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Raiders Close Out Preseason vs. 49ers

The Las Vegas Raiders will close out Klint Kubiak's first preseason with its annual matchup with the San Francisco 49ers Thursday night at Allegiant Stadium.

There are several questions that remain as camp closes and most have to do with the offense. The biggest concern is the health of Ashton Jeanty when the second year running back injured his ankle in practice last weekend. According to Kubiak he is on the mend and injury doesn't seem to be serious.

The quarterbacks are cthe most popular subject as veteran Kirk Cousins has only one series under his belt in the exhibition games. He threw a touchdown pass while completing 5 of 6 passes in the opening drive of the first game versus Arizona. Rookie, Fernando Mendoza got the majority of work in the first two games.

The Raiders fell behind 17-0 in its second preseason game only to come storming back in the fourth quarter to defeat the Houston Texans 22-20 last week.

Aiden O'Connell led two fourth quarter drives including the game winner in the final minute to give the Raiders the come from behind victory. O'Connell, the third string signal caller completed six straight passes including a 33-yard strike to Brandon Johnson to the Texans one yard line. With no timeouts at his disposal, O'Connell completed the one-man drive by sneaking into the end zone with :09 remaining to cap off the drive and the game.

O'Connell finished the contest completing 15 of 24 passes for 166 yards. This was a much better display for the fourth-year pro as was only 4 of 13 in Las Vegas' preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals last week.

Mendoza received the start at quarterback as Cousins got the night off. Mendoza played the entire first half having mixed results. He hit a few nice passes, but the turning point was Mendoza throwing a pick six that resulted in an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown that put Las Vegas in a 14-0 hole midway through the first quarter.

Mendoza was 8 for 15 for 86 yards in his five series of action. He guided the Raiders in four drives in last week's contest versus Arizona finishing with one touchdown pass.

Rookie running back, Mike Washington had his second impressive game in a row. Washington ran for 56 yards averaging six yards per carry while the Raiders totaled 159 yards on the ground for the game. They got balanced production from a host of ball carriers as Dare Ogunbowale, Dyalan Laube and Roman Hemby each ran for at least 27 yards.

The Raiders defense played much better in the contest holding the Texans to only 219 yards of total offense while forcing two turnovers.

We will see how Kubiak plays the final exhibition game and how many snaps Mendoza will get and if any of the projected starters see the field.