The Raiders have figured out how to start games, how to hang around in them and how to make things interesting at the end.
Now, if somebody could remind them there is football to be played immediately after halftime, they might be onto something.
And that somebody has to be Klint Kubiak.
The Raiders coach sets the tone. He directs the offense, establishes the practice priorities and helps determine what his team carries from the locker room onto the field. If the Raiders keep emerging from halftime searching for their footing, he has to lead the effort to fix it.
The numbers demand it.
The Raiders have been outscored by 26 points in the third quarter, the worst differential in the NFL. That includes being outscored 24-3 during the three-game losing streak they take into Sunday’s matchup against the Rams.
They are on the positive side 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 conversation and the return to the field, something keeps getting lost.
Energy? Execution? The ability to anticipate what the opponent might change?
Whatever the combination, finding the answer belongs at the top of Kubiak’s responsibilities this week. With the wounded, vulnerable Rams coming to town, the Raiders cannot afford to squander another winnable game.
“I’m really upset with how we’re starting the third quarter,” Kubiak said. “Go three and out. That’s disappointing.”
The frustration is understandable. Turning it into better football is the assignment.
Kubiak deserves credit for recognizing the problem and putting responsibility on his coaching staff to generate more energy after halftime. He understands that preparation extends beyond drawing up plays.
But the tone he sets has to carry into the execution. Urgency must show up in blocking assignments, route details and decisions. A halftime message only matters if it translates once the ball is snapped.
The frustrating part is that the Raiders have found different ways to waste the opportunity.
Against the Chiefs, they came out of halftime looking like a team with answers. Ashton Jeanty gained seven and six yards on consecutive runs, then turned a Kirk Cousins pass into a 28-yard gain.
Three plays, 41 yards, and suddenly 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 followed by two incompletions. Matt Gay made a 41-yard field goal, but when a Kansas City penalty created a fourth-and-2 opportunity, Kubiak took the points off the board and put his offense back on the field.
Cousins’ pass to Jeanty fell incomplete.
The players had to execute. Kubiak had to own the decision. A possession that began with promise ended with nothing.
Against New England, the failure extended to both sides of the ball. The Patriots took the second-half kickoff and traveled 68 yards in four plays, turning a 21-7 halftime lead into a 28-7 cushion barely two minutes into the third quarter. Even second-and-19 offered the Raiders no protection, with Drake Maye finding Kyle Williams for a 34-yard touchdown.
The offense’s response? Two Jeanty runs for a combined five yards, an incomplete pass to Bowers and a punt.
The Raiders needed a stop and a spark. They delivered neither. By the time their offense returned to the sideline, the opportunity to reset at halftime had become another missed chance to change the game.
Against Buffalo, the malfunction was immediate.
With the game tied 13-13, the Raiders opened the second half with three consecutive incompletions and a punt. No rushing attempts. No yards. Nothing to build 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 short field into a touchdown, and the Raiders were staring at a 23-13 deficit.
Five offensive plays. Minus-2 yards. One giveaway.
Against Kansas City, they needed to finish what they started. Against Buffalo, they needed to start something in the first place. Against the Patriots, the defense was a no-show.
Different breakdowns. Same empty feeling.
That is why reducing everything to energy would miss the larger issue. Kubiak needs to give his players both the urgency to respond and a plan they can execute.
The running game offers little stability: 475 yards on 157 carries through six games, barely three yards per attempt. When a handoff produces little, the next pass carries more weight. An incompletion becomes more damaging.
Kubiak has to find ways to interrupt that cycle, whether through formations, play sequencing or getting the ball quickly to players who can create manageable downs.
He is also trying to recreate halftime’s interruption during practice.
“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 part is that they have already tried it.
That does not make the exercise pointless. It means putting the problem on the practice schedule is only the beginning. Kubiak must determine why the emphasis has not carried over and adjust accordingly.
Cousins understands the opportunity.
“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 production shows there is something to work with. The challenge is bringing that urgency forward without bringing desperation along with it.
The players share that responsibility. Receivers must finish catches. Blockers must sustain assignments. The defense must prevent an empty possession from becoming an avalanche.
But Kubiak leads them.
He cannot make every play, but he can demand the preparation, establish the expectations and make decisions that put his team in position to succeed.
Against the Rams, those responsibilities have to produce something tangible.
The third quarter counts every bit as much as the fourth.
Kubiak has to set that tone. His team has to carry it onto the field.