The first-team offense looked ready for the regular season.
Most of the rest of Thursday night’s preseason performance from the Las Vegas Raiders indicated a few more weeks of training camp will be a good thing for Klint Kubiak’s group.
Kirk Cousins took the opening drive and completed 5 of 6 passes, including a 13-yard touchdown to Michael Mayer on a third-and-3 play.
The group looked sharp and efficient in moving the chains and grabbing the lead.
Cousins would watch from the sidelines the rest of the way as the Raiders scored just one more touchdown and lost 27-14 to the Arizona Cardinals at Allegiant Stadium.
“Really happy with what the offense did on that first drive with Kirk leading us down the field,” Kubiak said.
Cousins credited the rest of the first-team offense for executing the game plan.
“It felt smooth,” he said. “I was proud of the offensive line, the communication, the receivers. We made a check at one point and everyone got it and did what they were supposed to do. I thought Klint did a great job of getting the call in early so we weren’t up against the play clock.
“Small sample size, but always good to get out there and move the football and score points.”
Cousins appeared to be talking about a third-and-7 play on the opening series when he stepped up and communicated a change to the play. Ashton Jeanty and Mayer then stayed in to pick up a blitz to Cousins’ right side, and Tre Tucker ran a deep route down the left sideline to clear space for a quick-hitting 10-yard throw to Jack Bech to pick up the first down.
It was outstanding execution and Kubiak had seen enough from the group after the one series to give most of them the rest of the night off after they built a foundation from which to build the offense going forward.
“There’s a lot of unknowns in practice for how you’re going to come out and compete as a team,” starting center Tyler Linderbaum said. “It was a good first drive. There’s a lot more football to be played, but it’s a good start. Now we have to continue to get better and build that cohesiveness.”
Here are some other takeaways from the preseason game:
Cousins close to securing the job
While the veteran has yet to formally be named the starting quarterback for Week 1, Thursday moved Cousins one step closer to securing the gig.
Kubiak once again reiterated that it’s not exactly an open competition with rookie Fernando Mendoza, who had some ups and downs in his first game as a pro.
“(Cousins) has been getting all the reps with the ones,” Kubiak said. “I think he’s had a solid training camp.
“It’s his job to lose.”
Same for Matt Gay
The competition for place-kicking duties hasn’t been particularly close in training camp, and Thursday did nothing to narrow the gap.
In fact, Matt Gay was able to create even more separation from rookie Kansei Matsuzawa.
“The Tokyo Toe” not only missed his lone field-goal attempt off the right upright, but also missed the landing zone on a kick that went out of bounds and allowed the Cardinals to start with great field position at the 40-yard line.
It has been a rough go for Matsuzawa, while Gay has been pretty solid in his reunion with special teams coach Joe DeCamillis.
McCoy struggles
Fourth-round cornerback Jermod McCoy has a ton of talent and potential.
It was also evident Thursday that he has a long way to go as he continues to work back from an injury that had kept him away from a competitive game since December 2024.
McCoy was beat on two goal-line fade routes for touchdowns in one-on-one matchups with Cardinals receivers.
He also gave up a reception on the sideline in another iso spot in the second half.
McCoy, who turns 21 next week, had not played for more than 18 months before Thursday.
He had talked about how excited he was to get back on the field for his pro debut, but it’s probably a night he will want to forget.
Silver lining on defense?
The Raiders didn’t show much of their new-look defense and the Cardinals were mostly able to move the ball with ease in the first half.
Arizona converted all six third-down attempts before halftime and scored touchdowns on all three possessions.
It wasn’t great.
And while the second half mostly involved second- and third-teamers matching up for both teams, the Raiders can take some solace in the fact they were able to make some stops.
Arizona went just 2-for-9 on third downs after halftime and the Raiders were actually able to get off the field a few times.
The starters are going to have to find a way to do the same as they continue to get ready for the regular season.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
