It was a mixed bag for the Raiders in their 27-14 loss to the Cardinals in Thursday’s preseason opener at Allegiant Stadium.
The good: An encouraging NFL debut for Fernando Mendoza, the first overall pick in the draft.
A productive night for second-year wide receiver Jack Bech, who caught three passes on third downs, including a touchdown.
Tight end Michael Mayer chipped in two catches for 19 yards and a touchdown, while running backs Ashton Jeanty and Mike Washington Jr. provided glimpses of the explosiveness the Raiders hope will transform their running game.
The bad: A Raiders defense that surrendered 368 yards and watched Arizona march to touchdowns or field goals on each of its first five possessions.
It’s August. Conclusions can wait. But first impressions still matter.
Here are three from Thursday:
Mendoza looks like the real deal
The first overall pick in the NFL draft, and the quarterback the Raiders hope will eventually lead them out of more than two decades of quarterback instability, looked perfectly comfortable in his first NFL action.
That might have been the most encouraging part of Mendoza’s night.
Playing mostly with the second-team offense, Mendoza completed 10 of 16 passes for 97 yards and directed a touchdown drive. More importantly, he looked poised when the stakes were highest, completing 3 of 4 passes on third down, with two producing first downs and another resulting in a six-yard touchdown pass to Bech.
His only third-down miss came on a fourth-quarter shot to the end zone that was put in position for wide receiver Deven Thompkins but fell incomplete.
Mendoza finished with a 100.3 passer rating.
For a first NFL test, the Raiders will happily take it.
The numbers were solid. The composure might have been more important.
Mendoza never looked overwhelmed by the speed of the game, and for a rookie quarterback barely a month into his first NFL training camp, that matters far more than lighting up a preseason box score.
The degree of difficulty increases considerably next week when the Raiders travel to Houston for a joint practice with the Texans. The Raiders strategically picked Houston because of its fierce defense and the challenges it will present to their offensive line, starting quarterback Kirk Cousins and, perhaps most intriguingly, Mendoza.
It will be a valuable litmus test for everyone involved.
Especially Mendoza.
Nobody should be handing him the starting job based on one preseason game. Cousins remains the favorite to open the season behind center.
But Mendoza showed enough Thursday to keep alive a question that seemed almost unthinkable when training camp began:
How long can the Raiders keep him off the field if he continues to look this ready?
Raiders defense needs work
Maxx Crosby did not play Thursday, and any evaluation of the Raiders defense under new coordinator Robbie Leonard has to begin with that rather significant disclaimer.
Crosby isn’t merely their best defensive player. He changes the dynamic for everyone around him.
Still, even his absence couldn’t excuse everything that happened.
Arizona scored on each of its first five possessions, including three touchdown drives, with Jacoby Brissett and backup Gardner Minshew operating at quarterback.
The Cardinals didn’t just move the ball. For a long stretch, the Raiders simply couldn’t get them off the field.
Third down was particularly troubling.
Arizona converted its first three third-down opportunities, helping fuel those five consecutive scoring possessions and exposing an issue that plagued the Raiders throughout last season.
With or without Crosby, and regardless of how vanilla Leonard kept his preseason game plan, that isn’t good enough.
Especially because we’ve seen this movie before.
The Raiders ranked near the bottom of the NFL last season on defensive third downs, allowing opponents to convert 46.3 percent of their opportunities.
For a rebuilding team, that’s a killer.
The Raiders aren’t talented enough yet to routinely survive self-inflicted wounds or give opponents extra opportunities. They need to win on the margins, and few margins are more important than getting off the field on third down.
Thursday offered an unpleasant reminder of just how much work remains.
Mike Washington flashes
Make no mistake: Ashton Jeanty is the lead dog in the Raiders backfield.
But Mike Washington Jr. is beginning to make the conversation behind him awfully interesting.
Jeanty rushed for 21 yards on five carries Thursday, a healthy 4.2 yards per attempt and an encouraging start after averaging just 3.7 yards on 266 carries last season.
If Jeanty can push that number north of four yards consistently this season, it would make an enormous difference for an offense that needs to take pressure off its quarterbacks and stay out of obvious passing situations.
But Washington supplied the fireworks Thursday.
The fourth-round rookie from Arkansas carried six times for 63 yards, taking the impressive work he has shown throughout training camp and carrying it directly into his first preseason game.
His 53-yard run was the exclamation point.
Washington hit the crease decisively, exploded through the line of scrimmage and then showed enough speed to leave Cardinals defenders chasing him downfield.
It was power, vision and acceleration packed into one play.
More importantly, Washington is beginning to look like more than simply Jeanty’s backup.
He is firmly establishing himself as the Raiders’ No. 2 running back and, if this continues, someone the coaching staff will have to find touches for even when Jeanty is healthy.
Jeanty is unquestionably the man in the Raiders backfield.
But Washington is starting to look like one heck of a helping hand.
