Three Takeaways From The Raiders' Preseason Opener

The Las Vegas Raiders took the field for the first time on Saturday afternoon. They took a trip to Minnesota to take on the Minnesota Vikings , and came away with a close loss, by a score of 24-23.

Las Vegas left town with a loss, but preseason games don't matter much anyway. There were a couple of things that stood out from their first live-action of the season, though.

Brock Bowers will be fun.

Bowers figures to start during the 2024 season, so he naturally didn't see a ton of action in the first preseason match-up. He only had two catches, but each of them showcased his skill set in a different way.

In his first catch, he lined up on the outside, near the sideline, and came across the field on an underneath slant route, gaining about 14 yards and a first down. His second reception saw him line up as a fullback and run a flat route, which he also turned into a first down.

While his time on the field was brief, we did get to see some different ways the Raiders might use him in 2024.

The quarterback competition could be better than we thought.

While it's likely still too early to tell , we saw some good things from both Aidan O'Connell and Gardner Minshew.

O'Connell got the first quarter, and went 7/9 for 76 yards. Minshew came in for the second quarter, and went 6/12 with 117 yards and a TD. Combined, the two were 13/21, for 193 yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions.

The secondary could be a little thin.

The Raiders' starting defensive backs were very solid. Moehrig racked up tackles, and Jack Jones even got an interception.

However, their backups told a different story. They allowed J.J. McCarthy to throw for 188 yards and two touchdowns, while also giving up multiple big plays.