The Las Vegas Raiders face several decisions heading into Week 8 of the NFL season. After starting the year as a surprise unbeaten team through three games, the Raiders took a complete 180, dropping four straight games. Although the losses came against legitimate playoff teams, questions still swirled about when the Fernando Mendoza era would begin. And following four straight losses, it looks like the turn to Mendoza could come sooner rather than later.
However, this stretch of losses comes with a big asterisk, considering Cousins currently leads the league with 16 touchdown passes and just five interceptions, while sitting No. 3 in the NFL in passing yards (1,877). There's little doubt Cousins isn't the issue, but that doesn't mean a quarterback
change won't happen.
This is the uncomfortable territory that comes with having the No. 1 pick and top rookie quarterback on the bench as losses mount. Head coach Klint Kubiak was asked about the decision after the 35-21 loss to the Rams, admitting they're "thinking about everything," ESPN reported.
"We have to go watch the film," Kubiak said. "I think at this point, we're thinking about everything to fix our problems, how to fix our issues in the red zone, in the third quarter, personnel [and] scheme. We've got to talk about all of it."
So for now, the answer for Week 8 remains as "TBD," but that could change as early as first thing in the week, or potentially as the game against the New York Jets draws near.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Will the Raiders start Fernando Mendoza over Kirk Cousins in Week 8?
