Cardinals Set to Host Raiders in Preseason Finale
The final preseason game of the 2025 season has arrived for the Arizona Cardinals, as they are set to host the Las Vegas Raiders at 10 p.m. EST Saturday. This game will be the final opportunity for players to make their case for a spot on the final 53-man roster, as rosters must be reduced to this number by 4 p.m. EST on Tuesday. For Arizona, the plan remains the same as last week’s matchup against the Denver Broncos, as head coach Jonathan Gannon announced that the majority of his starters will not play in the preseason finale, allowing the backups to put on one final show before the start of the regular season. As for Las Vegas, the plan remains the same as well, but different than the Cardinals, as head coach Pete Carroll will once again plan on having his starters play a limited amount of snaps before the backups take over for the rest of the game.
Gannon’s plan to rest the majority of the starters will hope to prove fruitful this time around, as his first decision to enact this plan ended with Arizona being taken down by a stronger Denver team by 20 points. Even with it being the Cardinals’ lone road preseason game of the season, they went on to struggle mightily against a Broncos team that took over in the first half and never let up. On the offensive side, after answering back from Denver’s first score when backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett found wide receiver Simi Fehoko for a 16-yard touchdown, the offense went stagnant after third-string quarterback Clayton Tune entered the game. While the offense didn’t turn the ball over, it was definitely a game to forget, as the team could only muster up 135 total yards. However, it became increasingly difficult for the offense to play catch-up after the Arizona defense was shredded by Broncos backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham, who once again put on a show for Denver by throwing for 240 yards and two touchdowns. Despite the defense only allowing three points in the second half, enough damage was done in the first half to put this game to bed early.
As for Carroll’s plan to play his starters in both games, albeit for a limited time, it has shown mixed results thus far. In the Raiders' first preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks, the starting offense struggled to move the ball downfield, as they were forced to give Seattle the chance to go on top early. While the starting defense would force an interception by the Seahawks on their first drive, it was not reciprocated by the offense, leading to Seattle pulling out to an eventual 16-3 first-half lead. In Las Vegas’ most recent preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers, the starters on both sides of the ball got an opportunity to show out at home, as the offense was able to put up 10 points in the first half. While the defense let up 13 points, forcing another interception early. When it comes to the Raiders' backups, while they showed out to force a tie in the second half against the Seahawks, they also went on to struggle down the stretch in a walkoff loss to the 49ers at home. The preseason finale between the Raiders and Cardinals will kick off at 10 p.m. EST Saturday from State Farm Stadium. The game will also be streamed live on the NFL Network.
