Fernando Mendoza made his anticipated debut for the Raiders on Thursday night, playing in four full drives and throwing for a touchdown in Las Vegas’ 27-14 loss to the visiting Arizona Cardinals in both teams’ preseason opener.
Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner out of Indiana, completed 10 of 16 passes for 97 yards and the score, a 6-yard strike to receiver Jack Bech. The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft also led the Raiders into field-goal range in his final drive of the night, though a 38-yard field-goal attempt was no good.
Veteran Kirk Cousins, battling Mendoza to be the Raiders’ Week 1 starter, only played one drive, the game’s first. He showed why Mendoza’s path to the starting gig won’t be an easy one, completing 5 of 6 passes for 50 yards and a touchdown before taking a seat.
Cardinals rookie quarterback Carson Beck — whose Miami Hurricanes lost to Mendoza’s Hoosiers in last season’s national title game — sat out the game with a rib injury after opening eyes in last week’s Hall of Fame Game. Running back Jeremiyah Love, the No. 3 overall pick out of Notre Dame, did make his preseason debut for the Cardinals, rushing for 58 yards on 11 carries.
Bengals 16, Lions 14
Joe Burrow played two series in Cincinnati’s preseason opener before Joe Flacco and 40-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson took over in a win over visiting Detroit.
Burrow completed 5 of 6 passes for 39 yards and took one sack before giving way to Flacco, who connected with Jack Endries for the Bengals’ only touchdown of the game, a 4-yard pass in the second quarter. Evan McPherson made three field goals with a long of 56 yards.
Detroit rookie QB Luke Altmyer finished 13-for-22 for 130 yards, a late touchdown pass and two interceptions. Joshua Dobbs also made his first appearance in a Lions uniform, having signed Monday after the retirement of backup QB Teddy Bridgewater. He completed 4 of 8 passes for 32 yards. Jared Goff sat out.
Steelers 28, Packers 9
Drew Allar threw for 153 yards and two touchdowns as host Pittsburgh rolled past Green Bay.
Aaron Rodgers did not play for the Steelers against his old team, but three Pittsburgh quarterbacks (Allar, Mason Rudolph, Will Howard) combined to complete 27 of 33 passes for 332 yards. Lew Nichols added 36 rushing yards and one score on 10 carries.
The Packers were limited to Trey Smack’s three field goals, with a long of 58. Jordan Love finished 3 of 5 for 18 yards, while Kyle McCord went 12 of 16 for 102 yards as the Packers’ most-used quarterback.
Colts 13, Patriots 13
Spencer Shrader made field goals of 46 and 61 yards in the fourth quarter to help Indianapolis tie New England in Foxborough, Mass.
Anthony Richardson played the first half for the Colts, completing 11 of 14 passes for 145 yards with an interception. He also ran six times for 53 yards and a touchdown. No. 1 QB Daniel Jones did not play.
Tommy DeVito wound up 13-for-22 for 138 yards and a touchdown to guide the Patriots. Drake Maye got the night off.
Chargers 27, Texans 7
Amar Johnson ran for two touchdowns and a 2-point conversion and the Los Angeles offense put up 379 yards in its first game under coordinator Mike McDaniel as the Chargers rolled past host Houston.
Johnson, who went undrafted in 2025 and ran for 8 yards on two carries with the Chargers last season, gained 17 yards on six carries against the Texans but made the most of them. With star quarterback Justin Herbert sitting out, backup Trey Lance threw for 164 yards and an interception for Los Angeles, while DJ Uiagalelei threw for 120 yards and a score.
Veteran backup Davis Mills threw for 82 yards and a touchdown for the Texans, who didn’t utilize regular No. 1 quarterback C.J. Stroud. Rookie Noah Whittington out of Oregon led Houston with 40 yards on 13 carries.
–Field Level Media
