It’s Raider Week for the Kansas City Chiefs, and they’re set to face their biggest AFC West rival in a matchup unlike any we’ve seen before. The Chiefs are 3-0, and the Las Vegas Raiders are 3-0. It’s the first time both teams have met with that record in the same NFL season.

The Raiders’ start is not a fluke. This is a football team with renewed energy and talent under first-year coach Klint Kubiak. He arrived from the Seattle Seahawks, where Kubiak coached current Chiefs RB Kenneth Walker as the team’s Super Bowl-winning offensive coordinator in 2025.

The Raiders still have Maxx Crosby, who will make things tough on Kahlil Benson and Jaylon Moore. They’ve got a veteran quarterback in Kirk Cousins, who knows how to play mistake-free football. Alongside him are a few emerging young stars that make this opponent different than in years past.

Here’s what Chiefs fans need to know about this particular Raiders team ahead of Week 4.

Brock Bowers is being used like a wide receiver

Brock Bowers has only one-game sample under Kubiak after missing the first two weeks with injury. Through that single game, it’s increasingly clear Las Vegas doesn’t view Bowers as a traditional tight end. According to ESPN’s Ben Solak, only eight of his 33 routes in Week 3 came from tight alignments. All 13 of his targets came when he was aligned out wide or in the slot.

Bowers posted a 43.3% target share in Week 3, which ranks in the 99th percentile, per Syed’s Schemes. He was targeted five times on third down, and he converted all five. He finished the game with 10 catches, 116 yards, and a touchdown. Kubiak is using him as an X receiver, much like the Seahawks used WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Seattle. They find ways to isolate him in single coverage and let him go to work.

Bowers will be target No. 1 for the Chiefs’ defense, and slowing him down won’t be easy. Kansas City doesn’t have the personnel to follow and stop a player like this consistently. If he draws a linebacker, it’s a mismatch. If he draws a safety, it’s still a mismatch. The Chiefs might be best off putting a big cornerback on him and letting that player shadow him all game. Someone like CB L’Jarius Sneed could make a lot of sense.

The Raiders have one of the best young cornerbacks in the NFL

There’s a lot to be excited about with Chiefs CB Mansoor Delane, the No. 6 overall pick. However, the Raiders also have one of the best rookie cornerbacks in the league.

A fifth-round draft pick out of Cal, Hezekiah Masses has opened his career with one of the most impressive three-game stretches. In 80 coverage snaps, he has three interceptions and four passes broken up. He’s allowed just an 18.2 passer rating into his coverage. Masses is also tied for the most interceptions through a player’s first three career games since the 1980 NFL season. He’s playing like the front-runner for Defensive Rookie of the Year.

The bottom line is that Masses looks like a true shutdown cornerback, something the Raiders haven’t had in a long time. He’ll likely match up with Kansas City’s top option this week, whether that’s WR Xavier Worthy or WR Rashee Rice. Either way, Masses has proven he can shut down an opposing No. 1 receiver. Even with some regression, having a player like that will make things harder for Kansas City.

Ashton Jeanty is good at what the Chiefs have struggled to defend in the run game

The Chiefs have done a fairly decent job against the run this season. They’re allowing just 3.8 yards per carry, and they haven’t surrendered many explosive plays to opposing running backs through three games.

What they have struggled to defend isn’t the run up the middle. It’s the run to the edges and outside the numbers. That, I’m afraid, is exactly where Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty has done his best work. Some of his most explosive plays have come on those perimeter runs, and Kubiak featured outside runs at the fifth-highest rate in the NFL last season. This scheme-and-player match clearly benefits Jeanty and could realistically be a problem for Kansas City.

Why is that? The Chiefs don’t have the best athleticism at linebacker to get outside quickly and defend those plays. They’ve made up for some of that with cornerbacks and defensive backs coming downhill to make tackles, but you don’t want to rely on that against one of the league’s more elusive and dangerous running backs. Shutting down Jeanty’s downhill runs might not be so difficult. Shutting down his outside runs is another story.

There’s a clear weak link for the Kansas City Chiefs to attack on the offensive line

As improved as the Raiders look, they aren’t without issues. Offensive guard Spencer Burford is the weak link on their offensive line, particularly in pass protection. Burford has allowed 12 pressures through three games, according to Pro Football Focus. That’s the fourth-most of any NFL offensive lineman. He tends to get the benefit of the doubt because of his run blocking, but his pass protection leaves something to be desired.

The Las Vegas Raiders had plenty of roster battles during training camp this summer. The one that wasn’t a battle, but probably should have been, was the left guard spot. Kubiak and Spytek brought in a familiar face from Kubiak’s days in San Francisco, and Spencer Burford immediately won the job. Although some thought rookie Trey Zuhn would push him for it. Now, it’s evident that probably should have been the case. The Raiders’ offensive line is far better than it was this time last year. But they have an obvious weak link: Burford. He played terribly against the Saints and is now at four blown blocks on the year, per Sports Info Solutions. He’s been by far the worst pass blocker on the team. Burford is a career backup who’s had to play a lot because the guys in front of him have been injured. He’s a starter now, but Burford definitely doesn’t fit in with the rest of the guys up front wearing silver and black. He struggled against the Saints’ defensive line, so it’s hard to say what a guy like Chris Jones could do to him on Sunday.

Kansas City will likely target him in the passing game, with plenty of matchups against DT Chris Jones and rookie DT Peter Woods. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see some of those NASCAR packages, with a player like DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah lining up inside to cause fits for Burford. How well the Chiefs exploit that matchup could go a long way toward deciding which team leaves Week 4 still unbeaten.