Klint Kubiak made it clear that nothing is off the table for the Las Vegas Raiders. After a 35-21 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at Allegiant Stadium, the Raiders’ head coach was asked whether he considered going to rookie Fernando Mendoza in the second half. He said no, but then he left the door open for the future.

“I think at this point, we’re thinking about everything. You know, how to fix our problems, how to fix our issues in the red zone, in the third quarter, and personnel, scheme you know, we got to talk about all of it,” Kubiak said, as reported by Raiders beat writer Sam Gorden on X.

The loss was the Raiders’ fourth in a row after a 3-0 start, and it dropped them to 3-4. Las Vegas trailed 28-6 at halftime, and Kubiak explained why Mendoza stayed on the bench: “We made it a competitive game in the third quarter, so no.”

Kirk Cousins did not play badly in the box score. He went 26 of 44 for 295 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions. Tre Tucker caught a 37-yard score, and Ashton Jeanty added a 15-yard touchdown, but both two-point tries failed.

The problem was how the offense got there. According to The Sporting Tribune, the Raiders made five trips to the red zone and scored on only one, and they were 5 for 19 on third and fourth downs. Las Vegas also ran 17 times for 48 yards.

“You can’t win in this league having to throw it as much as we’re throwing it,” Kubiak said.

Cousins took some of the blame himself. He said a fourth-down throw to Jalen Nailor in the red zone “should have been thrown better to him.” He also spoke directly about Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, and about his own role:

“If I’m not the best option, I don’t want to be out there either. I want our football team to have the best chance to win games.”

He thinks Mendoza has done a great job. Cousins has started all seven games after joining the team in April on what is essentially a one-year deal.

Mendoza’s only action so far came in the October 11 loss at New England. He went 6 of 8 for 48 yards in garbage time of a 45-17 game, and Kubiak called it “a solid start.” He also said Cousins was still the starter, and that if Mendoza was called on, he would be ready.

That was two weeks ago, and the picture is different now. Kubiak has not named a change, and Cousins’ numbers against the Rams were solid. But four straight losses tend to raise questions, and Raiders fans will keep asking them.

Meanwhile, the Raiders travel to face the New York Jets on November 1. Whether Cousins or Mendoza starts that game may be the clearest answer yet to what “thinking about everything” really means.

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