The Cardinals and Raiders both finished 2025 at the bottom of the standings, and both are entering 2026 with brand-new head coaches. Thursday's preseason opener is the first live look at what either rebuild actually looks like.
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OverUnder
Best BetCardinals
Arizona took this exact series last summer, and the talent gap at the skill positions — McBride, Love, Conner all trending toward real roles — gives the Cardinals the edge in a game where neither QB competition is settled. Las Vegas is still installing a brand-new scheme under Kubiak, which tends to look rougher in the first live rep than the sales pitch. It's a coin-flip on paper, but Arizona's continuity at the skill spots is a real, if small, advantage.
Cardinals
+Trey McBride entrenched as top receiving option
+LaFleur's Rams offense led NFL in scoring in 2025
+won last year's preseason meeting, 20-10
−closed 2025 on a 5-game losing streak
−no settled starting QB entering camp
−James Conner, Walter Nolen still working back from injury
Raiders
+Kubiak reunites with Cousins after productive Minnesota run
+Kubiak fresh off Super Bowl-winning staff in Seattle
+Bowers and Jeanty give the offense a real foundation
−finished 2025 as the NFL's worst team at 3-14
−Maxx Crosby still working back from knee injury
−entire scheme and staff being installed from scratch
Jacoby Brissett looks like the frontrunner to open camp as QB1 for Arizona, but that's not settling anything — Carson Beck and Gardner Minshew are both pushing hard in what head coach Mike LaFleur says has already 'ramped up' into a real 3-man race. Across the field, Kirk Cousins gets his first live look running Klint Kubiak's wide-zone attack, a scheme the two built together in Minnesota during one of Cousins's best statistical stretches. Neither team has its QB picture fully sorted, which makes this the first real data point for both quarterback rooms.
Health notes matter more than usual in an opener like this. Maxx Crosby says he's 'almost back' from the knee issue that's kept him limited through OTAs, while Trey McBride heads into camp as the unquestioned centerpiece of a receiving corps replacing Kyler Murray with a three-man QB derby. Arizona actually won this series a year ago, 20-10, for whatever that's worth against a Raiders team that was still finding its footing under old management.
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5:00 PM PT
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ARI Cardinals
LV Raiders
Both franchises are starting over. Arizona brought in LaFleur off a Rams staff that led the NFL in scoring in 2025, and Las Vegas lured Klint Kubiak away after he helped coach the Seahawks to a Super Bowl title. Neither coach has called a real game yet in his new job, and this is preseason — expect vanilla schemes and short QB stints, but plenty of eyes on the young building blocks both teams are leaning on.
Arizona Cardinals
Aug 6?vs Panthers—
Las Vegas Raiders
Recent form.
The backfield battles are worth tracking too. Arizona used the No. 3 overall pick on Jeremiyah Love, pairing him with James Conner and Tyler Allgeier in a suddenly crowded room, while Ashton Jeanty enters year 2 in Las Vegas with Kubiak hinting he could take on an even bigger workhorse role. Brock Bowers remains the engine of the Raiders' passing game whenever he's on the field, and how the new staff scripts touches for him and Jeanty in a preseason setting will say something about the offense's priorities.
Arizona Cardinals
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Las Vegas Raiders
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Nobody's circling this one for playoff seeding, but for two fan bases starved for any sign of progress after matching 3-14 finishes, an exhibition win still means something. Kickoff is set for 5:00 PM PT at Allegiant Stadium.
