Nakobe Dean has forced a fumble in each of his first three games with the Las Vegas Raiders, already matching his total from four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Nakobe Dean has needed just three games with the Las Vegas Raiders to match a turnover total that took him four seasons to reach with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Dean forced another fumble in Sunday's 35-27 victory over the New Orleans Saints, giving the linebacker three forced fumbles through his first three games with Las Vegas.
According to Dean's official Raiders bio, he forced three fumbles in 47 regular-season games with the Eagles. He has already matched that total by forcing one in each of his first three games with the Raiders.
The latest couldn't have come at a better time.
With New Orleans attempting to tie the game in the closing seconds Sunday, Dean knocked the ball loose from Saints tight end Juwan Johnson. Eric Stokes recovered it to seal the Raiders' third straight victory.
"We knew we had to rally back; we had to start back playing our type of football," Dean told Raiders.com after the game. "And that's our style of play, taking the ball away."
Dean's forced fumble capped a strong second half by the Las Vegas defense. The Raiders forced four turnovers after halftime while rallying from a 27-16 deficit and improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2021.
It also continued an impressive opening stretch for one of the Raiders' biggest offseason additions.
Dean made an immediate impact in his Las Vegas debut, recording six tackles, a sack and a forced fumble in a 27-13 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
He followed that with nine tackles, half a sack and another forced fumble in a 26-14 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Against New Orleans, Dean led the Raiders with 12 tackles, including 11 solo stops, and added a pass breakup to his game-sealing forced fumble.
The production has helped an overhauled Las Vegas defense emerge as one of the NFL's early surprises.
And Dean's impact goes beyond the numbers.
"He's a heartbeat of our defense," Raiders coach Klint Kubiak said Sunday. "We're counting on him every week."
Three weeks into his Raiders career, Dean is giving Las Vegas plenty of reasons to keep counting on him.
