What we learned from Cardinals' preseason win vs. Raiders

GLENDALE — If you’re reading this, you’ve made it through another Arizona Cardinals preseason slate. Congratulations! Treat yourself to something nice!

But before we turn the page to Tuesday’s initial 53-man roster cuts and Week 1 of the regular season, there’s still plenty to glean from the Cardinals’ 20-10 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday night.

Young Cardinals pass rushers ball out

The stats won’t count toward their regular season totals, but former high school teammates Jordan Burch and Xavier Thomas set the tone for the Cardinals defensively.

And a lot of their night can be summed up by their one-two punch in the first quarter:

Sack. Fumble. @AZCardinals ball!

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Flashing his physicality and motor, Burch erupted into the backfield before getting to Aidan O’Connell for the strip sack.

Thomas was right there creating his own havoc before jumping on the loose ball.

On top of the sack and forced fumble, Burch flashed his abilities in the run game with a tackle for loss.

“Just trying to get better every game,” Burch said postgame. “The coaches are teaching me stuff and what I should do every week. Just trying to use that and get better every time I step on the field.”

Thomas added two sacks of his own to go along with five tackles and five QB hits.

“Just playing free and I got more comfortable at the SAM position,” Thomas said postgame. “I came into camp playing a new position. Last year, I just played JACK. Just getting more comfortable play by play.”

Before the night began, the two looked like locks for the initial 53-man roster, especially Burch. He could have taken the night off and that would have been fine by me.

That thinking has only been solidified after a productive night for the pair.

Simi solidified?

The wide receivers room looks just about set after Simi Fehoko’s showing on Saturday.

The wideout added another strong preseason outing with his second touchdown of the exhibition slate.

Simi is here for business 💼@Simi_Fehoko | 📺 @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/bmq0TiPLWr

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 24, 2025

On the receiving end of a Clayton Tune 10-yard touchdown pass, Fehoko answered any remaining questions regarding his roster status.

His work on special teams that included a pair of tackles only add to that thinking.

More experience for Cardinals CB Will Johnson

In last week’s loss to the Denver Broncos, rookie cornerback Will Johnson was one of the only projected starters to play. Akeem Davis-Gaither was the other.

This time around, Johnson marked the only projected starter to take the field.

Playing the first quarter in Saturday’s action, Johnson tallied one tackle but got some run against Las Vegas’ first-team offense.

The stats don’t jump off the page, but at the end of the day, Johnson accomplished two things:

– Recorded extra snaps
– Avoided an exhibition injury

Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon on the decision behind playing rookie CB Will Johnson in all three preseason games: pic.twitter.com/UhF5xzX3RM

— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) August 24, 2025

“Looked at how many game reps you could get for honestly all of our rookies. Kind of a change that I felt like we needed to make going into this year,” Gannon said. “That was one of the things in camp talking with the coordinators and (general manager Monti Ossenfort). Get these rookies a little more reps. I’m looking in the past now, so I’m going to get depressed, but probably a mistake by me truthfully the first two years. So we wanted to correct that.”

Elijah Jones makes most of opportunities

Heading into Saturday’s contest, the battle between Elijah Jones and Darren Hall was among the tightest on the team.

Of the two, Jones made the most of the preseason finale.

Tested on back-to-back throws in the third quarter, Jones’ tight coverage forced a pair of incompletions.

He nearly came down with an interception on the second pass, recording a pass defensed. He added another in the fourth quarter.

That’s exactly the type of night Jones needed ahead of Tuesday’s cutdown day.

“He made some plays today. I thought it was good,” Gannon said. “I thought he was in the right spots. He did a good job today.”

Michael Carter, Bam Knight not going down without a fight

The Cardinals running back room is a crowded room, with James Conner, Trey Benson and Emari Demercado at the top of the depth chart. DeeJay Dallas rounds out the four thanks to his special teams abilities.

That hasn’t stopped Michael Carter from competing, though. Saturday was a good example of that.

Looking dead to rights on a third-and-14 run, Carter shed a tackle before changing direction.

From there, it was off to the races.

Michael Carter shakes free for the big gain!

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The scamper put the Cardinals in the red zone, where they ended up settling for a 23-yard field goal to tie things up.

The same thinking goes for Zonovan “Bam” Knight, who had his own chunk play.

This one, however, resulted in a touchdown.

Bam Knight turns on the speed for a 67-yard TD!

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