The Raiders walked out of Week 1 with a win and plenty to like, but there’s no escaping the warning signs that followed them into Week 2.
Las Vegas beat the Miami Dolphins, yet the offense still left some uneasy questions hanging in the air. The secondary had its share of leaks, the wide receiver production never really popped, and the biggest concern of all was Kirk Cousins’ lack of comfort throwing downfield. If that part of the passing game stays stuck in neutral, the Raiders’ offense could get boxed in fast.
That’s where Jacoby Brissett enters the picture.
The Arizona Cardinals quarterback just showed last Sunday that the Los Angeles Chargers can be attacked upfield. Brissett helped Arizona beat the Chargers in Week 1, and his performance offers at least some reason to believe Cousins can do the same in Week 2.
Against Miami, Cousins was lights out on the short stuff and almost nothing beyond it. On throws under 10 yards, he went 20-for-22 for 139 yards and three touchdowns. On throws more than 10 yards downfield, he was just 1-for-7 for 21 yards and two interceptions.
Brissett found a lot more room to operate against Los Angeles. He went 20-for-24 for 147 yards and a touchdown on throws under 10 yards, then hit 7 of 11 passes over 10 yards for 130 yards.
That kind of output raises the possibility that the Chargers’ defense may not be quite as sturdy as expected, especially with Chris O'Leary now in charge after Jesse Minter’s departure. At minimum, they were vulnerable to big plays in the opener, and Brissett took advantage of it despite not being the kind of quarterback who usually beats defenses with his arm.
There’s also the possibility that Week 1 was just messy because of new-system growing pains. Still, if Los Angeles really is giving up those kinds of openings, that’s the kind of look Cousins should be able to work with.
The Chargers may also be short-handed on the back end. Starting free safety Elijah Molden hasn’t practiced this week because of a hamstring injury, which leaves open the possibility that the secondary could be even softer on Sunday.
Brissett’s success matters because of what it says about the range of quarterbacks who can find answers against this defense. Last season, Brissett completed 38.3% of his passes over 20 yards and 58.2% of his throws between 10 and 19 yards.
Cousins was at 28.1% and 48.1% in those same areas. Not a massive gap, but enough to show the two aren’t worlds apart in that part of the field.
Pro Football Focus also had Cousins with a higher rate of big-time throws in those ranges, which suggests he’s capable of making tougher throws into tighter windows. Brissett didn’t need to do that Sunday, with just one of his seven completions in that range graded as “big-time.”
So the path is there for Cousins, even if the comparison isn’t exact. Brissett found holes in the Chargers’ defense, and Cousins has enough of the same profile to believe he can do it too.
If he can’t, the questions around his ability to run this offense are only going to get louder. And that’s not a comfortable place for the Raiders to be, especially with the No. 1 pick waiting in the wings.
In Other News...
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Raiders Enter AFC West With One Big Concern Around Kirk Cousins
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Kirk Cousins and coach Klint Kubiak both pointed to the same issue afterward: the deep-ball game is still not where it needs to be. Defenses are taking away explosive plays downfield, which puts more pressure on the Raiders to find answers quickly if they want their offense to hold up once the games start counting inside the division. [Read more 🡒]