Carson Palmer survived Sunday night's game against the Raiders, but I'm not sure how.

Last week, Palmer took a beating behind his offensive line, getting sacked twice in his second preseason start. Palmer's night didn't go any better against the Raiders.

On just his second pass of the game, Palmer was hit as he threw, as he dealt with pressure around the edge and up the middle. The pass was a stinker as well, landing in the arms of Raiders defensive back Nate Allen.

Palmer's lone highlight came when he found John Brown deep down the left sideline. Though Palmer slightly under threw the pass, Brown made a difficult catch over his defender.

But on the vast majority of his throws, completions were lacking, as the Raiders defensive line bullied the Cardinals all night long and forced Palmer to operate under duress. As a result, Palmer's night mostly consisted of incompletions, interceptions, hits, and sacks.

Palmer's final stat line? Eight of 22 for 103 yards and two interceptions (both by Allen). And, oh yeah, he was sacked three times. Reminder: This is a guy who is coming off of the second ACL tear of his career.

Things weren't much better in the rushing department, as the Cardinals offensive line failed to open up holes for the team's runners. Andre Ellington received the bulk of the carries, but he only picked up 19 yards on nine carries. At halftime, the Cardinals were averaging just 2.4 yards per carry.

As a whole, the Raiders defense came up with four sacks and two turnovers.

There are two ways to look at Sunday night's game: Either the Raiders defense is going to be a force in 2015 or the Cardinals' offense has a lot to worry about heading into the season.

Carson Palmer was repeatedly hunted down by Khalil Mack. (USATSI)

Here are eight more takeaways from the two games that were played on Sunday:

2. Khalil Mack was practically unstoppable against the Cardinals.

"If I needed a yard, I would run anywhere on planet Earth other than at Khalil Mack."

That's how NBC's Cris Collinsworth described the Cardinals' lackluster attempt to pick up a 3rd-and-short by running on Mack's side of the line of scrimmage. Mack ended up stripping David Johnson of the football, though the Cardinals managed to recover.

On Sunday, Mack wrecked havoc in the pocket. During the Cardinals' fourth series of the game, Mack blazed past left tackle Jared Veldheer and Palmer's throw was tipped by another defender at the line of scrimmage.

A couple plays later, Veldheer was clearly concerned that Mack was going to run by him again. Instead, Mack spun to the inside and flushed Palmer out of the pocket, forcing yet another incompletion.

Later in the half, Mack bull rushed Veldheer and hit Palmer as he was throwing, which resulted in a feeble incompletion. All night, Mack tormented Veldheer.

It wasn't just Veldheer, though. Two plays after hitting Palmer, Mack shifted to the left and sacked Palmer on a third down.

Mack recorded two sacks in the game. He looks like a guy who is going to snag somewhere around 15 sacks this upcoming season.

3. Derek Carr was unimpressive.

Second-year quarterback Derek Carr failed to impress on Sunday, missing a bunch of easy throws in his first two quarters of action. At halftime, Carr was just 13 of 26 for 160 yards.

Carr had difficulty on some deeper throws, as he did last season.

He also struggled with a few reads. On this particular third down, Carr had two guys open over the middle of the field. Instead, he threw quickly to the sideline. The throw was also off target.

In the second half, Carr took the field for one series. It ended with this horrible, horrible red zone pick-6.

If you can't already tell, the Cardinals-Raiders game wasn't the best in terms of offensive quality.

4. The Saints' offense is just fine, but they're lacking a red-zone target.

The Saints' offense will rise, just like it seemingly always has.

On the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the Saints demonstrated once again this preseason that they should be back at it for another offensively charged season.

Earlier this offseason, the Saints parted ways with star tight end Jimmy Graham. Yet all signs point to the Saints revving up for another successful offensive campaign in 2015. In the Saints' regular-season dress rehearsal against the Texans on Sunday, the team took the opening possession of the game and marched right down the field.

The drive would eventually stall in the red zone after 11 offensive plays, resulting in a short field goal. With center Max Unger, who came to New Orleans via the Graham trade, anchoring the offensive line, the Saints used a combination of runs and short passes on their opening drive. Drew Brees also received excellent pass protection from his line.

(Obligatory note about the Texans defense playing without J.J. Watt.)

Brees went 4 of 6 for 40 yards on the opening drive, which was his only series of the game. And, of course, second-year wide out Brandin Cooks was involved immediately, catching a quick out-route and a slant on the opening drive. Last week, Bill Belichick said that he was glad he didn't have to face Cooks twice a year after Cooks torched the Patriots secondary for 117 yards. Cooks showed no signs of slowing up on Sunday, albeit he wasn't on the field for many snaps.

If there is one concern for the Saints' offense, it's directly related to the red zone. The last two passes of the opening series, which killed the drive, showed that there's still room for improvement.

First, Brees failed to see middle linebacker Brian Cushing undercutting a route over the middle of the field and was lucky that Cushing failed to secure the interception. Then, on third down, Brees targeted tight end Josh Hill in the end zone with a lofted ball thrown his way. But Hill failed to corral the pass.

There's no doubt that Graham probably comes up with that pass.

5. DeAndre Hopkins appears ready to break out in 2015.

At this point, the Texans offense might want to pencil "Streak targeting DeAndre Hopkins" into their playbook.

With Andre Johnson now in Indianapolis, Hopkins is expected to become the team's go-to target. Well, so far, so good.

On Sunday, Hoyer twice targeted Hopkins on streaks down the right sideline. The first one resulted in a 29-yard gain, as Hopkins went over cornerback Keenan Lewis to snag the jump ball. Then, a few plays later, Hoyer lobbed up a ball to Hopkins in the end zone. Again, Hopkins went over Lewis to make a tremendous catch, despite getting interfered with on the play.

However, the play was ruled incomplete and wasn't overturned after a challenge. Still, take a look, because it's ridiculous.

6. Brian Hoyer looks solid as the Texans' starter.

What probably shouldn't be forgotten on that insane non-catch by DeAndre Hopkins is Brian Hoyer's throw. In fact, on both jump balls to Hopkins, Hoyer did well to put the ball in a place that only his receiver had access to.

Here's a look at the first connection between Hoyer and Hopkins.

Hoyer was recently named the Texans starting quarterback and, all in all, he did just fine in his first game since winning the competition over Ryan Mallett. In his three drives, Hoyer went 7 of 11 for 82 yards, leading the team to 10 points. While Hoyer's passes intended for Hopkins will receive the bulk of the attention, Hoyer also spread the ball around. Most importantly, he didn't turn the ball over.

Behind Hoyer, Mallett continues to lurk, as he went 9 of 17 but only averaged 4.5 yards per attempt. Still, Mallet threaded a dart for a touchdown in the third quarter before stepping aside for third-stringer Tom Savage.

7. Amari Cooper put the moves on Patrick Peterson.

So, Amari Cooper is probably going to be really good.

8. An important Hard Knocks update

If you watch HBO's Hard Knocks, you're probably familiar with Charles James, a Texans cornerback who recently received some practice snaps at running back.

On Sunday, James got a couple carries against the Saints. He ended up doing this in the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately, the touchdown was called back due to a holding penalty. But that didn't stop his teammates from mobbing him as he came off the field. And, yes, James hung on to that football.

9. Sebastian Janikowski's incredible NFL record.

During the Sunday Night Football broadcast, NBC pointed out that Jack Del Rio is now the 10th coach of Sebastian Janikowski's NFL career. That's pretty amazing. And just in case you're wondering who the 10 coaches were, here's the list (in order):

  1. Jon Gruden
  2. Bill Callahan
  3. Norv Turner
  4. Art Shell
  5. Lane Kiffin
  6. Tom Cable
  7. Hue Jackson
  8. Dennis Allen
  9. Tony Sparano
  10. Jack Del Rio