INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins saw a safety deepen as he dropped back to pass with 30 seconds left in the first half Sunday of a 26-14 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. He also saw wide receiver Tre Tucker sprinting as two pass rushers converged on the pocket, leaving him a decision to make.
To throw the football to Tucker or not.
“Maybe it wasn’t the right decision,” Cousins said at the postgame pulpit, but then again, it wasn’t wrong either because “Tre made me right.”
Cousins completed his second-down pass for 42 yards through double coverage to the diving fourth-year speedster, leveraging his arm strength with Tucker’s speed at SoFi Stadium. Twice they connected for 40-plus yards including a 40-yard touchdown pass, expanding an attack that didn’t much operate beyond the line of scrimmage in a Week 1 win.
All told Sunday against the Chargers for a passer rating of 113.1, Cousins completed 19 of 29 passes for 253 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. On passes more than 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage — with which he was 1 of 7 in with two interceptions against the Miami Dolphins compared with 20 of 23 with three touchdowns on passes shorter than 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage — Cousins totaled 181 yards via 8-0f-12 passing, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
Tucker finished with five receptions for 119 yards, his 42-yarder leading to a field goal that broke a 7-7 tie before halftime.
As Tucker opined in the locker room, cramped for visitors, seemingly on purpose, but bubbling with buzz amid a 2-0 start, a first for Las Vegas since 2021: “(Cousins) can probably play until he’s 60. He’s elite. I’m so excited to get to play with him. He does not look any bit of old to me. The things I see him do in practice, he’s doing in games now.”
His command of the offense and coverages perhaps stronger than ever in his 15th season, Cousins might not throw at 38 the way he did at 28. He’s three years removed from a torn right Achilles and surely past his physical prime, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a throw he isn’t equipped to execute.
The Dolphins encouraged check-down passes and covered passes 10 yards or deeper effectively, allowing running back Ashton Jeanty to run for 102 yards. The Chargers focused on holding the second-year running back to 48 yards on 21 carries, but coach Klint Kubiak was ready with clever counters.
A second-quarter shotgun play-fake to Jeanty opened Tucker down the middle of the field, from which he veered left toward the end zone uncovered. The offensive line formed a pocket for Cousins, who settled into it unabated and feathered the football 49.7 air yards for a touchdown.
“Quarterback did a great job pushing the ball down the field,” Kubiak said. “Playmakers made some big plays. It’s something you’re always trying to do every week. Sometimes it’s there. Sometimes it’s not.”
There it was again to Tucker at the end of the second quarter, though, and again to wideout Cody White in the third and fourth quarters. Cousins fired his first touchdown to White from the opposing 20-yard line into the end zone, allowing the wideout to win in single coverage.
Another fourth-quarter, shotgun play-fake fooled the Chargers and opened White for a score from Cousins, firing from the opposing 18-yard line.
Ever the perfectionist, Cousins lamented a fourth-quarter miss to wide receiver Malik Benson, streaking open down the right sideline. Benson went long and Cousins threw short, wishing he’d thrown deeper to the rookie: “I felt like I needed to just launch that. I was nervous about the safety baseball turning and making a play on that. I kind of wanted to stop him in the window. … Malik didn’t know I was going to do that.”
Next week, maybe.
Next week also might be when tight end Brock Bowers returns to play, having worked out pregame not yet two weeks removed from a left meniscus trim. Kubiak said he was “very close” to playing, suggesting he might be good to go Sunday when the Raiders play the New Orleans Saints.
Bowers too opens the offense down the field, a boon after winning their first two games.
“I’m proud of the way our coaches put together game plans in his absence,” Cousins said. ‘The way our team stepped up, I felt like these two weeks, we won as a team. … Getting him back, he’s one of the best players on our football team. We’re excited to have him back and pleased with the way our team competed in his absence.”
Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on X.
