Busters
QB Jimmy Garoppolo, HC Josh McDaniels
These two simply have to share the blame for this debacle. They are inseparable in their ineptitude. It was so bad that Jimmy G seemed like he had no idea what to do. Whether by his own lack of recognition or by McDaniels’s inexplicable playcall.
Garoppolo didn’t always get a lot of time to throw. But it didn’t seem to matter how much time he had to throw. He was lost out there. The second play of the game, he had all day to scan the field, and the result was a bad pass into the left flat to Josh Jacobs with a defender ready to make the stop.
A short time later, the Raiders defense gave him the ball in great field position. And on the first play, he missed a wide open Josh Jacobs right in front of him and opted for a double covered Davante Adams instead. He may still have completed that pass had he actually aired it out, but he threw it well short and it was intercepted.
The next possession the Raiders went for it on fourth and two at their own 49 — which is something most teams wouldn’t do, but McDaniels had been criticized so many times for not going for it when he obviously should have, that he didn’t dare not go for it this time. Garoppolo threw too late to Hunter Renfrow and it fell incomplete.
By the end of the first half, the Raiders had a touchdown that was scord on the legs of Josh Jacobs. Meanwhile Garoppolo had more completions to Lions’ defensive backs (1) than Raiders wide receivers (0).
As if attempting to end that conversation, Garoppolo finally completed a pass to Davante Adams on the first play of the third quarter. Then three plays later, on third and nine, McDaniels and Garoppolo failed to recognize and compensate for the blitz and he was sacked for a four-and-out.
The next possession, on third and four, Garoppolo again threw for Adams, and again is was behind him. Adams should have still made the catch, but Garoppolo simply has to throw a better pass than that.
Down 12 in the fourth quarter, the Raiders had one last shot to get back in the game. That shot ended with three sacks on four plays. The first one was again due to the failure to properly recognize and pick up the blitz. The last one took way too long to develop with his receivers going too deep. By the time Adams got open and turned for the ball, it was too late.
The result was another inept offensive effort for the Raiders. This one so bad that it got Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler fired and Jimmy Garoppolo benched.
S Tre’von Moehrig
The first Lions’ scoring drive saw them line up in third-and-three early on. And Moehrig gave up a six-yard catch. Later in the drive, he missed a tackle on a run that went for 11 yards that put them in field goal range.
On their first touchdown drive, Moehrig gave up the longest play of the drive on a 22-yard catch. In the third quarter he again gave up the longest play of the drive on a 17-yard run to put the Lions in first and goal at the four-yard-line.
CB Amik Robertson
It was a bad angle by Jakorian Bennett that gave up the final touchdown of the game. But it was a pass interference by Robertson that put them in scoring range in the first place.
Speaking of bad angles, Robertson had a brutal angle on a catch that led to the game’s biggest play. It went for 44 yard to set up their third field goal. Robertson also had a blown coverage that resulted in a 14-yard catch on third and 11 on the Lions’ second scoring drive.
And he was one of several Raiders players to miss a tackle on a 24-yard run in the third quarter.
G Greg Van Roten
Van Roten laid the key block on Josh Jacobs’s TD run, so it was hard to put him here. But before that he gave up a tackle for loss that ended a possession in the first quarter. And gave up a passing lane to get a pass batted down early in the second quarter.
Then late in the third quarter, with the Raiders down 23-14, Van Roten gave up a sack on third down to force a punt. Those plays wiped away any good he did.
DT Bilal Nichols
Rookie RB Jahmyr Biggs had a breakout game, running for 152 yards and a touchdown. And Nichols was often seen getting pushed around to let it happen. He certainly did little to stop it.
Nichols was blocked to give up three runs on the first drive, including an 11-yard run that put them in scoring range at the 28. He had a missed tackle on a 24-yard run in the third quarter. He finished with four assists, but no solo tackles or any other stats.