Raiders Earn Big Win But Run Defense Remains A Big Concern

So, it appears that this is how it will be for the remainder of the 2026 season for the Las Vegas Raiders, nothing but white-knuckle thrill rides that will test the resolve, sanity and cuticles of their ardent fans.

The latest example to back up this premise came on Sunday when the Raiders traveled cross-country for a 10 a.m. PT kickoff in New Jersey and required a second-half comeback to ultimately subdue the New York Jets 38-33, who fell to 2-6 with the defeat.

The win snapped the Raiders' four-game losing streak and moved them to 4-4, which places them just one game out of a playoff spot behind the 5-3 New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns.

As has been the case all season, it was up to the Kirk Cousins-led offense to lead the Raiders out of a bad spot.

In Sunday's case, however, the performance of the defense was notably bad. In falling behind 23-14 at the half, the Raiders allowed New York to advance inside their 20-yard line on all five of their first-half drives, the first time a Jet's team had accomplished that feat since 2024.

To make matters worse, the Jets came out on their first drive of the third quarter - after Cousins had found Brock Bowers for a 2-yard touchdown pass to slice the deficit to 23-21 on the second half's first possession - and moved inside the Raiders' 20 before Braelon Allen's TD run bumped the lead back to 30-21.

That was a common theme on the day: Allen racing virtually unimpeded through the Raiders' Swiss-cheese run defense. In the first half alone, Allen, who was only seeing extensive game action because Breece Hall was sidelined with injury, had 18 carries for 121 yards, a per-carry average of 6.7 yards.

As a team, the Jets had 140 yards on 23 totes in the first half, a 6.1-yard average.

Keep in mind, Allen is not Emmitt Smith and the Jets are not the Jim Brown Cleveland Browns. Entering the game, they were averaging 96.4 yards rushing per contest, 22nd in the league, and a 26th-best 3.8 yards per carry.

But, admittedly, they were going against a defense that has now allowed a total of 1,097 yards rushing in its last seven games, an average of 156.7 yards per game. That's not a coincidence, that's a five-alarm fire of a trend.

The D's 1,171 rushing yards allowed through eight games now stands 31st in the league, and the 5.1 average yards per carry compiled by the backs they've face is rock bottom - 32nd - in the NFL.

To be fair, the defense as a whole did rise up when it counted against New York. The Jets only managed to add 26 rushing yards in the second half (Allen would finish with 147), while four of New York's seven forays into the Las Vegas red zone resulted in only field goals, and after the Raiders moved ahead 35-30 with 11:33 to play, the Jets' final three drives of the game netted only three points.

But while the skid-stopping win is nice, the questions will remain about coordinator Rob Leonard's defense, especially as it pertains to stopping the run. Next up is a trip to face Christian McCaffrey and the San Francisco 49ers, which is generally not a prescription that is very helpful for an ailing run defense.