10-catch, 116-yard performance. The defense is creating turnovers. Kubiak has already shown an ability to get his team to respond when games turn against them.

And Mendoza gets to watch all of it without carrying the weight of an entire franchise on his shoulders.

Maybe this lasts. Maybe it doesn’t. That’s part of the fun.

But after an offseason filled with bold predictions about Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City, Denver’s continued rise and what the Chargers could become, there’s something wonderfully amusing about checking the AFC West standings after three weeks and seeing the supposedly rebuilding Raiders sitting right there at the top.

The difficult part begins now.

But even if the next two months bring Las Vegas back to reality, these first three weeks have already given me more reason to believe in where this franchise is headed.

The Raiders drafted their quarterback of the future, hired the coach they believe can develop him and began building a new culture around both of them.

They just forgot one thing.

Apparently, nobody told Kirk Cousins and the rest of the roster that they were supposed to wait until the future to start winning.