The Raiders left Thursday night with a 22-20 preseason win over the Texans and a first NFL head coaching victory for Klint Kubiak, but not every story coming out of Houston was a good one.
For Kansei Matsuzawa, the night only deepened the pressure. The rookie kicker was already trying to steady himself after a rough preseason debut, and instead of a clean rebound, he added another ugly chapter to a battle that now looks increasingly tilted in Matt Gay’s favor.
Matsuzawa’s first preseason game was a mess from the start. His opening kickoff failed to reach the landing zone and went out of bounds, handing the other side the ball at the 40-yard line.
Soon after, he pushed a 38-yard field goal wide right, a miss that would be hard to stomach for any NFL kicker. Some fans were ready to move on right there, while others were willing to give him the grace that comes with a first NFL appearance and a heavy dose of nerves.
Thursday brought more trouble. After Dylan Laube’s third-quarter touchdown, Matsuzawa missed the extra point.
Then, after Aidan O’Connell’s late go-ahead score, he missed another extra point. That leaves him with a 38-yard miss and two extra-point failures in preseason action, and that kind of line is hard to survive as a UDFA.
One bad kick can be explained away. A string of them starts to look like something else.
There was at least one small bright spot against Houston: all three of Matsuzawa’s kickoffs landed in the landing zone. But that hasn’t been enough to offset the misses that matter most.
Gay, meanwhile, strengthened his case by drilling a 52-yard field goal in Houston. He’s been better, even if not perfect, during camp, and the Raiders appear likely to open the season with him. Some have wanted Daniel Carlson back, and other outside-the-box possibilities have been mentioned as well, but Gay looks like the front-runner for now.
Special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis said earlier in camp that Matsuzawa could still remain on the practice squad as a developmental player if he loses the job, helped by his International Player Pathway exemption. That door is still open, and the Raiders may still believe there’s something worth developing in his leg and his upside.
Still, each miss makes the path narrower. Matsuzawa’s rise made him easy to root for, and Raider Nation clearly wants the story to end with him figuring it out in silver and black. But the league does not wait around, and the nickname “The Tokyo Toe” won’t buy him much if the kicks keep missing.
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