Kubiak: ‘Kirk Cousins is our quarterback’

Kubiak was asked about the possibility of switching from Kirk Cousins to rookie No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, and said the team is considering “everything” while also making it sound like their struggles were more of a team issue. Cousins struggled in the early part of Sunday’s loss to the Rams, but managed some late touchdowns in garbage time to save his stat line. If the Raiders are considering a switch, it’s possible we’ll learn their decision by Wednesday, when they begin preparing for their Week 8 game against the Jets.

Cousins, as per usual, did next to nothing before the Raiders got down by multiple scores in the second half. He ends with a pretty solid fantasy line thanks to a couple long connections with fellow garbage time merchant Tre Tucker, who led the Raiders with 108 yards and a score. Cousins’ other score went to the Raiders’ backfield garbage time merchant Ashton Jeanty. Cousins now has multiple touchdown throws in six of his seven games in 2026. The Fernando Mendoza clock is nearing midnight as the uncompetitive Raiders flounder and Cousins looks more washed by the week. If he still has the starting job by Week 8, Cousins will be a decent streaming option against the Jets.

Cousins and the Raiders strung together a handful of nice drives in Sunday’s loss to the Bills, but they needed to be just about perfect to slow Buffalo’s offensive attack. With Brock Bowers bottled up for most of the evening, Cousins connected with tight end Michael Mayer seven times for 95 yards, with his lone touchdown passes coming on passes of 11 and 44 yards to Tre Tucker in the fourth quarter. The 44-yard touchdown pass to Tucker came inside of two minutes and with the Bills up by 10, but Cousins and Tucker took advantage of a struggling Bills’ defense to complete the long score and keep things interesting in the waning seconds. Now losers of three straight games, the Raiders will hope to avoid a fourth straight loss next week when they host the suddenly 2-4 Rams. Cousins continues to enjoy a career revival under Klint Kubiak and has now thrown for 1,582-14-5 in his first six games. He’ll be in the QB2 mix for next week’s game against the Rams.

No real surprise after Mendoza’s mop-up appearance in Week 5. It doesn’t appear that he’s taken a major step towards unseating Cousins — who has played well — just yet. But it remains a reasonable bet to happen in the near future.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that Mendoza is going to take the reins this week; we expect Cousins to continue starting even if Raiders coach Klint Kubiak didn’t affirmatively get ahead of the situation in Sunday’s post-game. But Mendoza looked reasonable and this will obviously be something that will bubble up eventually. No. 1 overall picks don’t typically stay on benches too long.

Cousins didn’t play poorly, but didn’t do much beyond connecting with Brock Bowers for some long gains in the first half. The Patriots avalanched the severely overmatched Raiders in the third quarter. Cousins was sacked three times while narrowly avoiding a few other big losses, as the Vegas offensive line struggled to protect him throughout. His muted showing comes after 11 touchdown tosses over the season’s first four games in Klint Kubiak’s offense. Cousins will look to bounce back in Week 6 against the Bills in what should be a high-scoring affair.

Cousins and the Raiders did everything they could to remain undefeated, but came up just short in a game that came down to the wire against their division rivals. Cousins led the Raiders right down the field on their opening drive and capped it with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Ian Thomas, who was wide open for an easy score. After leading multiple drives that ended in field goals, Cousins came up big for the Raiders in the fourth quarter when he avoided a sack in the pocket and stepped up to find Brock Bowers in the back of the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown. A successful two-point conversion play to Cody White cut the Chiefs’ lead to 30-27, but with the Raiders driving in the final seconds of regulation, Cousins would throw the game-ending interception to hand the Chiefs their fourth-straight win of the season. Cousins and the Raiders proved to be legit in this one, as they went blow-for-blow with the Chiefs to the very end. Now sitting with a 3-1 record, the Raiders will look to rebound in Week 5 against the Patriots. Cousins has thrown multiple touchdowns in every game this season and has now thrown for 11 TDs to four INTs. He’ll be in the mix as a strong QB2 next week.

Cousins had a few off-target passes in this one, but he certainly loves having Brock Bowers in the lineup. The duo linked up 10 times on the day, which opened things up for the rest of the offense as the game progressed. Coach Klint Kubiak sent Bowers in motion inside the green zone on a play-action play seemingly designed for Michael Mayer, who got open with ease on a short out route and hauled in the score. Cousins fumbled while being hit late in the game, but a teammate recovered, preserving his turnover-free outing. He warrants borderline QB1/2 treatment against the Chiefs next week.

Cousins was intercepted on the Raiders’ opening drive of the game, but no one was necessarily at fault. Cousins threw a well-timed ball to Tre Tucker on an in-breaking route and the speedy receiver slipped while cutting, leaving the pass to sail into enemy hands. The veteran passer needed a few more drives to get in rhythm but eventually began to pick apart the LA defense. He completed four passes of 20+ yards, something he managed just once in Week 1. Cousins remains more of a ball distributor than anything else, but he has looked good in that role through two weeks. There are worse Superflex options for Week 3 when Cousins takes on the Saints.

The Raiders’ first punt occurred with just over 14 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Cousins was only asked to manage this game, and he did so moderately effectively. Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty scored two of Cousins’ passing touchdowns on catch-and-run plays via routes out of the backfield. Cousins deserves credit for hitting WR Jack Bech in stride on a 15-yard score, but he also deserves blame for both interceptions. One was an overthrow; the other was late. Cousins is a QB2 next week against the Chargers.