Sunday the Raiders were facing a couple of familiar foes. Both that used to be great strengths for the Raiders. And both teamed up to do the Raiders in.
One is Khalil Mack and the other is the Raiders own offensive line.
Mack was smelling blood in the water with the Raiders offensive line this week. And the Raiders tried to fix their leaking hull with parts on hand. It failed miserably and once again took the Raiders team down with it.
After the team’s 11th straight opening drive that failed to yield a score the team seemed for a moment like it might shake off their recent penchant for slow starts. They mounted a drive that led to a field goal to give them the first points in the game. But that drive also showed the team starting to unravel before our eyes.
Twice on the drive the Raiders had two players called for holding on the same play. And both times, it involved trying to block former Raiders edge rusher Khalil Mack.
This week the Raiders tried to help mitigate the impact Mack had on the game by making a change on the right side. Rookie Alex Leatherwood was moved from right tackle to right guard and Brandon Parker was named the starter at right tackle. Both players were flagged for holding on that drive along with left guard John Simpson and tight end Foster Moreau. It was Leatherwood and Moreau who were trying to keep Mack from blowing up the play.
The lead didn’t last long as the Bears took advantage of a questionable roughing the passer penalty on Yannick Ngakoue and drove for a touchdown. That gave the Bears the lead; one they wouldn’t relinquish.
The Raiders response ended with a Carr sneak on third and one that was stopped for no gain and a Josh Jacobs run that was stopped for no gain, again by Mack.
The Bears response was to drive for another touchdown. This one just flat out bully ball to take a 14-3 lead.
That would be the score at the half in part because of Leatherwood being flagged for holding again and Mack getting in the backfield to sack Carr.
The third quarter began just as the first quarter did for the Raiders offense — with a run stuff and a three-and-out.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Raiders would drive for their only TD of the game. But the offensive line along with Mack wouldn’t make it easy. Mack had two run stuffs in a row to force the Raiders to go for it on fourth and one. And with the lack of push on the offensive line, it didn’t look like the Raiders converted, but the officials ruled it a first down and there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn it so it stood.
A roughing penalty gave the Raiders a first and goal from the one-yard-line and Josh Jacobs was able to dive over the line for the score. Down, 14-9, Gruden opted to go for two. And Mack flew past Brandon Parker to sack Carr again. This time, Mack had a message to send, flashing the “O” to the Vegas crowd. He clearly still has love for the fans in Oakland where he spent the first four seasons of his NFL career.
The Bears would answer with a long drive for a field goal to go up 17-9.
It was still a one-score game, but it would require the Raiders to drive down for a touchdown and a two-point conversion in the final 2:45. Carr was then sacked on first down and Brandon Parker was flagged for a false start on third and 12. The fourth down pass for Bryan Edwards sailed over his head and the game was all but over.
Another Bears field goal would ice it for the final score of 20-9.
The offensive line continued to not get any push and the team finished averaging just 3.2 yards per carry. That’s also what Josh Jacobs had on 15 carries (46 yards) and what he is averaging on the season. After the game, he expressed some frustration at the lack of running room.
“I watch film and sometimes on plays I’m like… I don’t know what y’all want me to do.’ Honestly,” Jacobs said of the run game. “But I’m very optimistic about the guys getting better and I believe in the guys. I see the way the way that they work each day so I think it’s just a matter of time before we start putting the pieces together. A lot of them guys are young, this is their first time really playing on this level. So I’m just going to keep trying to inspire them to want to be better.”
Jacobs was teammates with Alex Leatherwood at Alabama and noted that the rookie lineman hasn’t played guard in several years.
Leatherwood’s issues and rusty play at guard doesn’t really explain the play of Parker or why Gruden lined up a tight end one-on-one with Mack so often. The result being Derek Carr was sacked three times (four if you count the failed two-point conversion), and the Raiders offensive line had six penalties.
“Obviously we’re trying to find our right mix up front. And I’m not going to put it on the offensive line, but it was [Brandon] Parker’s first game starting today, Alex Leatherwood moved in to right guard. We’re trying to find the right mix. We’re struggling right now to run the football and obviously our pass protection has to get better as well.”
Gruden also used injuries to Richie Incognito, Denzelle Good and even Kamaal Seymour as excuses for the shoddy play at guard. But really this was several trades that came back to haunt him.
The big one, of course, being trading away Khalil Mack before he ever played a game for him. Then this offseason sending away Rodney Hudson and Gabe Jackson which has played the biggest role in the offensive line issues and helped allow Mack to get his revenge; both on Gruden for the trade and being kept under wraps in the Bears loss to the Raiders in London in 2019.
The All Pro edge rusher finished second on the team with 8 combined tackles (seven solo), one sack (and another on the two-point conversion attempt), a tackle for loss, and a QB hit. And, of course, the penalties he forced.
Meanwhile his former draft classmate Derek Carr barely got over 200 yards (206) and had his worst passer rating (67.1) since week 11 of 2019.