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The Raiders were beaten up in their 27-14 loss to the Cardinals in the preseason opener. Now, Klint Kubiak takes his team to Houston for a couple of days of joint practice ahead of another preseason game.
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The next three days figure to be the best gauge of the entire preseason for how good the Raiders actually are. They won’t be fighting with teammates, but instead a real NFL opponent for three consecutive days.
The Raiders have plenty of areas to show growth from week to week, even if it is just preseason.
Pass Defense
The Raiders struggled to stop the Cardinals’ passing game. Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew combined to complete 19 of 21 passes and put up 27 points in the first half. The Raiders defense didn’t get a stop until after halftime.
The youth of the Raiders’ secondary was exposed. Rookies Hezekiah Masses and Jermod McCoy both allowed four receptions on four targets, with McCoy getting beat twice for touchdowns.
But the two rookies were not alone. The starting defense surrendered a perfect 5 of 5 passing drive from Brissett. The starting secondary, which doesn’t include any rookies, did very little to prevent the Cardinals from moving down the field.
But the secondary wasn’t the only issue; the Raiders failed to generate enough pressure on the quarterbacks as well. Maxx Crosby didn’t play in the first preseason game. Without their best player, the defensive line did nothing.
Both aspects of the defense need to make a big jump before the start of the regular season.
Fernando Mendoza
Klint Kubiak has yet to specify how much the Raiders starters will play, if at all. But it is safe to assume that rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza will get plenty of snaps.
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In the first preseason game, Mendoza played exclusively with backups. While Mendoza had a solid preseason debut, he still showed signs of struggle. The Raiders’ first-round pick took an unnecessary sack and led running back Mike Washington into a dangerous hit.
Part of the Raiders’ evaluation process with Mendoza is seeing his daily growth. In his second chance against an opponent, will Mendoza show improvement?
Also, Mendoza could benefit from playing with the Raiders’ starting offense. Kubiak has mostly avoided giving Mendoza first-team reps, but if he wants to see how well his rookie quarterback can perform against the Houston defense, he should give him snaps with the Raiders’ best players.
Kicking Game
Last season the Raiders’ special teams was one of the worst in the NFL. Las Vegas ranked 28th in DVOA on special teams, according to FTN Fantasy.
Part of the issue was kicker Daniel Carlson’s decline. The Raiders didn’t have a reliable leg from 50 yards. Carlson is gone, as Matt Gay and Kansei Matsuzawa are battling in camp for the starting job.
Gay made both of his extra point attempts against the Cardinals, but didn’t attempt a field goal to test out his range. Matsuzawa missed his lone field goal attempt, from 38 yards, and booted his lone kickoff out of bounds. It was a preseason debut to forget.
Gay is almost certainly going to be the Week 1 kicker in Las Vegas. Seeing him knock through a long field goal or two in the preseason would ease some concerns about the kicking game.
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This story was originally published August 17, 2026 at 3:00 PM.