The Las Vegas Raiders had a great start to the season with a 27-13 win over the Miami Dolphins. However, it wasn’t a perfect performance.
Perhaps the biggest concern coming out of Week 1 was the performance of quarterback Kirk Cousins. He threw three touchdowns, which will overshadow a lot of the shortcomings, but he also struggled throwing the ball down the field and was intercepted twice.
If it weren’t for the defense stepping up, the final score may have ended up being much closer. The Raiders aren’t keen on putting rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza on the football field yet, but not being able to stretch the field in the passing game is going to be a problem, especially if Cousins is turning it over.
Head coach Klint Kubiak got brutally honest about the interceptions.
“Two plays that were two avoidable mistakes that I know Kirk wants those plays back,” Kubiak told reporters Monday. “We’ll learn from them. I thought Kirk opened the game playing really good football. Those two decisions hurt us … so we’ll all accounablt on that.”
Cousins only completed one pass of over 10 yards, and both of his interceptions came on longer passes. The offense will be limited if he can’t be more efficient when passing over 10 yards.
How Long is Cousins’ Leash?
Cousins got the win, which would be more than enough to keep questions about his job status at bay for now, but what doesn’t help him is that he’s got a rookie No. 1 pick hoping to get a chance. Mendoza may be a rookie, but he can throw the ball downfield much better than Cousins can at this stage in his career.
Cousins is better at the short game, but Mendoza can improve on that while Cousins’ arm isn’t going to regain any strength. The Raiders want to bring Mendoza along slowly, but that seemed like a bigger deal when they weren’t sure how good the offensive line would be.
Cousins wasn’t sacked once in Week 1, so the offensive line may be better than previously expected. If the offensive line can hold up against a much better Los Angeles Chargers defense in Week 2, then the Raiders might really want to start thinking about playing Mendoza.
Michael Mayer Praises Kubiak
The Raiders’ playcalling on offense looked light years ahead of what it did last season under Chip Kelly. Kubiak seems to have a much stronger grasp of calling an NFL game.
Tight end Michael Mayer is loving working with Kubiak thus far.
“We feel really good about this one, but there’s a lot of stuff we’re excited to also clean up,” Mayer said. “There’s kind of an in-between there that Klint’s very good at and that the whole organization is very good at.”
Kubiak isn’t just a playcaller that Mayer looks up to, but he’s also a big fan of the person.
“He’s a great person and a great football mind,” Mayer said. “You just want to learn so much from him, and you’re kind of attracted to his knowledge. You just want to learn everything. And I’ll tell you what: That guy knows a lot about football. He’s been around football. He grew up in football, and I’ve learned so much from him already.”
Klint Kubiak Has Stern Words for Kirk Cousins After Throwing 2 INTs