Tag: AJ Cole

For 4th time this season Player of the Week comes from matchup with Raiders

This season the Raiders problems have created a great many Player of the Week winners. This week Falcons WR KhaDarel Hodge joins the list.

This is becoming a bad trend. Teams feasting on the Raiders to the point that they earn NFL Player of the Week. This week became the fourth time this season (nearly the fifth time) that happened.

The latest is Falcons’ WR KhaDarel Hodge who has been named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

Hodge got through to block two AJ Cole punts in the game. The first was a partial block, causing the punt to travel just 30 yards, giving the Falcons field position near midfield. And they used that favorable field position to drive for their only touchdown.

The second was a full block, that was eventually picked up by Divine Deablo and returned to the Vegas 37. The Falcons got a field goal out of it, which means ten of their 15 points on the day came off those blocks.

There were three previous times this season a Player of the Week came from facing the Raiders. There was nearly five, but Josh Allen edged out Andy Dalton to be the winner in week three — Dalton did, however take home FedEx Air Player of the Week.

The other three times were all Defensive Player of the Week winners. The first was Broncos CB Patrick Surtain, then Rams CB Cobie Durant, and then Bengals EDGE Trey Hendrickson.

Teeing off on the Raiders has been quite lucrative this season.

Busters for Raiders week 14 loss to the Buccaneers

Upon further review, the poor performances that most led to the Raiders loss in Tampa.

When you lose your ninth straight, there’s gonna be a few fingers pointed. Here are a few.

Busters

S Isaiah Pola-Mao

The Bucs scored four touchdowns in the game. And he was a part of

On the first touchdown, Jack Jones bit on a pump fake and Pola-Mao was supposed to give him help over the top. But he didn’t get over in time and Jalen McMillan scored the 15-yard touchdown.

Pola-Mao gave up a 20-yard catch that put the Bucs in scoring range on their second touchdown drive.

The Bucs had two big plays on their third TD drive. And Pola-Mao missed tackles on both of them. The first, he lowered his head and dove, leading to Mike Evans hurdling him to go for 32 yards. The next one he laid out and whiffed again on a 34-yard run that put them in first and goal.

The final touchdown drive featured a Pola-Mao giving up a catch and missing the tackle on a 45-yard play. Three plays later, they put the game away.

QB Aidan O’Connell

To lead out the second quarter, the Raiders got a rare takeaway. And on then O’Connell fumbled the snap on the first play of their possession to give it right back.

The defense would get it back again on their first fumble recovery of the season and this time AOC made something out of it. If not for Brock Bowers drawing a pass interference on third down, the Raiders would have likely only gotten a field goal out of it. That gave the Raiders first and goal and led to AOC getting the first rushing yards of his career on a TD sneak. Making it seem for a moment like the Raiders would make a game of it.

But even with a 29-yard run on the next drive, the Raiders couldn’t get a touchdown out of it.

To begin the third quarter, they had a long drive. And that QB sneak TD seemed to make AOC feel mobile for a moment. He tried to run it and got four yards, but hurt himself when he was tackled. He stayed in the game and the offense moved inside the ten. Then AOC tried forcing a pass to Brock Bowers and was picked off to get no points out of the 16-play drive.

The next drive, he tried rolling right and was pushed after the pass, hurting his leg bad enough they put it in an air cast and carted him off the field. Yeah, mobility is still not his thing.

C Jackson Powers-Johnson

Even if you don’t blame him for the fumbled snap, he had plenty of issues in the game.

After giving up a touchdown to open the game, the Raiders needed a response. They instead had a three-and-out. On third and ten, JPJ didn’t pick up the blitz and AOC was sacked for a ten-yard loss.

He was flagged for a blindside block on the next Raiders drive that called back a nice screen to Sincere McCormick. Though to be honest it was a pretty questionable call.

On the play in which AOC got hurt on the rollout, one of the defenders who was chasing him down got by JPJ.

Then there was another fumbled snap exchange between him and Desmond Ridder.

LB Robert Spillane

On the second TD drive for the Bucs, Spillane gave up a 13-yard run, then a 12-yard run, and then was standing in the middle of the field a few yards away watching Rachaad White catch the touchdown. That was three consecutive plays.

The next TD drive, he gave up the edge on a 34-yard run and then didn’t fill the gap on the three-yard touchdown run on the next play.

CB DeCamerion Richardson

The rookie has been a mainstay among the Busters since he took over for Jakorian Bennett after the injury. He was out of position on a 15-yard catch and run on the first TD drive.

In the third quarter he was posterized on a wicked stiff arm to give up a 12-yard run. The next drive, he gave up a 14-yard catch on third and eight. And the next drive he gave up a 32-yard catch, which was the big catch that seemed to get the Bucs offense back on track and they scored a two touchdowns down the stretch to end it.

WR Tre Tucker

The Raiders deep threat had two catches for seven yards. They went to him early and he couldn’t get open up the middle. A couple drives later, O’Connell threw for him up the left sideline and he couldn’t keep his feet inbounds.

P AJ Cole

He had four punts. None were stopped inside the 20 and one bounded into the end zone for a touchback to average a net 38.5 yards per punt.

See the Ballers

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 12 loss to Broncos

Collecting the individual performances both good and bad for the Raiders in their week 13 game against the Denver Broncos.

The streak hit seven games last week. That’s seven straight losses for the Raiders. Two of those losses were at the hands of the Broncos, which means after four seasons of Raiders sweeps over their Denver rivals, the tables have officially turned.

This time they made a game of it, leading into the third quarter, before ultimately things reverted to the new normal.

Ballers

DE Maxx Crosby, DE Tyree Wilson

Crosby put up three tackles for loss which put him over 100 for his career which has him joining some Hall of Fame level NFL greats. While Wilson had easily the best game of his career.

Wilson got pressure that led to a run stuff for one yard and the Broncos first drive ended one play later with a punt.

Late in the first quarter, the Broncos drove into scoring range, but on third down, Crosby got the tackle to jump early and then on third and longer showed why the tackle jumped by getting pressure to force an incompletion. They settled for a field goal.

The next Broncos drive again moved into scoring range, and Crosby and Wilson stopped it. With Denver in first down at the 26, Crosby got his first tackle for loss and then on third down, Wilson came right up the gut on a stunt for an 11-yard loss on a sack. It made the Broncos convert a 53-yard field goal and preserved the Raiders’ lead at 7-6.

Late in the second quarter, the Broncos drove into scoring range again. In first down at the 32, Wilson shot into the backfield to make an open field tackle for a five-yard loss. And they again had to settle for a long field goal while preserving a 10-9 Raiders lead.

The games first interception gave the Broncos the ball at the Vegas 18. And on first down, Wilson made the stop for no gain. They would still get the touchdown on the next play to take a 16-13 lead.

Crosby and Wilson would keep it a three-point game with Crosby making the tackle on a two-yard catch and he and Wilson getting pressure on third down to force an incompletion.

Early in the third quarter, with the Broncos in scoring range again, Crosby put up consecutive tackles for loss to force another Broncos field goal and keep it at a one score game. Wilson would add a tackle for loss late in the game, but by then it was too late and the Broncos added a field goal to put the game away.

P AJ Cole

Weapon. Cole was pinning the Broncos back all day. And a bit more. His first punt was a pooch punt that was fair caught at the 11-yard line. He second punt was from his own end zone and he launched it 60 yards with no return as he bounced out of bounds.

His next play was not with his leg, but his arm. The Raiders caught the Broncos by surprise. Cole sold it well, catching the snap and spinning it like he was going to punt it, but instead pulling it back and lofting a pass for Divine Deablo who made the easy catch and took it 34 yards to the Denver 30. They got a field goal out of it to make it a 10-6 game.

With the lead lost in the third quarter, Cole had another beauty of a punt that DJ Turner collected at the one-yard line. Four punts. Three with no return, two inside the 20, one downed at the one, and one with a net 60 yards. And the pass off the fake. Have yourself a game, AJ.

WR Jakobi Meyers

Two games ago, Meyers had his first ever 100-yard receiving game with the Raiders. Now he has two. And outdid the last one. Jakobi finished with 121 yards on ten catches.

Late in the second quarter, he made a tough catch while simultaneously being nailed in the back by a defender. It went for 18 yards to put them in field goal range to take a 13-9 lead at the half.

He drew a pass interference penalty on third down to lead out the fourth quarter that put the team in field goal range so they could cut the Broncos lead to 19-16. The next drive he had four catches for 42 yards to keep it a one-score game and give the Raiders a chance late. It was the strip sack on the next drive that killed their chance.

RB Ameer Abdulla

He scored the Raiders’ only touchdown of the game. He also had 65 yards on 13 touches

Honorable Mention

RB Dylan Laube — His 59-yard kick return set up the Raiders’ only TD of the day. And it gave him a much better last memory than having fumbled his only offensive carry of the season.

LB Divine Deablo — Make the 34-yard catch off the fake punt and added five tackles on defense.

Continue to the Busters…

Watch: Raiders fake punt has AJ Cole connect with Divine Deablo for big yards

What looked like a stop turned into a score after a 34-yard connection on a fake punt pass from AJ Cole to Divine Deablo.

Trickeration! In fourth and four from their own 36-yard-line, Antonio Pierce trotted out AJ Cole for the punt. Or did he. Cole took the snap and instead of punting it, he passed it to a wide open Divine Deablo for a 34-yard gain to the Denver 36-yard-line.

Here it is in all its glory.

The Raiders were ahead 7-6 over the Broncos and are pulling out all the stops to try and get back into the win column. And what better time to do that than in Las Vegas against a bitter rival.

Unfortunately the Raiders were unable to get a touchdown out of it, but they added a field goal to take a 10-6 lead with 3:48 left in the second quarter.

Special teams set up both the Raiders’ scores on the day. The first one after a Dylan Laube kick return to the Denver 40-yard line that they Raiders finished off for a touchdown.

Raiders 2024 midseason awards: Top newcomer, breakout player, best position group, more

It’s the midway mark for the NFL season. And it happens to also be the bye week for the Raiders. So, with that in mind, let’s dole out some awards.

It’s the midway mark for the NFL season. And it happens to also be the bye week for the Raiders. So, with that in mind, let’s dole out some awards.

This was an easy choice. Bowers has been on a record pace this season for rookie tight ends. His 580 yards receiving is best among tight ends and his 57 catches is second in the league at any position behind only Jets WR Garrett Wilson.

Not a lot of competition for this award. But prior to Wilkins’s injury he was one of the best free agent signings of any team this offseason. They’re hoping he can return this season.

He was benched four games into his rookie season. Now he’s playing at a high level as an earned starting cornerback. He hasn’t logged an interception, but he routinely shows great skills and sticky coverage on some very talented deep threats.

No Raiders players are either coming back from a major injury or coming back to previous from off of a down season. Perhaps that will change by season’s end, but for now, there’s simply no one who fits this award.

If you’d prefer to put Luke Getsy here, I get it. But, personally, I don’t think a lot was expected of Getsy. He was not nearly the Raiders top choice for the job and was somehow even worse. Minshew was expected to at least add a steady presence at QB to settle down the offense. He wasn’t seen as someone who would win games for the Raiders, but rather not lose them. And he hasn’t lived up to that.

Not only did he not jump in and take the reins of the offense in camp as the Raiders had hoped, he’s been benched several times this season as he has thrown more interceptions (8) than touchdowns (8).

When all else fails — and it has — at least the Raiders have their kick squad. Daniel Carlson and AJ Cole are still arguably the best kicking duo in the league.

You could also go with “Only good game” as the title of this award. That win in Baltimore looks more and more like a fluke the farther down the line we get from it. Their other win was because Deshaun Watson was so determined to lose it for the Browns. The Ravens game was the only game this season the Raiders actually went out and earned the victory. Not coincidentally, it was also the only game they increased their scoring in the second half.

There were many to choose from for this one. Just pick one, really.

Could go with the home opening loss to the Panthers in which they never led and Andy Dalton led offense to put up 33 points in in the first 47 minutes.

Maybe the Rams where the Raiders turned the ball over four times?

Perhaps the Chiefs game where the running backs averaged less than a yard per carry?

Or the Steelers game where Pittsburgh rattled off 26 unanswered?

Or the Broncos who had a 100-yard pick six and rattled off 34 unanswered?

There’s always this past week against the Bengals when the Raiders gave up scores on the Bengals first five drives — four of which went for touchdowns — and allowed a season-high 41 points?

Too many options to choose from to pick just one.

Best punter in the league. Periodt.

Yes, the best rookie has also been their best offensive player. Not ideal, but there’s no one else who is even a viable candidate for this award.

He won AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the team’s come-from-behind win in Baltimore in Week two. He’s been battling an ankle injury for several weeks, which has limited his effectiveness, but he’s still their top defender.

Ballers for Raiders Week 1 loss to Chargers

Ballers for Raiders Week 1 loss to Chargers

Even in a tough loss like this, the plain truth is not everyone was bad. In fact, through three quarters, the Raiders had a lot going for them and it was still a two-point game. That doesn’t happen by accident.

So, before we get into how it all fell apart, let’s give credit to those who kept the Raiders in this game through three quarters.

Ballers

DE Maxx Crosby

While the Chargers are pumping their chests at how well their rookie tackle held up against Crosby, he still was a major factor in this game. The Chargers started the game with a three-and-out. And the final two plays featured a Maxx Crosby tackle for loss and a sack off a stunt. So much for Alt deleting Crosby.

He ended another drive in the second quarter with a QB hit on third down to send the two teams into the locker room with a 7-6 Raiders lead.

The Chargers went on a long drive early in the third quarter. but it also featured two Crosby run stuffs and ended with a Crosby pressure for an incompletion, so the Chargers settled for a field goal.

He finished with a sack, three QB hits, and five tackles, one for a loss.

LB Robert Spillane

Spillane led the team with ten combined tackles (seven solo). Two of those tackles ended drives. On one possession in the second quarter, he made the tackle on all three downs including a tackle for loss. He started out a three-and-out in the third quarter with a tackle as well.

CB Jakorian Bennett

He stayed in Quentin Johnston’s hip pocket up deep up the left sideline to knock the ball away and end the Chargers’ second possession with a three-and-out. He didn’t give up a catch all day after that either.

RB Alexander Mattison

After a couple of drives with Zamir White going nowhere, the Raiders put in Mattison. And he had the highlight reel play of the game for them. Mattison caught a pass in the right flat and looked to be stopped, but he evaded one tackler and hurdled Asante Samuel Jr without breaking stride and took it 31 yards to the house. He finished with nine touches for 62 yards and a TD.

DT Christian Wilkins

With the way the Chargers were able to break through on the ground in the second half, it may be hard to remember the Raiders had them hemmed up before that. Wilkins led the way in that department with three run stuffs. He finished second on the team with six combined tackles (five solo).

P AJ Cole

His first punt went 57 yards and was fair caught at the 13. His second punt went 52 yards and was also fair caught. His pooch punt in the fourth quarter was fair caught at the eight. He finished averaging 53 yards per punt with three stopped inside the 20 and one touchback.

T Thayer Munford

While Kolton Miller was having all kinds of issues on the left side, Munford held his own on the right side. Not giving up any sacks or run stuffs.

Honorable Mention

WR Davante Adams — Led the team with 59 yards on five catches. His two catches for 29 yards on the Raiders third drive both came on third down to set up the team’s only touchdown of the game.

CB Nate Hobbs — Chased down two long runs to keep it from being a touchdown. The first one ended in a field goal.

Continue to the Busters…

Antonio Pierce defends questionable punt decision on Raiders critical 4th down vs Chargers

Antonio Pierce defends poor decision to punt on Raiders critical 4th down vs Chargers

Down six. In fourth and one at the opposing team’s 43 with just over seven minutes left. That seems like the perfect time to go for it, doesn’t it? It sure seemed that way to most who were watching when the Raiders were in that position. And yet, head coach Antonio Pierce decided to go with the non-aggressive move and punt it away.

What happened next was the Chargers essentially put the game away. They drove right down the field for a touchdown to seal the 22-10 win.

Pierce defended his decision after the game.

“We considered going for it,” said Pierce. “It was a long one, it got stopped earlier in the game. Momentum. Punter had done a good job pinning those guys back. I think we had two or three punts inside the 20. Defense was a strength for the most part of the game. Keep them backed up with three timeouts.”

There are some problems with these reasons.

Yeah, they were stopped earlier in the game on 4th and one. It was early in the gme in their own territory on a play where it would’ve actually made sense to punt it. So, that makes for the wrong decision twice. But, again, that was the second drive of the game. When the Chargers defense was fresh, having played a total of six snaps up to that point. No reason to make decisions in the fourth quarter based on plays in the first quarter. Not the least of which being that it signals a lack of faith in your offense.

That drive only served to put an underline and an exclamation point on the poor decision by Pierce to give the ball back to the Chargers without even attempting to keep driving down the field.

But even before the result, the decision was the wrong one. The Raiders had added a field goal on the previous drive to make it a one-score game, the defense held strong — which they hadn’t done much of in the second half up to that point — and Tre Tucker had a nice punt return to gain the field position advantage.

So, yeah, there was momentum. And punting it gave that momentum away. And for what? 35 yards on a punt? Pinning them back? Even if they stayed pinned back, they’d still have more field to punt it back again after running the clock down more.

And they didn’t stay pinned back. They got out of it in three plays and two plays after that, they were at the Vegas 14. Courtesy of a 61-yard run. While you can’t predict that specifically, the signs were there that the Raiders were losing the battle at the line of scrimmage by the end of the third quarter with consecutive big chunk runs of 10 yards and a 12-yard touchdown.

That’s a sign you need to keep the ball out of the hands of the Chargers at all costs and keep your defense on the sideline as long as possible.

That play call to punt on that fourth down was punting on this game.

Ballers from Raiders preseason Week 1 vs Vikings

The positive standout performances from the Raiders first preseason game.

Welcome to year 17 of Ballers & Busters. The first ever B&B came out in preseason of 2008. So, let’s get it going for 2024, shall we?

There was a lot to like about what we saw from the Raiders first preseason action of 2024. They went on four scoring drives in the first half and held the Vikings to one to take a 20-7 halftime lead.

Things went awry in the second half, but, hey, preseason.

That being said, since the preseason tends to focus a lot on individual performances, let’s get to it.

Keep in mind, there are no Top Ballers or Top Busters for preseason. I pretty much just listed them in order of appearance.

S Tre’von Moehrig

After giving up a 19-yard catch on the second play, Moehrig settled in. He made two run stops on that same drive and had tight coverage for an incompletion on third and two from the four-yard line. The second Vikings drive, Moehrig made what could’ve been a touchdown saving tackle, stopping a run at 16 yards. He finished with a team-leading six tackles, all solo.

CB Jakorian Bennett

With the Vikings in 4th and two from the four, they went for it and Bennett was there to break up the attempt in the end zone to hold the Vikings scoreless on their opening drive and give the Raiders the ball back.

WR Jakobi Meyers

On third and three on the first drive, Meyers got open deep and made a leaping 24-yard grab. The next play he made the catch on a zero route in the left flat, stepped away from a tackler and ran for eight yards. Two plays later, in third and three, Aidan O’Connell looked for him again and he made a 13-yard catch to put the Raiders in Minnesota territory. One play later, they were in field goal range.

CB Jack Jones

The Raiders took a 3-0 lead into the second quarter. In third and eight, the Raiders blitzed, forcing JJ McCarthy to make a quick decision. He thought he had a man open, but Jack Jones undercut the route and picked off the pass, giving the Raiders the ball back. Jones then took his ball and went home (the sideline).

WR Tre Tucker

The offense came in after the turnover, this time with Gardner Minshew at QB. The second play saw Tucker make an adjustment on a pass slightly behind him on a cross, to make the catch for 29 yards. The next drive, he made an even more impressive adjustment. Going deep, he was turned inside, but the pass was headed to his outside shoulder, so he turned away from the pass, relocated it in the air and then laid out to make the catch for 44 yards. The Raiders would score touchdowns on both drives. The second one, Tucker laid a key block for Zamir White to run it in. He added a nice punt return at the end of the half as well.

QB Gardner Minshew

All three Minshew possessions, the Raiders scored. The first two for touchdowns. The first drive featured a 29-yard pass to Tre Tucker and a scramble for seven yards on third and three. The touchdown was on a perfect strike to DJ Turner at the right pylon. The second TD drive he aire out for a 44-yard connection with Tucker and found Cole Fotheringham for 11 yards on third and six. He finished 6/12 for 117 yards and one TD with a passer rating of 112.2.

LB Amari Burney

Burney came to play. The 2023 sixth round pick clearly set out to let everyone know he was still here. His biggest play was late in the third quarter, when he ended a drive by coming up to make a stop at the line for no gain on third and one. That was his third run stuff of the day. The first went for a loss and the other for one yard. His four tackles in the game were tied for second on the team. He even had a QB hit in the game.

P AJ Cole

In the second half, when nothing was working for the Raiders on offense, Cole would come in an remind them that at least he can tilt the field. He had two punts of 60 yards – one that was fair caught at the 14 –, one for 56 yards that went out of bounds at the five, and one that went 43 yards that was fair caught at the 11. Weapon.

Honorable Mention

DE Malcolm Koonce – Had a run stop for no gain and a pressure leading to an incompletion on the first drive.

QB Aidan O’Connell – Went 7/9 for 76 yards on the opening drive, twice converting on third down.

LB Robert Spillane – Put on the pressure that rushed McCarthy into his throw that Jack Jones picked off.

WR DJ Turner – Beat his man and streaked toward the end zone to score the Raiders first touchdown of the day from 20 yards out.

DT TJ Franklin – Blocked a field goal attempt in the second quarter.

S Phalen Sanford – Caught the ball off the Franklin blocked field goal and returned it 42 yards to the Minnesota 40-yard-line.

K Daniel Carlson – Lined up for a 56-yard field goal off the blocked field goal and return and nailed it to give the Raiders a 20-7 lead. Carlson hit two other chipshot field goals in the game.

Continue to the Busters…

Zamir White joins 7 other Raiders players to participate in ‘Battle for Vegas’ charity softball game

The full roster of Raiders playing in ‘Battle for Vegas’ charity softball game

Coming up on July 13th is the fifth annual Battle for Vegas charity softball game. This year it will feature seven Raiders players with punter AJ Cole as team captain.

Here is the full team Cole roster:

Raiders punter AJ Cole
Raiders RB Zamir White
Raiders K Daniel Carlson
Raiders RB Alexander Mattison
Raiders G Dylan Parham
Raiders S Tre’von Moehrig
Raiders CB Jakorian Bennett
Raiders T Thayer Munford Jr
Former Oakland A’s legend Jose Canseco
Former Oakland A’s legend Ozzie Canseco

This team will face off against Jack Eichel and current members of the Vegas Golden Knights including Zach Whitecloud, Keegan Kolesar, Nic Hague, Brendan Brisson along with former Golden Knights players Ryan Reaves and Logan Thompson. They are joined by Athletics alumnus Terrence Long and Ricky White.

The game will take place the Las Vegas Ballpark at Downtown Summerlin on Saturday, July 13 at 8 p.m.

Ticket prices start at $35 each with proceeds once again to be directed to the Vegas Golden Knights Foundation with beneficiary charities including Best Buddies Nevada and select other local charities.

Gates open at 6:00 p.m. The Home Run Derby, sponsored by the Athletics, begins at 7:00 p.m. with the ceremonial first pitch by Chance, mascot of the Vegas Golden Knights, and Stomper, mascot of the Athletics.