RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from Yahoo Sports — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 1 sources
HOUSTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 20: Woody Marks #4 of the Houston Texans rushes into the end zone for a touchdown during the first quarter of the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at NRG Stadium on August 20, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images) | Getty Images
While the Klint Kubiak era is indeed in its infancy, the Las Vegas Raiders are in mid-season form in one particular aspect: Penalties.
After engaging in two of the three preseasons games, Kubiak’s desert marauders racked up 17 infractions to the tune of 158 yards. The Silver & Black’s most recent outing — a 22-20 comeback win over the Houston Texans this past Thursday night — showcased nine penalties to the tune of 83 yards. And no part of the Raiders’ game was immune as early in the game, all three phases (offense, defense, and special teams) partook in mental lapses resulting in infractions.
In Las Vegas’ first preseason tilt — against the Arizona Cardinals on Aug. 13 — the team committed eight penalties for 75 yards.
And Kubiak is none to happy.
A stickler for attention to detail, his football team’s habit of mental lapses isn’t ideal — even for a rookie head coach in his first season helming an NFL franchise. But Kubiak takes full onus of the situation noting that blame falls upon his shoulders in the immediate aftermath during the post-game press conference. And he expanded upon it during media availability Friday morning.
#Raiders HC Klint Kubiak said he's "very concerned" about the number of penalties: "Two weeks in a row, and that's on me as a coach … That's on me to get that cleaned up. I said the same thing last week, so I'd better figure it out real quick." https://t.co/MyvlKcM2DG pic.twitter.com/PLPiIFUaqA
— SleeperRaiders (@SleeperRaiders) August 21, 2026
“Holding guys accountable, working, drilling things that we didn’t do as well. For instance, a back block on Roman Hemby, educating guys better on the rules,” Kubiak explained when asked how does he intend to coach penalties out of his team. “We got D-Cam (cornerback Decamerion Richardson), made a costly error running out of bounds. I know that’s things that we coach them on every day, but we do have a lot of young guys that you can’t take anything for granted. So, we put it on ourselves as coaches number one, with how we educate them, what we’re practicing, what we’re drilling, and it’s on us, as coaches, to get it fixed.”
Richardson’s gaffe, in particular, occurred on the Raiders’ second offensive drive (post Fernando Mendoza pick six), and negated a booming 64-yard punt by punter AJ Cole III which was downed deep in Texans’ territory inside the 10-yard line. Richardson ran out of bounds on the punt coverage and was the first to touch the ball resulting in Houston getting the ball on the 20-yard line. Eight plays and 48 yards later, the Texans drilled a 51-yard field goal to take a 17-0 lead in the opening quarter.
“I don’t know if I’ve seen that many special teams penalties in a game, and you look at the guys that are committing these penalties, and these are some younger guys, and it’s not acceptable,” Kubiak said. “So, we have to get it fixed defensively. We get a stop on third down, we taunt a guy and let them stay on the field. Unacceptable. One was a face mask defensively. It’s two weeks in a row that, as a coaching staff, we’ve got substitution penalties. Unacceptable.”
The taunting penalty arrived when promising 2026 draft fourth-round pick Jermod McCoy was flagged for doing a dual thumbs down as he stood above a Texan after an incompletion .
We’ve heard plenty of previous Raiders coaching staffs lament on eliminating or reducing penalties and that job is on them as coaches. So it’ll be intriguing to see if Kubiak and his crew can course correct going forward.
Woody Marks recorded a 23.0% forced missed tackle rate last season, the highest for a starting Texans running back under DeMeco Ryans LVvsHOU on ESPN Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/A9ARriGZ7D
— NFL+ (@NFLPlus) August 21, 2026
Tackle The Job
Yes, the Raiders rested a vast swath of defensive starters against the Texans — cornerback Darien Porter was one of a handful of potential starters active and on the field in second preseason clash — but even accounting for that and the vanilla play calls used in exhibition tilts, tackling issues remain for the Silver & Black.
As you can see from the post above from NFL Plus, Houston running back Woody Marks is already a tough tackle and the Raiders defenders had a rough time wrapping him up proper on the opening drive. Marks 20-yard touchdown on the Texans first possession was a prime example of Raiders getting to him — like safety Tristin McCollum and Porter — but Houston was not to be denied. Marks ended up carrying both Raiders safety Treydan Stukes and linebacker Tommy Eichenberg into the end zone with him.
Las Vegas’ tackling ability did improve as Houston began to substitute in more second-, third-string players and the roster hopefuls. And it wasn’t all a lost cause as both McCollum and Stukes showcased strong tackling ability in the open field when presented opportunities. Stukes, in particular, used his instincts, speed, and explosion to diagnose and react to a play for a tackle behind the line of scrimmage. An encouraging sign of progress for the 2026 second-round pick who was slow to garner first-team defensive snaps in training camp practices.
McCollum and 2026 fifth-round pick Dalton Johnson paced Las Vegas with seven total tackles each, while defensive end Patrick Johnson and defensive tackle Thomas Booker led the team with two stops for loss. A major portion of the comeback victory was takeaways by the Raiders defense as two strip sacks resulted in a pair of takeaways.
“As a team, being plus one in the turnover margin, that’s how you win games. So, with (defensive coordinator) Rob (Leonard) taking it away, with our offense protecting the ball, that’s how you w...
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.