Losers
Alex Leatherwood
Leatherwood has had an up-and-down type of season for the Raiders, not uncommon or unexpected for a rookie that is thrust into the starting lineup right away.
But as the season has gone on, simply playing mistake-free football is a “win” for Leatherwood. Against the Colts, Leatherwood couldn’t do it. The Raiders had an opportunity to take control of the game in the second half and take a 17-3 lead with a touchdown, but his presnap penalty led to Carlson’s field goal. The mistake started a slide for the Raiders that they were lucky to recover from.
Tre’von Moehrig
Safety Tre’von Moehrig and the entire Raiders defense had their hands full with Colts running back Jonathan Taylor. But it took Taylor a while to get going, though he did end up with more than 100 yards rushing on the day.
When Taylor did finally get in a groove, Moehrig had a lot do to with it. He whiffed on a tackle on Taylor’s first big run of the day. A play later, Moehrig got his hands on Taylor but couldn’t bring him down.
Moehrig also collided with cornerback Casey Hayward Jr. on the Colts’ first drive of the second half, with the play resulting in a touchdown from Colts QB Carson Wentz to WR T.Y. Hilton. It was a bit of a fluke play, but it also appears Hayward had the play covered.
_0_ / _0_ /
đź“ş FOX pic.twitter.com/xNGwPBFHen
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) January 2, 2022
There were more good plays for the Raiders than bad ones, however. Las Vegas has now won three straight after it looked like their yearly late-season slide was underway.
Good fortune may be on their side; they’ve lost the turnover battle in each of their last three wins, with last-second Carlson kicks making the difference in two of the triumphs.
But one more victory and the Raiders are in. Clinching the playoffs at home against a conference foe — after a regular season filled with adversity — would make that feat all the more enjoyable for Las Vegas.
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