The Las Vegas Raiders are 3-4 after opening the season 3-0, and that four-game losing streak puts them in rare company. Vegas is the first team since 2021 to win its first three games and then drop four straight. The Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers were the last two teams to do it. That’s not the company you want to keep.

Still, the Raiders look like a team that will win more games than it did last year. They only need one more win to pass last season’s total, but you’d like to see at least three more. Six wins remain a good placeholder for what to expect from Klint Kubiak’s group. Getting there requires fixing two problems, one on each side of the ball.

The Raiders have to run the ball better

Las Vegas has too much talent at running back to struggle this much on the ground. The run game has become a big issue, and Kubiak is on the hook.

The run game’s lack of versatility isn’t helping the backs one bit. Ashton Jeanty is running almost exclusively between the tackles, and defenses see it. Mike Washington Jr. is running almost exclusively outside the tackles, and defenses see that too.

When the opponent knows what’s coming based on who’s in the backfield, it takes little to sniff it out. The offensive line isn’t helping either. I believe the Raiders rank inside the top 10 in pressures allowed, even though they aren’t in the top 10 in sacks allowed. Regardless of where the numbers land, the unit has to be better overall.

The defense can’t keep giving up 30 points

Then there’s the defense, which isn’t playing well. Sam Warren of The Athletic pointed it out in a post on X: The defense has allowed 30 or more points in 4 straight weeks, and running the ball continues to be an issue. To be fair, the schedule has been brutal. Over the last four games, the Raiders faced one of the NFL’s toughest stretches.

They played the New England Patriots, who reached the Super Bowl last year, and the Buffalo Bills, a team many people expect to contend for a title. They also faced the Los Angeles Rams, the Super Bowl favorite, and the Kansas City Chiefs, a dynasty with probably the league’s best head coach and quarterback.

So, yes, Vegas has been playing at its best. But you want this team to compete with that level of opponent, and it can’t keep allowing 30 points a week. The run game and the defense go hand in hand, even though they sit on opposite sides of the ball. Those are the two reasons the Raiders have four losses.

Here’s where it stands

It’s not too late at 3-4. But this is where you start asking yourself: if it hasn’t happened yet, will it? Maybe it will. Up next are the New York Jets, who are 2-5 and not a good football team. That could be where things start to look better, because Las Vegas has a lot of the hard games out of the way.

The stretch after that won’t be easy, though. The Raiders face the San Francisco 49ers, who just suffered their first loss, and the Seattle Seahawks, who just won the Super Bowl. Then they meet the Broncos. I don’t see a way they win three of those next four games to reach six wins.

After that, the schedule opens up. The Cleveland Browns are 5-2, but they’re beatable. The Los Angeles Chargers are the league’s most beatable team. Las Vegas could split the AFC West series with Denver, then face the Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals. The Raiders close out the season against the Chiefs in Week 18, and Kansas City could be resting its starters by then. You never know.

Either way, six wins are still within reach. This team has the makings of a gritty, blue-collar group that can upset contenders fighting for playoff spots and surprise everybody. That only happens if the run game and the defense get fixed.