Busters
OT Jaryd Jones-Smith
Hard to imagine a rougher game for a tackle than the one Jones-Smith had. To begin the second quarter, Jones-Smith came in at left tackle. And he gave up a sack on Nate Peterman.
In the third quarter, he moved over to right tackle. The team had just driven into Seattle territory at the 49 and Jones-Smith got driven back to give up a tackle for loss to move it back to the 50. The next play, he got beaten to give up his second sack of the day, putting the Raiders in third and 20 back at their own 41. Thus killing that drive entirely.
The next possession yielded a three-and-out in part because Jones-Smith gave up a run stuff on the first play.
WR Marcell Ateman
On five targets, Ateman put up two catches for 14 yards. His first target was on his back shoulder and he couldn’t come down with it. In the third quarter, Peterman threw for Ateman, but he couldn’t release from the cornerback and get open and the pass fell incomplete.
He was drafted as an X receiver, much like Bryan Edwards. But Ateman hasn’t shown he can make the most of his big frame, whether to get open or to make the catch even if he’s not. Meanwhile, Zay Jones is showing he is capable of that and with just a couple of wideout spots open, Ateman is not making a play for one of those spots.
OL Patrick Omameh
The one big mistake on the Raiders’ offense was Nate Peterman’s interception. Certainly, Peterman looks back in hindsight and wishes he had just thrown it to Trey Ragas who was open in the flat. But the real reason his decision to try for a bigger play led to an interception is because he was hit as he threw. That hit was given up by Omameh who was in at right tackle at the time.
The next time Omameh made an appearance was in the fourth quarter when the Raiders were lined up in third-and-three. This time Omameh was at left tackle and jumped early for a false start. That turned it into third and eight and Peterman ended up getting sacked while trying to find someone open downfield.
S Dallin Leavitt
The Raiders defense was pitching a shutout most of this game. There was one touchdown and it was a doozy. They lined up in fourth-and-four from the 43-yard line. Running back Deejay Dallas squirted out into the right flat and there was nobody home. He was so open, it was hard to tell who was supposed to be covering him. He got the pass and went 43 yards for the touchdown.
It’s possible Dallas was Leavitt’s assignment on that play. But regardless of whether he was or not, Leavitt had the only real shot at keeping Dallas from scoring. All he had to do was push him out of bounds. And he couldn’t do it. Dallas broke Leavitt’s tackle attempt and finished off the play for the score.
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