Week 3 Game Recap – Las Vegas Raiders at Washington Commanders

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September 22, 2025

By NoonefromTampa

Commanders Pillage the Raiders 41-24

First Quarter

The Raiders won the coin toss and elected to kick. Deebo Samuel returned the kickoff 69 yards to the Las Vegas 27 yard line, giving Washington excellent field position. Chris Rodriguez carried the ball 4 straight times gaining 5, 14, 4 and 2 yards. On third and 2, Marcus Mariota ran a quarterback draw from the touchdown and Matt Gay converted the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

Gay knocked the ensuing kickoff out of bounds, starting the Raiders at their own 40. Geno Smith hit a wide open Jakobi Meyers for a 45 yard completion. Ashton Jeanty ran twice and gained only 1 yard. Will Harris broke up a pass to Brock Bowers in the end zone to force to 37 yard field goal, which cut the lead to 7-3.

Samuel returned the kickoff to the 30 yard line this time. Rodriguez gained 4 yards on first down with tackle Trent Scott filling in for John Bates. Mariota hit Terry McLaurin for a 9 yard completion. Samuel took a direct snap for 9 yards but then disaster struck with Mariota fumbling the ball after a 23 yard scamper on a designed run play.

Washington’s defense held, with Dorance Armstrong sacking Smith on first down. Jeanty gained 1 yard on second down and Bowers caught a 5 yard pass but was tackled well short of the first down marker. A.J. Cole boomed a 56 yard punt which Jaylin Lane returned for 7 yards.

Josh Conerly was called for holding on Maxx Crosby on first down. Samuel tipped a ball on the repeat of first down which was almost intercepted. Samuel caught a screen pass short of the first down but the Raiders were called for unnecessary roughness for a helmet-to-helmet hit, which gave the Commanders a first down. Washington got into field goal range with completions of 9 yards to McLaurin and 13 yards to Chris Moore along with a 14 yard run by Mariota. After a missed offside call on third down, Lane dropped a potential touchdown catch.  Gay missed the 37 yard field slightly wide right.

Washington forced another three and out, stopping Jeanty for no gain. Smith threw two incompletions with one almost intercepted by Trey Amos. Lane returned the punt 25 yards buy Noah Igbinoghene was called for holding moving the ball back into Washington territory. Samuel ran 4 yards to end the quarter.

Second Quarter

Zack Ertz had a 19 yard reception to put Washington into Raiders territory. Jacory Corskey-Merritt had back-to-back 9-yard runs. After a 4 yard run by Croskey-Merritt, Andrew Wylie was called for holding on a first down scramble by Mariota. Rodriguez picked up 4 yards but McLaurin was a false start penalty. Ertz picked up 10 yards on third down forcing another Gay field goal attempt which he converted at 46 yards for a 10-3 lead.

On first down, Jeanty picked up 3 yards, which was his longest run of the game to that point. Meyers caught a sideline pass which was upheld on the Dan Quinn challenge. On third and one, Smith scrambled and hit Tre Tucker for an 18 yard gain. Jeanty followed that up with a 16-yard run over the left side. After a 5 yard Raiders penalty, Smith hit Tucker for 17 yards, Jeanty picked up 11 yards to the Washington 13 yard line. After a short Jeanty run, Smith hit Tucker for a 10 yard touchdown tying the game at 10 apiece.

After a touchback on the kickoff, Samuel picked up 5 yards on a misdirection end around. Jeremy McNichols broke two tackles and bounced off another Raider on his way to a 60 yard touchdown run. Gay converted the extra point, giving Washington a 17-10 lead.

After the Raiders returned the kickoff 20 yards to their own 30. Tucker gained 4 yards rushing and Jeanty picked up 5 yards. Jeanty was stopped for no gain on third down. Smith picked up the first down on a fourth down quarterback sneak.  After an incompletion, Bobby Wagner sacked Smith for a 7 yard loss. On third and 17, Raiders ran a draw which gained 2 yards after Daron Payne tackled the ball carrier. Lane returned the punt 10 yards to the Washington 35 yard line.

Ertz caught a 9 yard pass on first down and Mariota spiked the ball to stop the clock. The Raiders were called for a facemask on a sack of Mariota. That led to a 56 yard field goal by Gay just inside the right upright, giving Washington a 20-10 lead going into halftime.

Third Quarter

The Raiders returned the second half kickoff 26 yards out to their own 30. After a 6 yard run by Jeanty, the Washington pass rush put pressure on Smith. Jeremy Reaves on a blitz forced a quick throw to Bowers who was tackled for a 2 yard loss by Daron Payne. Von Miller sacked Smith for a 6 yard loss on third down. The 51 yard punt was not returned.

Croskey-Merritt lost 2 yards on first down and then Laremy Tunsil called for illegal use of hands, backing Washington up 10 yards. After an incompletion, on third and 22, the Commanders elected to run the ball and then punt it away. Jordan Magee made the tackle on the return to limit it to 4 yards.

The continued Washington pass rush forced another three and out. Lane returned the punt 90 yards for a touchdown. Gay converted the penalty shortened extra point giving Washington a 27-10 lead.

After the kickoff, Javontae Jean-Baptiste sacked Smith on first down. On third down, Smith eluded the pass rush to get a first down completion. Jeanty lost 3 yards on a carry and Wagner sacked Smith for an 11 yard loss. On third and 24, Zamir White ran for 9 yards, forcing another Raiders punt, which Lane returned 14 yards.

Croskey-Merritt ran for 6 yards and McLaurin caught a 56 yard pass but was ruled short of touchdown. Three plays later, Croskey-Merritt took it into the end zone for a touchdown. The extra point was good, putting the lead at 34-10.

After the kickoff return to the 30 yard line, Jeanty had an 18 yard run after a first down incompletion. After a 5 yard Raiders penalty, the Raiders picked up 14 yards, putting them in a fourth and one. Smith ran for the first down on another sneak.

Fourth Quarter

The Raiders found themselves in another third and long after an incompletion and a 1 yard run by Jeanty. Smith found Tucker in the seam for a 12 yard gain and the first down. Bowers had a 16 yard reception. Tucker scored on the next play with a shallow crosser for the 10 yard touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, putting the lead at 34-16.

Washington’s next drive went 42 yards, with Luke McCaffrey catching two passes of 7 and 6 yards and Moore had a 12 yard reception. McNichols had runs of 4 and 11 yards. The drive petered out with an intentional grounding penalty. Tress Way put the ball inside 10, where the Commanders downed it at the 7 yard line. The most important thing was the drive took nearly six minutes off the play clock.

The Raiders were able to move the ball out to midfield behind completions of 15 yards to Tucker and two to Dont’e Thornton Jr. of 20 and 9 yards. However, the Raiders turned it over on downs at the Washington 49 yard line.

Washington’s next drive was their worst of the game, losing 11 yards including a sack by Crosby.

The Raiders were able to exploit all the injuries in Washington’s secondary. Bowers caught an 18 yard pass and two plays later Tucker got deep over Mike Sainristil for a 61 yard touchdown. Bowers caught the successful two-point attempt, cutting the lead to 34-24.

After a failed onside kick by the Raiders, Rodriguez ran twice for 4 yards. Then Mariota hit McCaffrey on a deep flag route for a 42 yard touchdown. The extra point was good, putting the lead at 41-24.

The Raiders ran the last two minutes off the clock to end the game.

Thoughts

The Commanders are incurring injuries at a prodigious rate. The roster is not deep enough to be able to handle that much loss.

Players who left injured include Will Harris, Marshon Lattimore, Trey Amos, and Terry McLaurin.

Marcus Mariota’s experience showed in the game, hitting the correct receivers mostly in stride which led to some big gains.

The rush defense was pretty good most of the game limiting Jeanty to 63 yards, often holding him to little or no gain on most runs.

Mariota played well, going 15/21 for 207 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and only one sack with a rating of 118.6.

Luke McCaffrey had his career best game, with 3 receptions for 56 yards and his first NFL touchdown.

Washington ran for over 200 yards against the Raiders using tackle Trent Scott in the blocking role usually filled by tight end John Bates.

Jeremy McNichols led all rushers with 78 yards and one score.

Special Teams had their best outing of the season so far.