Following Sunday’s 35-21 loss to the L.A. Rams at Allegiant Stadium, the Las Vegas Raiders find themselves mired in a four-game losing streak. Despite the slump, the team is making it clear there will be no quarterback change.

In Sunday’s postgame news conference, Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak indicated the team was evaluating all options, including whether to insert No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza at quarterback in place of Kirk Cousins.

Kubiak Addresses Quarterback Speculation

“I think we have to go watch the film,” said Kubiak, when asked about Mendoza’s future. “We’re thinking about everything, how to fix our problems, how to fix our issues in the red zone, in the third quarter, and personnel scheme. We got to talk about all of it.”

Today, it was a different message. 

“There is no controversy,” said Kubiak, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. The coach said Cousins is the team’s No. 1 quarterback.

Defensive Struggles Continue Mounting

The Raiders sit at 3-4, holding third place in the AFC West. The defensive unit has surrendered at least 30 points in four consecutive games. Since Week 3, Las Vegas ranks last in the NFL in points allowed (34 per game) and total yards allowed (405.4 per game). Against the Rams, the defense yielded 199 rushing yards.

Meanwhile, the ground game has been equally ineffective. Las Vegas managed just 49 rushing yards against Los Angeles, marking the fourth consecutive game the Raiders failed to reach the 75-yard threshold. Rookie running back Ashton Jeanty was held to 15 yards on eight carries (1.9 yards per carry).

Red-zone efficiency remains a severe pain point; the Raiders converted just one touchdown on five red-zone possessions against the Rams.

Running Game Remains Ineffective

“You can’t win in this league having to throw it as much as we’re throwing it,” Kubiak noted postgame. ^{“We have got to be more competitive in the game early. There’s no balance in playing from behind.”}

The lack of balance proved costly Sunday as Los Angeles built a commanding 28-6 lead by halftime.

Despite the team’s struggles, Cousins’ individual production has remained solid. He leads the NFL with 16 touchdown passes and holds a 97.4 passer rating. After a slow start against the Rams, Cousins rallied to finish with 295 passing yards, two touchdowns, and a 59.1% completion rate.

Cousins Responds to Mendoza Speculation

Cousins acknowledged the offensive hurdles and took a diplomatic stance when asked about rookie Fernando Mendoza.

“It’s really the same every day that it was in March or April,” Cousins told reporters. “Nothing changes. If I’m not the best option, then I don’t want to be out there either. I want our football team to have the best chance to win games. If that had become apparent in the first OTA, I would have been the first one to say, ‘Yeah, you can’t play me.’

“The organization will do what they feel is best. I feel Fernando’s done a great job and has a bright future ahead. I’m going to try to go out there and play as well as I possibly can, help us win, and give him a great example to learn from until he does go out there eventually.”

The Raiders head on the road to face the New York Jets this Sunday (Nov. 1).

Golden Knights Prep for Ottawa

Switching sports, the 8-4-0 Ottawa Senators arrive in Las Vegas to face the Golden Knights (8-4-1) on Tuesday night (Oct. 27) at 7 p.m. local time.

Vegas holds a 5-2-0 record at home and ranks sixth in the league with 46 total goals (3.5 per game). Ottawa enters with a 3-2-0 road record.

Mark Stone leads the Golden Knights with 15 points (eight goals, seven assists), while Jack Eichel has posted five goals and eight assists over his last 10 games.

Mitch Marner is out for tomorrow night’s game for personal reasons.