The Raiders are 2–0 and Brock Bowers has played zero snaps.
That sentence alone used to be a season eulogy, but the Raiders have found ways to maneuver around it.
Bowers is still working back from a meniscus trim on the same knee that already cost him five games in 2025. His last appearance in a regular season game? December 21st of last year.
Raiders HC Klint Kubiak said Bowers was almost cleared for Week 2 against the Chargers game but ultimately gave him another week to sit.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport expects Bowers to play on Sunday in New Orleans. Until then, Vegas has been answering a question most fan bases hate asking out loud…
What if your best skill player isn’t there… and you win anyway?
Week 1: Raiders 27, Dolphins 13. Ashton Jeanty ran for 102 and piled up 147 yards from scrimmage with two receiving scores. Cousins threw three touchdowns. Short game, heavy dose of the back, no Bowers required.
Week 2 at SoFi flipped the script. The Chargers took away the run (Jeanty: 48 yards on 21 carries). So Cousins went up top — 19-of-29, 253 yards, three more scores. Tre Tucker: five catches, 119 yards, a 40-yard touchdown. Practice-squad call-up Cody White: two catches, both touchdowns. Still no Bowers. A 26–14 division win on the road builds a momentum that is going to be difficult to stop.
This is the Raiders first 2–0 start since 2021, and the first time since the 2014 Texans that a team opened 2–0 after winning three or fewer the year before.
Kubiak’s quote after LA might be the whole thesis: “There’s a lot of ways to win a game.” That’s scheme flexibility talking, not hope. When the run dies, the air attack shows up. When Bowers is in street clothes, the rest of the team fills in.
The defense has been the quiet co-author of the Raiders’ 2-0 start. Fourteen points or fewer in both wins — first time the franchise opened a season like that since 1995. Eight sacks entering Monday, tied for the league lead. Rookie Hezekiah Masses dropped two picks in his first start with Porter out.
None of this means Bowers is optional. He’s still TE1 on the depth chart for a reason. Getting him back for Kubiak’s Superdome return — opposing head coach in a building he used to call home — is a different animal than surviving Weeks 1 and 2 without him. The offense’s third-down rate is still hanging around 33%. Jeanty had three drops against the Chargers. The tape isn’t perfect; it’s just stubborn.
So here’s the spin that actually matters heading into Saints week…
The Raiders didn’t wait on Brock Bowers to look like a team with playoff hopes. They’re here to win now even if that means “next man up”.
x: @raidersbeat
I’d argue the OL was more instrumental in game 1 & even game 2 in the passing game. Reece Hall had a big game week 1 against the Jets. He’s similar to Jeanty really.
Good thing is Kubiak takes care of the OL first