Game Preview, Week 3: Las Vegas Raiders at Washington
September 19, 2025
by Steve Thomas
Well . . . last week didn’t go well, did it? Washington’s big loss to the Green Bay Packers last Thursday caused fans and analysts alike to question a wide variety of issues regarding this team. Washington now has a chance to prove itself, or at least show the world that the first two weeks of the season were more fluke the reality. Fortunately, the opponent this week is the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders are 1 – 1 this year, but they haven’t exactly been burning up the NFL in the process, and now they have to travel east all the way across the country. This is therefore a good game for Washington to get back on track. Can Washington do it? That remains to be seen. Our game preview starts below.
Game time & location: Sunday, September 21, 2025, 1:00 p.m. ET, Northwest Stadium, Raljon, Maryland; Gates open 11:00 a.m. ET; Red Zone parking lots open 8:00 a.m.;all other parking lots 9:00 a.m.
Television: FOX
Television announcers: Chris Myers, Mark Schlereth, Jen Hale
TV broadcast map: click here
DC-area radio: BIG-100 (WBIG FM)
Washington radio network: Click here
Raiders radio network: Click here
Satellite radio: SiriusXM: 233 (Wash. broad.); internet: 831
Washington roster: Click here
Washington depth chart: Click here
Raiders roster: Click here
Raiders depth chart: Click here
All-time head-to-head record vs Raiders: 7 – 7 (last 4: 4 – 1)
Last meeting: W, December 5, 2021, 17 – 15
Raiders record: 1 –1 (2nd place) / away: 1 – 0 / NFC: 0 – 0
Washington record: 1 – 1 (2nd place) / home: 1 – 0 / AFC: 0 – 0
Early odds: Washington, -3.5
3 KEYS TO THE GAME
Play with a sense of urgency
Washington hasn’t looked like the peak 2024 version of themselves in either game this season, or for that matter, in any of the preseason games. The team has looked slow and disinterested at times. The single most important thing Washington needs to accomplish this week is to get back that sense of urgency, the pacing of the offense in particular. I don’t know whether the odd play style in comparison is just due to the fact that Dan Quinn mistakenly chose to not play the starters in the preseason, or whether there’s something else going on – maybe ego after last season’s success – but it needs to end against the Raiders.
Jayden Daniels needs to become a playmaker . . . if he plays at all
Yes, yes, we all love Jayden Daniels, and I’m not suggesting that his second season is going to have problems. All the same, though, he hasn’t looked good in either game so far this year. He’s missed passes, taken a ton of sacks and pressures, and didn’t have an impact on the ground last week. It is critical that he get back his mojo against the Raiders this week in order to keep this game from going down the rabbit hole of a competitive, tough game. The other obvious problem here is that he now has a sprained knee, which begs the question of whether he can or should play in this game. The injury is apparently not too serious, so in a larger sense, this point remains a concern going forward whether or not he plays in week 3.
Control the Raiders’ passing game
The Raiders aren’t exactly a bastion of success in their ground game, and don’t forget that Geno Smith had a career resurgence, of sorts, with the Seattle Seahawks over the last few years. If the Raiders offense is going to get going against Washington, it’s going to be in the air, through Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers. Limiting the passing game via pressure on Smith and solid secondary play is essential in this game.
3 KEY MATCHUPS
Bobby Wagner vs Brock Bowers
Washington really needs to take Bowers seriously in this game, particular because Green Bay’s tight end put up huge numbers last week. In my view, this is more of a linebacker responsibility than any thing else, so I’m putting this one on Wagner, but the truth is that limiting Bowers – if he plays at all – is a team responsibility.
Marshon Lattimore vs Jakobi Meyers
It’s not that I think that Meyers is the most important part of the Raiders’ offense – he’s important, as I mentioned above, but so is Bowers. This matchup is really Lattimore demonstrating that he can get back to that #1 corner level he earned in New Orleans. We haven’t seen that in DC yet, instead getting alot of average coverage and penalties. It’s critically important that Lattimore doesn’t let Meyers, or for that matter, anyone else, go crazy in this game.
Josh Conerly vs Malcolm Koonce
Conerly hasn’t played well so far, just two games into his rookie season. It’s possible that the Raiders try to take advantage of his perceived weakness in order to get pressure on either Daniels or Marcus Mariota in creative ways, in the same way as did the Packers last week. More than that, we need to see Conerly improve and start to live up to his draft status. Keep an eye out on this matchup.
OFFICIAL INJURY REPORT (active roster only)
LP – limited practice FP – full practice DNP – did not practice
NIR – not injury related Q – questionable O – out
D – doubtful
| Washington | Raiders |
| TE J. Bates, groin; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O | TE B. Bowers, knee; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP |
| WR N. Brown, groin/knee; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O | S J. Chinn, pectoral; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP |
| QB J. Daniels, knee; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: LP; game: O | CB D, Richardson, hamstring; Wed: NL; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP; game: Q |
| WR D. Samuel, NIR; Wed: NL; Thurs: DNP; Fri: FP | CB J. Powers-Johnson, concussion; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP |
| CB T. Amos, shoulder; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP | WR J. Shorter, knee; Wed: NL; Thurs; FP; Fri: FP |
| G B. Coleman, shoulder; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP | |
| RB J. McNichols, hamstring; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP | |
| TE C. Yankoff, hip; Wed: LP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP |
Steve’s Prediction
Washington escapes with a win, 24 – 13.
Inactives
QB Jayden Daniels
DE Preston Smith
LB Kain Medrano
G Brandon Coleman
WR Noah Brown
TE John Bates
Elevated
CB Antonio Hamilton