Cousins keeps the Raiders' starting job over Mendoza for the Bills game

The Raiders published their unofficial Week 6 depth chart on Sunday morning with Kirk Cousins listed first at quarterback, Fernando Mendoza second and Aidan O'Connell third. That answers the question Raider Nation has been asking all week, and it lands hours before Buffalo kicks off at Allegiant Stadium at 4:25 p.m. Eastern on CBS. The chart is on the team site and the team calls it fluid, but the order is the order.

Mendoza, the No. 1 pick, got the final possession of the 45-17 loss at New England and went 6 of 8 for 48 yards, moving the offense from the Las Vegas 35 to the New England 14 before it turned the ball over on downs. Klint Kubiak has said since that Cousins remains his starter, as Athlon Sports laid out in its Week 6 rundown. Garbage time is garbage time. The ledger still reads Cousins.

Maxx Crosby brings an invoice into the game. The league fined him $23,882 for unnecessary roughness involving illegal use of the helmet in the first quarter at New England, the biggest fine issued for Week 5, CBS Sports reported. Bills running back James Cook was docked $21,167 for his own helmet hit against the Rams.

The defense Crosby anchors is the harder problem. Las Vegas gives up 377.0 yards a game, 27th, and 140.6 on the ground, 28th, by the team's own preview numbers, against a Buffalo offense averaging 32.8 points, tied for first. The one healthy line item is takeaways: 10, tied for the league lead.

The run game is in worse shape. The Raiders are averaging 2.99 yards a carry, the worst five-game start in franchise history per the Associated Press, and Ashton Jeanty has 291 yards on 88 carries with no rushing touchdowns. Buffalo allows a league-best 0.4 yards before contact.

Three Raiders are out on the final injury report: defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway (concussion), tight end Carter Runyon (foot) and receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr. (hamstring). Guard Trey Zuhn III is questionable. Las Vegas elevated undrafted rookie edge Cian Slone from the practice squad, his first call-up this season. Buffalo lists DJ Moore, Ed Oliver, Joshua Palmer, Dee Alford and T.J. Sanders as questionable.

Watch the opening quarter. Quay Walker said the plan for Josh Allen starts with discipline in coverage: "You don't want him to get out the pocket," he told the team site. If Vegas is down three scores early again, the Mendoza question is back by Monday morning.