The first two weeks of the "Mendoza Meter," where we take a reading of how close rookie Fernando Mendoza is to being the starting quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders, were a mixed bag and a decisive win for Kirk Cousins, respectively.
As a reminder, a "1" on Mendoza Meter means something akin to "don't hold your breath about his first start happening real soon," while a "10" is basically "he's starting next week".
After Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins, the Mendoza meter was at the middle of the road: 5. After Week 2 against the Los Angeles Chargers, it went all the way down to 1. The roots of the weekly number are in Cousins' performance and whether the game was a win or a loss for the team.
Following the team's rally to beat the New Orleans Saints in Week 3 of the 2026 NFL season, as Cousins checked the boxes he needed to once again, the Mendoza Meter holds firm at 1.
Fernando Mendoza Meter, Week 3: Kirk Cousins holds the line as Raiders go 3-0
After struggling on downfield (10-plus-yard) throws in Week 1 (1-for-7 with two interceptions), Cousins rebounded nicely (8-for-12 with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception) in Week 2 as the Chargers dared him to beat them deep. And that continued in Week 3 down in New Orleans.
While Cousins didn't air it out deep very much (he was 0-for-2 on throws of 20-plus yards in the air) against the Saints, he was proficient between 10 and 19 air yards, going 6-for-8 for 95 yards. That'll get the job done.
Rooted in completing 13 passes to tight ends (10 to Brock Bowers in his season debut), which fits his career template, Cousins went 16-for-19 for 153 yards and all three of his touchdowns were between zero and 10 yards from the line of scrimmage.
After his ups and downs in Week 1, Cousins' performance in the second half compared to the first half will be worth watching each week. Against the Saints, he was good throughout the game for the second straight week.
In the first half on Sunday, Cousins went 15-for-22 for 169 yards and one touchdown with a 106.1 passer rating in the first half. In the second half, with a lost possession due to a fumbled kickoff and some short fields after takeaways, he went 8-for-11 for 79 yards and two scores.
After his second-half performance in Week 1, Cousins had some legit questions to answer regarding how long he'd be able to keep Mendoza from taking his job. He has spent the next eight quarters saying, "You like that!?" to those critics.
So after Week 3, as a battle for first place in the AFC West against the Kansas City Chiefs sits on the agenda for Week 4, the Mendoza Meter stays at 1 for another week.
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