Busters
QB Derek Carr
Talk about slow starts. Carr had just 90 yards passing at the half. And much of those yards came with run after the catch on passes behind the line of scrimmage. The first two drives didn’t feature a completion past the line of scrimmage and didn’t last long.
The third drive featured Carr missing a wide-open DeSean Jackson on a cross that would likely have gone for a touchdown. Carr checked it down to Josh Jacobs instead. Then a few plays later he changed the play at the line on third and five to throw a screen to Jacobs out right and Washington was all over it to stop it for a loss.
With the final drive of the first half, things got moving with a completion to Bryan Edwards for 15 yards. Two plays later, Carr was under pressure and threw a bad pass, again behind the line, to Jacobs and it was stopped for a loss. Throwing it at his feet would’ve been better. Carr would get it back on a 17-yard scramble. But the drive would stall and the Raiders would run out of time, settling for a long field goal.
The first possession of the third quarter ended without Carr completing a pass. The second drive featured a big 34-yard hookup to Foster Moreau but would go no farther, with the drive ending with Carr rushing his throw to Hunter Renfrow before he had come out of his break on third and short, leading to another field goal.
After that Carr put together a touchdown drive featuring a masterful throw to Renfrow around a defender and a 14-yard completion to DeSean Jackson. It was a PI on Renfrow’s defender that would set up the TD.
The next drive featured a couple long completions as well to Zay Jones (14 yards) and Renfrow (16 yards) before stalling with Carr unable to connect with Jones deep. Settling for a field goal on that drive allowed Washington to drive for what would be the game-winning field goal.
Carr and the offense had 31 seconds and a timeout to get into scoring range on the next drive, but could manage just 19 yards which weren’t even enough to get in range of a Hail Mary play. Carr’s pass fell incomplete and even if it were caught it would’ve been short of the end zone. That’s how you lose while winning the turnover battle and the defense allowing just 17 points.
FS Tre’von Moehrig
Despite it all, the Raiders came very close to winning this game. Washington as down 15-14, on their final drive. They lined up at the Vegas 40-yard-line and Moehrig made a perfect break on Heinicke’s pass, stepping in front of the defender, got both hands on the ball with open field in front of him to the end zone and…it went right through his hands.
That play had pick-six written all over it, but even if he’d intercepted it and fell down, there was less than a minute on the clock and the game would’ve been over. Instead, Washington picked up nine more yards on the next two plays to get in range of a 48-yard field goal to win it.
The one that got away is bad enough, but Moehrig had a bad day all around. On the first drive, he gave up a 13-yard catch on third and ten and a wide-open touchdown to end it. He had even given up a ten-yard catch earlier in that same game-winning drive. Woof.
CB Brandon Facyson
The first play of the game was a 22-yard run by Washington RB Antonio Gibson and Facyson was blocked on the play.
Twice he was flagged for holding. Once wiping out a big stop by by Perryman and Hobbs in the second quarter and again on a drive in the third quarter. Later in that same drive, he would give up the catch for Washington’s second touchdown.
RG Alex Leatherwood, LT Kolton Miller, RT Brandon Parker, LG John Simpson, C Andre James
No one on the line was great in this game. The second possession ended when Leatherwood gave up a pressure on Carr that led to an incompletion and was STILL flagged for holding. Had the penalty been accepted he would’ve taken sole possession of the most penalties in the NFL (14), but it was declined because it was third down so he’s just tied for the most.
On the next drive, Kolton Miller missed his block which contributed to the crushing that Kenyan Drake took which broke his ankle and ended his season.
The next drive started with Brandon Parker giving up a sack. John Simpson was flagged for holding on the play, but with the sack, the penalty was declined. A few plays later on the drive, Simpson gave up a hit on Carr that helped lead to his bad throw to Jacobs that was stopped for a loss.
The first possession of the third quarter ended with Parker giving up his second sack of the game.
And on the Raiders final scoring drive, Andre James was tossed like a rag doll twice leading to run stops for minimal gain.
WR Bryan Edwards
The first pass past the line of scrimmage in this game went to Edwards. It was the first play of their second possession and it would have been an 18-yard gain, but Edwards dropped it. The Raiders went three-and-out.
The next drive, on third and five, Carr threw out right for Jacobs and he was swarmed for a loss. The only chance Jacobs had of getting any positive yards was if Edwards made his block. He did not. Gotta make those plays.
LB KJ Wright
Wright saw his most extensive playing time in relief of Denzel Perryman. And it was obvious he was out of his depth. He was often seen confused and trying to direct traffic right up to the snap of the ball.
But Wright’s issues began well before Perryman’s injury. He was blocked on the first play of the game which was a run for 22 yards. That drive opened the game with a touchdown.
Wright gave up a 10-yard catch to open Washington’s second touchdown drive as well. Later in the drive, he was out of position to allow a seven-yard scramble on third and six that set Washington up in first and goal. They scored two plays later.
He would give up first down runs on Washington’s final two drives as well, the latter ending in the game-winning score.
DE Clelin Ferrell
With Carl Nassib injured, it was an opportunity for Ferrell to show he deserved more snaps. That’s not how it went down. In the first play of Washington’s second drive, Ferrell didn’t keep containment on the right side, allowing a 16-yard run.
Also getting his first playing time with Nassib out was third-round rookie Malcolm Koonce. In just seven snaps, Koonce put up a sack. Something Ferrell hasn’t done this season in 182 snaps.
On that sack, Ferrell was nearby and afterward grabbed Taylor Heinicke’s foot and tossed it in the air as he got up. Not only was it a pointless move by Ferrell, but he’s also lucky it didn’t lead to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. It would have wiped out the ten-yard loss on Koonce’s sack and may have led to a Washington score at the end of the half.
S Roderic Teamer
Teamer played 17 snaps, all on special teams. You heard his name twice in the game. First, it was getting blocked into Hunter Renfrow trying to field a punt, causing it to be muffed and fortunately, it bounced out of bounds at the nine.
The other time was on a punt return in the third quarter in which he was flagged for holding. After the penalty, the Raiders’ drive once again started at their own nine-yard line.
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