LAS VEGAS—The first game of the preseason is always going to contain lessons to take back to practice.
Sure, rust is always going to be a factor, especially with the Las Vegas Raiders not playing a game in seven months. Frankly, they were just excited to get back on the field and get some live game reps in.
However, every preseason game is an opportunity to see what elements can be built upon, as well as what the focus of the next couple of weeks of training camp should look like.
Even when the result does not go the way they wanted, with the Raiders falling 27-14 to the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday, there is truly nothing like getting into real-game scenarios to prepare for a season that has at least some level of optimism attached to it.
“I thought it was smooth there,” said Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak on his first game at the helm of a NFL team. “I thought our coaches did a good job communicating on the headset. The game itself, we have a lot to improve on.”
On one side, the offense was essentially what was revealed at training camp.
In the one series played by the starters, Kirk Cousins was remarkably efficient, going 5-for-6 on the drive with 50 passing yards and a touchdown to Michael Mayer. Much of the game from that point on was played by Fernando Mendoza, who had flashes of brilliance to go alongside some teachable moments. Mendoza would finish his night with a stat line of 10-for-16, 97 passing yards and a touchdown, along with six rushing yards on two attempts (one of which was a kneel down.)
“The first series, I felt a little sped up, so it was good to come back on the sideline, learn from my mistakes and then the second series, we were able to score,” said Mendoza as he walked through his play in the postgame press conference.
“Third series, I missed a read, and the fourth series, I thought we had a good thing going and, unfortunately, I missed a throw at the end. Overall, I felt like the group that I was in with, they blocked fantastic, they had great routes, the run game was good. Unfortunately, I let my teammates down today, but it’s a growing experience and I feel like we’re all growing and it showed me that I need to grow a lot.”
The skill players for Las Vegas also got plenty of moments to shine.
Mike Washington Jr. would be the player to land the highlight of the night for the Raiders, with the fourth-round rookie breaking off a 53-yard run and stiff arming Cardinals safety Kitan Crawford to get his team into the end zone. Malik Benson and Jack Bech would lead the Raiders with 26 and 25 yards, respectively, with the latter securing Mendoza’s touchdown on an impressive throw into tight coverage.
“It was electrifying,” said Washington as he recalled the play in the locker room. “It’s kind of like how Fernando said. It’s like your first day going back to school. I know it’s a preseason game, but it’s my first game, and being able to break a long run like that in my first game was dope.”
Unfortunately, the Raiders offense would stall in the second half due to a field goal from Kansei Matsuzawa bouncing off the right post and Aidan O’Connell having a rougher game, outside of a 41-yard bomb to EJ Williams.
On defense, the struggles were more comprehensible.
The Cardinals were able to do what they wanted at will, with Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew getting 26 straight passes before throwing their first incompletion in the third quarter. The Raiders allowed 220 yards and three passing touchdowns on the day, did not force a turnover and did not force a punt until the fourth quarter.
“I just think we have a lot of growth to do as a team,” said Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak when asked about the defense. “As a team, we have a lot of growth to do, so it starts tomorrow.”
However, the second half did bring some juice into the defense, with Patrick Johnson and Cian Slone recording sacks to at least get some life on that side of the ball.
For a Raiders team, it was a chance for themselves to be honest about where they currently are. The road back to respectability is not going to be completed overnight, but will be a process that takes some time to complete.
The best way to view this game is as a microcosm of what the Raiders should be aiming for: there will be growing pains this season, but it’s all worth it if the team can establish a core that can propel them into future contention.