Silver And Black Pride
It’s time to dive into the postseason for Silver and Black Pride’s Mendoza Mania series, as we’re breaking down Fernando Mendoza’s performance in the Big Ten Championship against Ohio State.
Despite a rather pedestrian stat line—15/23 (65.2 completion percentage), 222 yards, one touchdown and one interception—the Las Vegas Raiders’ new quarterback was pretty flippin’ impressive on the big stage and played much better than the box score showed. Four of his incompletions were throwaways, and one came via a batted pass, according to Pro Football Focus, and the interception was on a screen where the corner jumped the route to beat the block and make the pick.
On top of that, PFF credited the No. 1 pick of the 2026 NFL draft with three “big-time throws” and zero “turnover-worthy plays” to earn an elite 91.9 grade for the evening. That was his highest single-game grade of the 2025 season, as Mendoza’s ability to throw deep and on the run really stood out against the Buckeyes.
In full disclosure, a few clips from this game were included in a previous and more general breakdown earlier in the year, which can be found via this link. To avoid repeating information, all of the plays below were not included in the previous article and vice versa. That means Mendoza’s famous deep shot to Charlie Becker that flipped the momentum of the contest isn’t included here, but a detailed breakdown of that play is in the hyperlinked article for those who are interested.
Before diving into the highlights, Mendoza’s lateral movement skills are one area of improvement for him in the NFL, and that shows up in his pocket management or mobility. He’s a good linear athlete who has the speed to pick up yards with his legs when needed, but his change of direction and agility are lacking. The latter can lead to sacks like the play above.
To the quarterback’s credit, nothing is open since Ohio State’s defensive backs are doing an excellent job in man coverage with safety help over the top in the Cover 2 Man/Cover 5 look. Also, both linebackers are on the line of scrimmage and essentially playing two-on-two with the quarterback and running back. One backer covers the running back to take away the checkdown, and the other serves as a spy to take away the scramble.
That gives the three-man rush enough time to get pressure, as the left defensive end beats the right tackle around the edge. Mendoza does a good job of seeing that and stepping up in the pocket, but the spy takes away the interior or linear rushing lane in the B-gap. That forces Mendoza to change directions and move laterally to get out of the pocket, exposing his lack of agility and short-area quickness to pivot and escape the pocket.
Here, we’ll take a look at another sack where the No. 1 pick’s movement skills are a factor, but his feel for pressure is the bigger issue on this play specifically....
