The Raiders have figured out how to begin video games, how to dangle around in them and how to make issues attention-grabbing at the finish.

Now, if somebody could remind them there is soccer to be performed instantly after halftime, they might be onto something.

And that somebody has to be Klint Kubiak.

The Raiders coach units the tone. He directs the offense, establishes the follow priorities and helps decide what his crew carries from the locker room onto the area. If the Raiders hold rising from halftime looking for their footing, he has to lead the effort to repair it.

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak seems to be on during a recreation against the Buffalo Bills at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The numbers demand it.

The Raiders have been outscored by 26 factors in the third quarter, the worst differential in the NFL. That consists of being outscored 24-3 during the three-game dropping streak they take into Sunday’s matchup against the Rams.

They are on the optimistic aspect in every other quarter, including a plus-20 mark in the fourth.

They can get out of the gate. They can compete before halftime. They can summon enough urgency to make a late push.

But somewhere between the halftime dialog and the return to the area, something retains getting lost.

Energy? Execution? The potential to anticipate what the opponent might change?

Whatever the mixture, discovering the reply belongs at the prime of Kubiak’s tasks this week. With the wounded, susceptible Rams coming to city, the Raiders can not afford to squander another winnable recreation.

“I’m really upset with how we’re starting the third quarter,” Kubiak said. “Go three and out. That’s disappointing.”

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The frustration is comprehensible. Turning it into higher soccer is the task.

Kubiak deserves credit score for recognizing the drawback and placing duty on his teaching workers to generate more power after halftime. He understands that preparation extends beyond drawing up performs.

But the tone he units has to carry into the execution. Urgency must present up in blocking assignments, route particulars and selections. A halftime message only issues if it interprets once the ball is snapped.

The irritating half is that the Raiders have discovered alternative ways to waste the alternative.

Against the Chiefs, they came out of halftime wanting like a crew with solutions. Ashton Jeanty gained seven and six yards on consecutive runs, then turned a Kirk Cousins move into a 28-yard achieve.

Three performs, 41 yards, and all of a sudden the Raiders were at Kansas City’s 26.

That wasn’t coming out flat. That was coming out swinging.

Then they let the Chiefs off the hook.

A 3-yard Mike Washington Jr. run was adopted by two incompletions. Matt Gay made a 41-yard area objective, but when a Kansas City penalty created a fourth-and-2 alternative, Kubiak took the factors off the board and put his offense back on the area.

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) throws before an NFL soccer recreation against the Buffalo Bills in Las Vegas, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. AP Photo/David Becker

Cousins’ move to Jeanty fell incomplete.

The gamers had to execute. Kubiak had to own the determination. A possession that started with promise ended with nothing.

Against New England, the failure prolonged to both sides of the ball. The Patriots took the second-half kickoff and traveled 68 yards in 4 performs, turning a 21-7 halftime lead into a 28-7 cushion barely two minutes into the third quarter. Even second-and-19 supplied the Raiders no safety, with Drake Maye discovering Kyle Williams for a 34-yard landing.

The offense’s response? Two Jeanty runs for a mixed 5 yards, an incomplete move to Bowers and a punt.

The Raiders wanted a cease and a spark. They delivered neither. By the time their offense returned to the sideline, the alternative to reset at halftime had become another missed likelihood to change the recreation.

Against Buffalo, the malfunction was rapid.

With the recreation tied 13-13, the Raiders opened the second half with three consecutive incompletions and a punt. No dashing makes an attempt. No yards. Nothing to construct on the two scoring drives that closed the first half.

Their next possession was worse.

Jeanty lost two yards on first down. Cousins was intercepted on the next play. Buffalo turned the quick area into a landing, and the Raiders were staring at a 23-13 deficit.

Five offensive performs. Minus-2 yards. One giveaway.

Against Kansas City, they wanted to end what they began. Against Buffalo, they wanted to begin something in the first place. Against the Patriots, the protection was a no-show.

Different breakdowns. Same empty feeling.

That is why lowering everything to power would miss the bigger problem. Kubiak wants to give his gamers both the urgency to reply and a plan they can execute.

The working recreation affords little stability: 475 yards on 157 carries through six video games, barely three yards per try. When a handoff produces little, the next move carries more weight. An incompletion becomes more damaging.

Kubiak has to discover methods to interrupt that cycle, whether through formations, play sequencing or getting the ball shortly to gamers who can create manageable downs.

He is also making an attempt to recreate halftime’s interruption during follow.

“We’ll emphasize it in our practice routine, create a stoppage in practice to simulate that,” said Cousins. “We did that a couple weeks ago as well, so we’ll practice it the best we can, and then it’s an absolute point of emphasis. It’s got to be better.”

The revealing half is that they have already tried it.

That does not make the train pointless. It means placing the drawback on the follow schedule is only the starting. Kubiak must decide why the emphasis has not carried over and regulate accordingly.

Las Vegas Raiders broad receiver Tre Tucker (1) celebrates his fourth-quarter landing with Ashton Jeanty (2) during an NFL soccer recreation against the Buffalo Bills at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. The Bills defeated the Raiders 33-30. Getty Images

Cousins understands the alternative.

“We have not played good football for the most part,” he said. “I mean, maybe one game had a better start to the third quarter, but we’ve got to be much, much better coming out.”

The fourth-quarter manufacturing exhibits there is something to work with. The problem is bringing that urgency ahead with out bringing desperation alongside with it.

The gamers share that duty. Receivers must end catches. Blockers must maintain assignments. The protection must stop an empty possession from turning into an avalanche.

But Kubiak leads them.

He can not make every play, but he can demand the preparation, set up the expectations and make selections that put his crew in place to succeed.

Against the Rams, these tasks have to produce something tangible.

The third quarter counts every bit as much as the fourth.

Kubiak has to set that tone. His crew has to carry it onto the area.