Raiders Edging Closer To Record For Points-Allowed Futility

Through two weeks of the NFL season, it was all peaches and cream for the Las Vegas Raiders' defense.

In season-opening 27-13 and 26-14 defeats, respectively, of the Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Chargers, the Raiders had allowed a total of 27 points and an average of 284.5 yards per game while forcing five turnovers and recording eight sacks.

Those numbers, as it turns out, were a mirage.

First off, they came against teams that now stand a combined 1-15 through nine weeks of the 2026 season, with the Chargers' win especially not aging well as they have become a laughingstock with an 0-8 record.

Also, that total of 27 points allowed through two weeks has become significant because since then the Raiders have not allowed less than 27 points in any single game, the latest entry in this house of horrors being Sunday's 38-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

This current streak of seven consecutive contests in which they've coughed up 27 or more points moves them within striking distance of the NFL's all-time record of single-game points-allowed futility.

The record for allowing 27 or more points in the most consecutive games is nine, which was tied in 2025 by the Cincinnati Bengals, who followed in the defensively incompetent footsteps of the 1964 Denver Broncos and 2020 Chargers.

Maybe the most amazing thing during this streak of defensive generosity is the fact that Las Vegas has actually won two of those seven games, 35-27 over the New Orleans Saints in Week 3 - when it was all seashells and balloons and the Raiders had a 3-0 record - and the 38-33 win in Week 8 at the more-incompetent New York Jets, which still required a comeback from a 23-14 halftime deficit.

The defensive failures since late September have been total and complete with Las Vegas allowing 414.3 yards per game over the past seven, while they have been able to force only five turnovers over the last six games after recording nine total in the first three weeks. They also have only 11 sacks in the past seven games after rolling up eight in the first two.

That has left them last in the NFL through nine weeks in points allowed with 268 (29.8 per game) and total yards allowed with 3,469 (385.4 per game). The 190 yards the 49ers gained on the ground also moved Las Vegas to the bottom in yards allowed rushing at 1,361, an average of 154.6 per contest.

Now, we must wonder if there is any type of defensive light at the end of the 27-points-or-more tunnel. Next up is a visit on Sunday from the Seattle Seahawks. The good news is Seattle averages just 22.4 points a game, but the bad news is they average 110.8 yards per game on the ground.

After that are back-to-back visits to the Denver Broncos (22.0 points per game), who will be coming off their bye week, and the Cleveland Browns (17.9 ppg), who will also be coming off their bye.

So, will it be a return to peaches and cream as the defense rebounds over the next three weeks against a trio of teams that are not exactly offensive powerhouse, or a much-less palatable limes and sardines as the Raiders finally enter their own bye week in Week 12 with an unwanted record newly attached to their name?