Aidan O’Connell sparked a gritty second-half comeback in Houston, overcoming a shaky start from top pick Fernando Mendoza to secure a narrow victory behind a dominant rushing attack.
The preseason games don't matter much at all when it comes to wins and losses, but it does matter for teams to see what their players can do.
The Las Vegas Raiders defeated the Houston Texans on Thursday, 22-20, on the road. It also marked the first start of Fernando Mendoza's career, although it could've been better for the No. 1 overall draft pick.
The Texans began the scoring with Woody Marks punching in a 20-yard rushing touchdown just five minutes into the game.
Then, not even two minutes later, Mendoza threw a pick-six as Wade Woodaz intercepted the pass and returned it 80 yards for a score.
Mendoza backed up and threw the ball into a tight space with the defender right there, and Woodaz had no problems scoring.
By the end, Mendoza finished with an 8-of-15 line, going for 86 yards and an interception with a 53.3 completion percentage.
Aidan O'Connell, the Raiders' third-string QB, played the rest of the way and went 15-of-24 for 166 yards.
As a matter of fact, the only touchdowns for the Raiders both came from the running game. Dylan Laube, a sixth-round pick in 2024 from New Hampshire, scored towards the end of the third quarter, and he finished the game with 37 yards on six carries.
Veteran RB Dare Ogunbowale, who played the past few seasons with the Texans, scored with just over seven minutes to go.
He finished the day with 35 yards on four carries, and rookie Mike Washington Jr. had 56 yards on nine carries with former Indiana RB Roman Hemby registering 27 yards on six carries.
In total, the Raiders had 159 yards rushing and 400 yards of total offense.
While it doesn't matter too much, the Texans were up 20-3 going into halftime, and the Raiders snuck out the hard-fought win.
O'Connell had the game-winner, as the Raiders QB ran for a one-yard touchdown in the closing seconds, although the extra point was missed.
The Texans actually had a chance to get into field goal range, but Devin Lafayette had the game-sealing interception as veteran Brett Rypien threw the final pass of the game for the Texans.
The Raiders have one preseason game remaining, which comes on Thursday, August 27, against the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas, and it will be worth watching to see how many notable players see any meaningful minutes.
