The began their 2024 preseason slate on Saturday against the and couldn't come away with a win, losing 24-23 on a last-second field goal.All eyes were on the quarterbacks, as this was the latest chapter in the competition for the starting job between Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell. Neither of the two were able to create separation in the battle during training camp, and not much changed after both saw the field for a quarter on Saturday.But the quarterback competition is just one part of our takeaways from the first preseason game. Here's a look at that and much more following the Raiders' preseason-opening lo s to Minnesota.Raiders takeaways from preseason Week 1An encouraging showing from both QBsAfter an offseason full of struggles, both Raiders quarterbacks played well in the preseason opener on Saturday.O'Connell started Marco Gonzales Jersey and saw one drive, completing 7-of-9 pa ses for 76 yards. His main targets were Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers. O'Connell showed good poise in the pocket but Matt Festa Jersey could have had better ball placement to give his pa s-catchers a better chance to gain yards after the catch.Regardle s, O'Connell got the Raiders up to the Vikings' four-yard line before Andrus Peat got smoked by Dallas Turner for a sack, which ended the drive and forced Las Vegas to settle for a field goal.Minshew entered the game in the second quarter and managed to get three series thanks to a few quick drives from both teams. Minshew finished 6-of-12 for 117 yards and threw a touchdown pa s on a .On his second drive, Minshew to complete a 44-yard play to Tre Tucker. He completed two more pa ses on the drive before Zamir White ran it in from two yards out. Minshew and Co. went three-and-out on his final drive.You can probably make the Erik Swanson Jersey argument that Minshew had the better day because of his two touchdown drives and a few impre sive throws, but there wasn't a huge difference in his and O'Connell's performances. The biggest difference is Minshew's ability to escape the pocket, which is an advantage.Regardle s, this battle remains very close and is far from decided.Wide receivers shineJakobi Meyers racked up 45 yards on three catches during O'Connell's lone drive and looks to be in midseason form already. Turner found pay dirt on Minshew's touchdown pa s and Tre Tucker had receptions of 44 and 29 yards while also adding a 23-yard punt return.Meyers, Tucker and Turner entered the day as the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 receivers on the depth chart and that pecking order remains in place after preseason Week 1. Davante Adams did not play, by the way.First-team defense bends but doesn't breakThe Raiders' first-team defense allowed Sam Darnold and the Vikings' offense to move the ball with ease on the opening drive and didn't supply much pre sure upfront.But when push came to shove and the Vikings went for it on fourth down from the Raiders' four-yard line, Jakorian Sam Tuivailala Jersey Bennett came through with a pa s break-up to prevent a score.Las Vegas still had most of its starters on the field for the second drive, and after giving up 41 yards, Jack Jones put a stop to Minnesota's drive with an interception on a J.J. McCarthy pa s.Certainly not an ideal performance from the first-team unit, but the defense did what it needed to in order to keep the Vikings off the scoreboard.Poor showing against the runThe Raiders struggled against the run starting with Minnesota's second offensive drive, and that was pretty much the theme the rest of the day. Things really went off the rails after the first-team unit came off the field. The Vikings finished with 134 yards on the ground to the tune of 6.7 yards per Omar Narvaez Jersey carry.Third team was abysmalSpeaking of going off the rails, the second half was a disaster for the third-team offense, which was led by quarterbacks Anthony Brown and Carter Bradley.Both looked lost, run and pa s-blocking were poor, and the defense had multiple bad lapses to surrender big plays. Granted, the third team is made up of a lot of players who won't make the team or will play very little during the season, but their horrid performance was notable nonethele s.