October 21, 2026 - 2:34 pm

Before the NFL season started, the thought was that, as the loses stacked up, calls for the Las Vegas Raiders to play Fernando Mendoza would mount.

That hasn’t been the case.

Despite a third straight loss following a 33-30 shootout against the Buffalo Bills , Cousins and the Raiders are garnering respect around the league as they are proving to be no pushover in the AFC, and instead, are a team navigating a season that is far from lost six weeks in.

Cousins is currently tied for the league lead with 14 passing touchdowns and ranks fifth in passing yards (1,582). The Raiders are the No. 4 scoring offense entering Week 7 with 162 points on the season, averaging almost twice as many points per game as last season.

“The Raiders have dropped three straight, but don’t hold your breath waiting for Mendoza to take over,” Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport wrote in the website’s latest power rankings.…