Minutes later, in one corner of the locker room, rookie safety Treydan Stukes sat at his stall and admired a football, the same football he picked off in the third quarter for his first career interception.
On another wall, heat-seeking missile linebackers Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean regaled reporters with tales of their 12 combined tackles and Dean’s eye-popping chase-down sack of the fleet Malik Willis.
Across the way, edge rusher Kwity Paye held court after announcing his presence with authority by way of two sacks.
Then there was receiver Jack Bech, holding tight the football he caught for his first career score and dedicating it all to his late brother Tiger.
And a few feet away, 15th-year vet quarterback Kirk Cousins interviewed his rookie charge Fernando Mendoza…in Spanish. For the local Telemundo affiliate.
Indeed, it was more revelry than relief in the Raiders locker room late Sunday afternoon, and for good reason.
These are the types of wins upon which you build a solid foundation, the feel-good victories you can look back at and draw from when things go sideways in a 17-games-in-18-weeks season. Because yes, they inevitably will go sideways at some point.
We’re not that far away from last season’s 3-14 showing, so the bar is not that particularly high. But for one week, and in the Raiders’ first season-opener at home since 2021, all felt right.
“We watched a really cool video about the history of the Black Hole and the Silver and Black, and made a big point of earning our way to making this our house,” Kubiak said. “But it’s just the support we had, how loud it was on the first drive throughout the game, it was special. It’s what this building can be, and obviously it’s up to us to earn the respect of those fans.”