Raiders snap four-game skid with wild 38-33 win over Jets

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — So, how do you stop a losing streak?

You stop it by making big plays in all three areas of football — offense, defense and special teams.

You stop it by keeping contact in a game you’re losing, staying resilient and not caving in to frustration.

And you stop it by closing the game out.

The Raiders managed to do all of those things just well enough Sunday at MetLife Stadium and snapped their four-game skid by beating the New York Jets 38-33 in what emerged as a wild contest in the Meadowlands.

It took an interception in the end zone from Jeremy Chinn to get Las Vegas back to .500 at 4-4 and also exceed their entire win total for 2025. And they did it at the expense of their former quarterback, Geno Smith, who made just enough mistakes to help the Raiders get the win.

“We just put our foot down and found a way,” said Chinn, who the play before his pick was flagged for unnecessary roughness to give the Jets a shot from the Las Vegas 30 with 14 seconds remaining. “It’s just a mindset more than anything.”

Offensively, the Raiders leaned on their tight ends — Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer — while sprinkling in some plays by receiver Jalen Nailor to help Kirk Cousins have a productive day. Bowers had seven receptions for 92 yards and two touchdowns while Mayer caught five passes for 53 yards. Nailor had four receptions and a TD. And on what was a fairly quiet day for him, running back Ashton Jeanty caught three passes, but turned one of the grabs into a 45-yard gain.

More noticeable was Jeanty’s rushing total — just two carries for nine yards as rookie Mike Washington Jr. got his first substantial playing time and ran for 83 yards on 25 carries. But with Cousins playing pitch-and-catch with Bowers and Mayer all day, Jeanty’s lack of productivity on the ground got lost in the shuffle.

“I give credit to those guys,” Kubiak said. “Brock and Mike were just fantastic. It surprises me when Brock doesn’t catch it.”

Cousins showed his leadership under duress Sunday, making enough plays to keep the Raiders in it and it’s why he remains the starter instead of Fernando Mendoza.

“That’s who he’s been all year,” Kubiak said of Cousins, who  was 19 of 26 for 247 yards, no interceptions and was sacked only once. “He’s been a leader and a playmaker for us.”

And not to be shortchanged in all of this was Dylan Laube. He’s been exceptional all season on the special teams and Sunday, with the Raiders desperate to get a spark, he provided it not once, not twice, but three times on kickoffs.

He made a smart play letting a kickoff go out of bounds rather than field it to give the Raiders great starting position at their 40. It would ultimately lead to a touchdown as Cousins connected with Bowers for a 12-yard score.

He made a great individual play defensively on a kickoff in the fourth quarter, nailing Jets returner Isaiah Williams at the New York 24 to make sure the Jets didn’t start with great field position.

Then there was the kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter. Laube fielded the ball at his own 5, went up the left side, got a big block from Tommy Eichenberg and he was gone.

“They’re giving me a bigger role each week,” Laube said. “I want to be the best in the league on special teams. Whatever it is, I want to be the best at it.”

When asked to recall the TD return, Laube said:  “I had no idea. It’s just an adrenaline rush. You’re flying down the field.”

Laube was equally excited about not allowing Williams to replicate his TD return when he nailed him deep in New York territory.

“I think my role is to bring that juice every single time and try to do everything I can to make something happen because it fires up the crowd, the offense and the defense” he said. “It’s just a special play.”

Kubiak was thrilled for Laube’s contributions, not just Sunday but every week.
 
“He’s from here and he had a lot of family and friends here so that’s really cool for him to have that moment,” Kubiak said of Laube, who grew up on Long Island and played collegiately at New Hampshire. “He’s a stud player for us. He continues to make plays.”

It didn’t look so great in the first half. Despite Laube’s heroics, the Raiders trailed 23-14 at halftime as Smith was picking the secondary apart, Eric Stokes in particular. Smith had 146 yards on 11-of-17 passing while Braelon Allen was running through the defense for 121 yards.

Smith would eventually finish with 290 yards through the air and Allen topped out at 147 on the ground as the Jets out-gained Las Vegas 439-333. But when the defense needed to get a stop in the second half, particularly toward the end, it did. It pressured Smith. It slowed down Allen. And the Jets ultimately unraveled.

“It’s part of the game,” Chinn said. “Geno’s a good quarterback. He’s been in the league a long time. He’s going to get his. But at some point, we’re going to get ours too so it’s about having a competitive stamina and continuing to fight.”

It’s the kind of resilience the Raiders showed at the start of the season when they opened 3-0. Maybe they’ve rediscovered it. Or maybe the Jets, who are 2-6, are just another bad football team.

“Our players were very resilient,” Kubiak said. “They played four quarters of football. It wasn’t all pretty, but it’s not always going to be pretty and you just have to find a way to win.”