5 things to watch as Jets face Raiders in Week 8 of 2026 NFL season

The Jets should have been heading into this game with a chance to get back to .500. Instead, they are 2-5, following a demoralizing loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. 

In Week 8, they host the 3-4 Las Vegas Raiders, in a game where both teams will be hoping to right the ship.

Here are the main storylines to watch…

Redemption time for Geno Smith?

Smith will face the team he played for last season. On the face of it, this sets up a classic storyline about a player wanting to defeat his former employer, perhaps because he feels they set him up to fail, or because they traded him away in the offseason.

However, this game could set up a different redemption arc involving Smith. The veteran wore out his welcome with Raiders fans, who were disappointed with his play, and reacted badly to him making an obscene gesture towards a fan who was criticizing him last November.

Raiders fans would therefore love to see Las Vegas get one over on Smith and his new team. There could feasibly be Raiders players who have added motivation for similar reasons, too.

Fernando Mendoza bides his time

When the schedule was announced, some may have circled this game as an opportunity for Jets fans to see what they missed out on in April when the Raiders drafted quarterback Fernando Mendoza ahead of the Jets with the No. 1 pick.

However, Mendoza remains on the bench, as veteran Kirk Cousins has led the league’s number four passing offense and thrown a league-high 16 touchdowns.

The story doesn’t necessarily have to end there, though. All it would take is an injury or a downturn from Cousins and we could end up getting our first extended look at Mendoza after all.

Protecting the football

The Raiders have been one of the better teams at forcing turnovers this season, and they are facing a Jets team that just threw their first two interceptions of the season over the past two games.

Two players in particular stand out as potentially dangerous, so the Jets should be particularly wary of them. One is rookie cornerback Hezekiah Masses, who has a league-high three interceptions. The other is linebacker Nakobe Dean, who is tied for the league lead with three forced fumbles and also has an interception.

Red zone woes for both teams

The Jets’ red zone issues have been well documented. In Week 7, they were better in these situations as they scored three red zone touchdowns — their first since the Lions game in Week 3. However, their inability to punch the ball in from the one-yard line in the fourth quarter was one of the main things that cost them Sunday’s game.

They are not alone in struggling in this area. The Raiders have had the second-highest number of red zone trips in the league but are 29th in conversion percentage. They had one touchdown in five red zone trips in last week’s loss to the Rams.

In addition, they gave up a touchdown on all five of the Rams’ red zone trips, so their red zone defense has been vulnerable. These issues are the main reason Las Vegas has lost four in a row since an improbable 3-0 start.

Building the offense around Garrett Wilson

Sunday was the second game in a row where Wilson didn’t see enough of the ball on offense for the Jets. That comes after he had over 100 yards and a touchdown in their most recent win over the Browns.

Clearly, the Jets need to ensure they are optimizing their offense by making the most of Wilson’s abilities. They shouldn’t need to get too creative or force the ball to Wilson, but they should seek ways to use their alignment to isolate him in one-on-one situations where targeting him should be a high-percentage option.

It’s also worth noting that AD Mitchell and Kenyon Sadiq only had one catch between them against Miami, so Smith has a lot of mouths to feed.