Busters
QB Derek Carr, OC Greg Olson
If it wasn’t the terrible play selection it was the terrible execution. Sometimes it was both. The Raiders’ offense got a head start when the defense forced a fumble and set the Raiders up in first and goal at the nine-yard line. Then they did nothing with it.
On a second-down pass to Darren Waller in the left flat was stopped for a loss. Then on third and goal from the eight, Carr threw off-target to Josh Jacobs on a play he probably wouldn’t have gotten past the line of scrimmage anyway. And they settled for a field goal.
The next drive started promising with a 25-yard hookup with Waller. They would make it just inside Cincinnati territory, then on third and four, it was another call to throw a doomed short pass into the flat and Carr threw it behind Kenyan Drake incomplete. Again, it was just as well considering three defenders were there to stop it.
Late in the second quarter, following the Bengals’ first touchdown of the game, the Raiders needed to try and answer. Once again, the drive began with a long hookup with Waller for 21 yards. Three plays later, the Raiders were in third and six. Carr appeared to change the play at the line and Kenyan Drake was stopped for three yards on the rush to end the drive.
The Raiders got the ball to start the third quarter. Five plays in, they were in third and one. And somehow Olson thought handing the ball off on the reverse to his slowest receiver was the way to go. Bryan Edwards was stopped for a loss.
The next drive started with an 18-yard run by Josh Jacobs. The next to plays went to Jacobs for a net negative two yards. And on third and 12, Carr went deep for Zay Jones only to have the pass come down out of bounds. That was the sixth failed third-down conversion of the game, making for a streak of 14 straight failed third-down conversions going back to last week against the Chiefs.
Then out of nowhere, Carr throws three gorgeous passes for 75 yards and a touchdown on a fade to TE Foster Moreau. As if they could just turn it on whenever they want and just choose not to or something.
The next possession lasted two plays, with Carr throwing for Waller again and getting it easily picked off by Eli Apple of all people. A man who hasn’t had an interception since 2018.
The Bengals would get the ball at the Vegas 27-yard-line and score off that turnover to put the nail in the proverbial coffin. But just to make sure, the Raiders final drive ended with Carr fumbling without a defender even punching it out. He was trying to escape the pocket and seemed to attempt to switch hands and just dropped it while getting tackled around his ankles.
S Johnathan Abram, CB Brandon Facyson
Facyson came out balling in this game, including two pass breakups on the Bengals’ second drive. For that matter, Abram had a nice play early in the game as well, where he shed the block of an offensive lineman to help set up a tackle for loss on a sweep on third and one. But as the game went on things started to unravel for both of them.
On three consecutive plays on the Bengals’ fourth drive in the second quarter, Facyson defended a pass in the end zone, was flagged for unnecessary roughness on third and 11 to keep the drive alive, and then was blocked on the 11-yard touchdown run that immediately followed.
On the first drive of the third quarter, Facyson gave up a 17-yard catch, then Abram failed to come up and fill his gap to give up a five-yard run. A few plays later Facyson was flagged for pass interference that moved the ball into field goal range.
On the next drive, Facyson gave up an eight-yard catch on third-and-four and they added another field goal to take a 16-6 lead.
The Raiders would score on the next drive to bring it back to a three-point game. Then on the first play of the next drive, Facyson gave up a nine-yard catch, then a few plays later a 12-yard catch. The Bengals would move to third and goal from the six and Abram was beaten for the touchdown in the back left of the end zone. That touchdown was basically the death strike for the Raiders’ hopes.
LB KJ Wright
Honest question; can anyone name a single big play Wright has made this season? I can’t. He just hasn’t had nearly the impact most expected he would when the Raiders signed him.
Wright saw 20 snaps in this game, which is a fairly standard number of snaps for him since joining the Raiders this season.
The Raiders were actually ahead 6-3 at the beginning of the second quarter. That lead was lost on the Bengals’ next drive. On that drive, they converted two third downs. One was by penalty. The other was third and seven and Wright gave up a 15-yard catch that put the Bengals at the Vegas 34-yard-line. They would go on to get their first touchdown and would hold the lead the rest of the game.
Wright also gave up a six-yard catch on another scoring drive and a first down run on third and one on their second touchdown drive.
DE Clelin Ferrell
Speaking of disappointing players. Ferrell has never lived up to the hopes the team had when they spent the fourth overall pick on him in the 2019 draft. Ferrell also played exactly 20 snaps in this game. That too is fairly standard for him.
In those snaps, he essentially had no stats. His one tackle came on the Bengals’ last possession when they were bleeding clock. The last Bengals offensive play before that was a 20-yard TD run in which Ferrell was in charge of containment. He was there. And there were no blockers on him. Joe Mixon simply made a cut and ran by him without Ferrell getting a finger on him or even slowing him down.
It’s bad enough to miss on a running back like that. But Ferrell had QB Joe Burrow embarrass him earlier in the game. In the final play of the third quarter, Burrow stepped up in the pocket and Ferrell seemed to have him in his grasp, but Burrow put on a rudimentary spin move and escaped him to pick up the first down. It would also move them into scoring range and the Bengals added another field goal to take a 16-6 lead.
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