Raiders emerge victorious after furious comeback, but much work remains

HOUSTON — The Raiders came to Houston looking for clarity.

They got it, especially about their best players.

Between a difficult joint practice against the Texans on Tuesday and Thursday night’s 22-20 preseason victory, in which they trailed 20-3 before mounting a furious second-half comeback featuring the bottom-of-the-roster players for both teams, the Raiders received a candid assessment of where they stand against one of the NFL’s elite teams.

It was pretty much what anyone paying attention expected.

That didn’t make it any less painful.

From the top of the roster to the bottom, the Texans are deeper, more talented and further along than the Raiders.

And now, it isn’t particularly close even though the Raiders left the field in a better mood than they started the exhibition game.

That’s a sobering reminder of how much ground the Raiders still have to cover before they can stand shoulder to shoulder with the NFL’s best.

The difference this time is they seem to know it.

Unlike seasons past, when the Raiders occasionally operated under grand illusions about how close they were to contention, this version of the franchise appears to understand exactly where it is. Under coach Klint Kubiak, the Raiders have embraced the long road back rather than searching for shortcuts.

That requires patience. Smart drafting. Development. And probably a few uncomfortable afternoons and evenings like the ones they experienced in Houston.

Those moments are inevitable when rebuilding something correctly.

The important thing is learning from them.

Here are three things that stood out Thursday:

Missed opportunity

After suggesting he might play his starters following their poor showing in Tuesday’s joint practice, Kubiak ultimately reversed course and sat them Thursday.

In the grand scheme of a preseason, that decision might not matter.

In real time, though, it felt like a missed opportunity.

Especially when the Texans — a team coming off three consecutive playoff appearances — opened the game with C.J. Stroud and much of their starting offense on the field.

If Houston believes there is value in those reps, the Raiders certainly shouldn’t consider themselves above them.

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They simply aren’t at a stage where opportunities to build cohesion and chemistry should be casually passed up.

Their offensive line remains a work in progress. Their defensive front was pushed around far too often Tuesday. And there are new systems being installed on both sides of the ball under a new coaching staff.

Those are exactly the circumstances in which another 10 or 15 meaningful snaps together could have been useful.

The Raiders aren’t expected to play their starters in next week’s preseason finale against the 49ers, meaning Thursday may have represented their final opportunity to work together in a game setting before the regular season.

That made sitting them feel like a chance left on the table.

Raiders’ defense needs work

Yes, the Raiders’ starting defense never took the field Thursday.

That caveat matters.

But after watching the first unit struggle against the run in last week’s preseason opener against Arizona and again during Tuesday’s joint practice, what happened Thursday felt like an extension of a troubling theme.

Houston running back Woody Marks needed just four carries to gain 37 yards, a whopping 9.3 yards per attempt, including a 20-yard run.

The numbers eventually leveled off as Houston worked deeper into its roster.

By then, though, the point had been made.

The Raiders look vulnerable at the point of attack.

Part of the concern is depth. Part of it is the absence of a proven difference-maker in the middle of the defensive line who can consistently anchor against the run and force offenses to account for him.

That’s not an insignificant issue in a division where stopping the run will matter.

It would hardly be surprising if the Raiders scour the waiver wire and trade market for defensive-line help as teams begin trimming their rosters.

The pass defense didn’t provide much relief Thursday, either.

Davis Mills completed 11 of 15 passes for 93 yards as the Raiders struggled to generate pressure up front and their young defensive backs endured the predictable growing pains behind it.

Jermod McCoy, Hezekiah Masses and Treydan Stukes all have talent. They also remain young players learning on the fly.

Thursday was another reminder that potential and readiness aren’t the same thing.

Another big night for Mike Washington Jr.

The Raiders already know they have a potential difference-maker in Ashton Jeanty, whom they selected sixth overall in last year’s draft.

They may have created a pretty nice problem for themselves with Mike Washington Jr.

One week after rushing for 63 yards on six carries, Washington followed with 56 yards on nine attempts Thursday, highlighted by a 33-yard burst in the first quarter.

That’s 119 yards on 15 preseason carries.

Or 7.9 yards every time they hand him the football.

At 6-foot-2 and 228 pounds, Washington Jr. brings an intriguing combination of size, power and enough burst to turn a crease into something much bigger.

And he’s beginning to look like more than simply Jeanty’s backup.

When a team invests the sixth overall pick in a running back, the natural inclination is to feed him. Jeanty was drafted to be a centerpiece of Kubiak’s offense, and nothing Washington has done changes that.

But good teams don’t ignore production simply because of draft position.

If Washington Jr. keeps running like this, the Raiders might have to find room for both.

That isn’t a controversy.

It’s a luxury.

And after two difficult days in Houston exposed plenty of areas in which the Raiders still need help, discovering they might have one more legitimate weapon than they originally thought qualifies as a pretty good consolation prize.