On Sunday afternoon, the Las Vegas Raiders hit the field at home for a game vs the Seattle Seahawks. This game marked the first start for quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who took over after the Raiders traded Kirk Cousins to the Minnesota Vikings last week.
While there was plenty of doubt about Mendoza making his first start against the vaunted Seahawks' defense, he answered the call early on in this one, leading the Raiders on a march down the field and ultimately punching the ball into the end zone with an impressive run.
The play reminded some of the 2025-26 college football national championship game, in which Mendoza made a Herculean run to help the Indiana Hoosiers knock off the Miami Hurricanes for their first national title in school history.
While he is typically viewed as more of a traditional pocket passer, Mendoza has shown an ability and willingness to use his legs to make plays dating back to his college days, and he wasted no time in establishing that he can still do that at the NFL level, against one of the league's top defensive units at that.
There will inevitably be growing pains for Mendoza as he adjusts to the NFL level, but hopefully his strong start early on against the Seahawks will give fans enough evidence to not get restless whenever mistakes do occur.
In any case, at the conclusion of the Seahawks game, the Raiders will next hit the field next week for a tough road game against the Denver Broncos.