Tag: Isaiah Pola-Mao

Ranking Raiders 2025 free agents by re-sign priority

Before the offseason becomes about who the Raiders can add to the roster, it must be about who they keep. With a new coaching staff coming in, they won’t feel all that tied to the players on the roster right now. But they have to know which players …

Before the offseason becomes about who the Raiders can add to the roster, it must be about who they keep. With a new coaching staff coming in, they won’t feel all that tied to the players on the roster right now. But they have to know which players make or break this team as it’s currently comprised.

In that spirit, I ranked the Raiders free agents by how valuable they are to re-sign.

Priority: Very High

Hobbs is an outstanding slot corner. Both in coverage and as a tackler. Such players don’t grow on trees. You hold onto players like him when you get the chance.

Priority: Very High

Spillane is a tackling machine and one of the better middle linebackers out there. He also loves his Raiders teammates and would probably welcome a return. They should step up and hang onto him.

Priority: Somewhat High

They were lucky to get him back last year after he tested the market. They shouldn’t mess around this time. He proved he is an every-down caliber interior defender and earned a multi-year deal and they’d be smart to give it to him.

Priority: Somewhat High

Many teams may have forgotten the holy terror he was over the stretch run of the 2023 season because he was lost to injury prior to this past season. That should be enough for Koonce to want to take a one-year deal to have a shot at hitting the market on a high note next year.

Priority: Somewhat High

The former top college safety and second round pick is coming off his best season. He has been a full time starter all four seasons and is the top safety on the Raiders roster. With all three of their safeties headed for free agency, they should probably try and keep the best of them or risk having to rebuild the group this offseason.

Priority: Moderate

The former first round pick had a breakout season for the Raiders. Even though I named him their Comeback Player of the Year. His five sacks equaled his career total coming in. The Raiders got a find with him and it would be a shame to just let that find get away.

Priority: Moderate

The former college safety has become a decent starting outside for the Raiders. Could be a bit risky to let him go because there’s no guarantee you’ll find better and/or cheaper replacement.

Priority: Moderate

Epps was half of a pretty solid safety tandem along with Moehrig last season. He was lost in week three and the coaching staff liked Isaiah Pola-Mao enough I could see them letting Epps walk. Will the new staff feel similarly?

Priority: Low

The ten-year veteran showed his value as a triple threat — running back, receiver, return specialist — late in the season. He would likely be cheap to re-sign and is clearly still got it.

Priority: Low

An outstanding special teams player. You get a mixed bag on defense from Pola-Mao. He’s a restricted free agent, which means it will be easy to retain him with a tender.

Priority: Low

A 17-game starter and had his moments. But overall, it may be time for the Raiders to move on from the 36-year-old to their young core of defensive tackles.

CB Darnay Holmes (1 start)
RB Alexander Mattison
WR Terrace Marshall
TE Harrison Bryant
T Andrus Peat
G Cody Whitehair

Raiders 2024 season Busters

Rounding up all the performances that most contributed to the Raiders struggles in 2024.

We’ve detailed the Raiders 2024 season Ballers. Now we move on to the second part…

Busters

HC Antonio Pierce, OC Luke Getsy

This team was doomed from the start. The team had little of the mojo it had over the latter half of last season. And having one of the worst offenses in the league was not helping.

Pierce was out of his depth in terms of game management and while he preached not getting too high or low, no one rode the emotional roller coaster more than he did.

Getsy simply walked in a ruined any chance the Oline had of succeeding by changing up their blocking scheme. The result was disastrous.

In the the nine games with Getsy still in place, either he or Pierce (or both) were a Buster six times. And three times a Top Buster.

QB Gardner Minshew

For all the talk about how the Raiders should have gone with Aidan O’Connell from the start, Minshew did actually look better in training camp. Even though it was clearly a lesser of the evils situation. Then Minshew went out and looked downright terrible. He had one good game — that miracle win in Baltimore. Outside of that, he was a Buster six times, and twice a Top Buster.

CB DeCamerion Richardson

He was thrust into a starting role when he was not ready for it. Jakorian Bennett was lost for the season and the rookie Richardson was the Raiders best option. He routinely got torched by opposing receivers and was named a Buster four times over the final eight games, including twice a Top Buster.

S Isaiah Pola-Mao

Pola-Mao also stepped in as an injury replacement. And overall, he showed enough that he could get a shot. That game he had with two forced fumbles spoke well of him. But he has some work still to do, including his penchant for not keeping his head up when he tackles. He was a Top Buster three times down the stretch.

LT Kolton Miller, RT DJ Glaze

This was tough. Because the blocking scheme put Miller in a tough spot early in the season and Glaze is a rookie. The result was Miller giving up seven sacks along with seven penalties, while Glaze gave up three sacks with eight penalties.

The two of them could be the Raiders starting tackles for years to come, so it’s important not to take this as a judgment of their talents. Glaze showed a lot of signs he will be a talented tackle in this league and Miller just had a down year, from which I expect he will bounce back.

RB Zamir White

White came on strong late last season when he had a fresh body and the rest of the NFL did not. I was still skeptical he could sustain it because I hadn’t seen anything special about his running abilities. And this year he was an utter liability. He was a Buster three times in eight games and every other back the Raiders played looked like an upgrade.

See the Ballers

Busters for Raiders Week 18 loss to Chargers

The duds for the Raiders season finale loss to the Chargers.

Not surprisingly, the Raiders didn’t finish the season on a high note. They were facing a  playoff-bound Chargers team they had lost to in the season finale and the Raiders were in even worse shape for this one than they were for the season opener.

Busters

S Isaiah Pola-Mao

The Raiders were actually leading a couple times in the first half. The first time they went up 3-0 in the first quarter. Then on the second play of the Chargers next drive, Pola-Mao gave up a 47-yard catch that put them in scoring range and they tied it up 3-3.

The Raiders would respond with a touchdown drive to take a 10-3 lead. Then the first play of the ensuing drive, Pola-Mao gave up a 22-yard catch to put the Chargers instantly in plus territory. The Chargers would ultimately get another field goal out of it.

The lead would narrow even more on the next drive and it was Pola-Mao who gave up the longest catch of the drive for 17 yards to put them in field goal range.

After Aidan O’Connell threw an interception with a minute left in the second quarter, the Chargers quickly moved into first and goal on a 19-yard catch Pola-Mao allowed. After a spike, they would score the touchdown. They went for two, and it was Pola-Mao who lost track of Ladd McConkey for the score to make it a 17-10 Chargers lead at the half.

CB DeCamerion Richardson

On those last two Chargers possessions of the second quarter, Richardson gave up a 12-yard catch and a five-yard catch.

Still, it was a one-score game late in the third quarter. But it wouldn’t last. The final drive, saw Richardson give up a 14-yard catch on third and five. With the drive still alive, they would go for a touchdown to make it a two-score game to begin the fourth quarter.

The final drive would put the game away. It was led out by Richardson giving up a 39-yard catch, followed by an eight-yard catch that put the Chargers in scoring range to put the game away.

Quentin Johnston brutalized Richardson all game long. To the tune of career highs in catches (13) and yards (186). For perspective on this, in two full seasons, Johnston had never had more than five catches in a game. And this is just the second time he’s ever even surpassed 100 yards in a game.

LB Robert Spillane

The final two drives were brutal for Spillane. First he couldn’t make the tackle on Justin Herbert who ran past him 41 yards to put them in first and goal. They were in the end zone two plays later.

The final drive, Spillane gave up a 12-yard run, followed by a five-yard run, and then a first down on third and three to put them in first and goal. He would get blocked on the two-yard touchdown run as well.

QB Aidan O’Connell

The Raiders started the game with two straight three-and-outs, including a pass for no gain and an overthrow of Brock Bowers. The third drive also ended with O’Connell missing Bowers on an overthrow.

In the second quarter, with the Raiders up 10-9 and in the two-minute drill, O’Connell threw off target for Alexander Mattison short over the middle and was intercepted. It gave the Chargers the ball at the Vegas 30 with a minute remaining. They would get a touchdown out of it to take a 17-10 lead at the half.

Down two scores in the fourth. O’Connell was hurt momentarily and when he came back in, he found himself in third and ten. He threw incompletions on third and fourth down. nearly getting picked by Derwin James on a pass for Brock Bowers in the end zone to turn the ball over on downs.

The Chargers got the ball and drove for the game-clinching score.

See the Ballers.

Isaiah Pola-Mao is thriving with the Las Vegas Raiders

Isaiah Pola-Mao went undrafted. Yet, he is carving out a solid NFL career. That’s a feel-good holiday story.

USC has had more than 500 players selected in the NFL draft. Yet, one of the better Trojans in the league this season is a player who was not drafted at all. Despite being a three-year starter and two-time team captain at USC, Trojan safety Isaiah Pola-Mao did not hear his name called in the 2022 NFL draft. Instead, he signed with the Las Vegas Raiders as an undrafted free agent.

Although he arrived with little fanfare, Pola-Mao made a strong impression in Vegas, making the team and appearing in 11 games as a rookie. His role has grown over the past two years, and he has seen action in every game thus far this season for Vegas.

The 2024 season has been Pola-Mao’s most productive one as a pro to date. Through 15 games, he ranks third on the team with 76 tackles, while also adding three passes defended and a sack.

Against the Jacksonville Jaguars last week, Pola-Mao had by far the best game of his NFL career thus far. He recorded 11 tackles and forced two fumbles in the Raiders’ 19-14 win. For his performance, Pola-Mao was named AFC defensive player of the week.

When Pola-Mao arrived at USC back in 2017, he did so with immense expectations due to him being the nephew of Trojan and NFL legend Troy Polamalu. Now, Pola-Mao is continuing to carry on his uncle’s football legacy.

Isaiah Pola-Mao a viable option to remain Raiders starting safety in 2025 and beyond

The former undrafted free agent has worked his way up from special teamer to Raiders replacement starter and could keep his job next season.

The second quarter of Sunday’s game in Las Vegas was a coming out party of sorts for Isaiah Pola-Mao. The third-year safety ended two Jaguars drives with forced fumbles.

The first punch-out gave the Raiders an extra possession. The second one took a score off the board as the Jaguars had driven into field goal range and sent the two teams to the half with the Raiders holding a 13-7 lead.

Pola-Mao has been starting at safety for the Raiders since Week four, after the loss of Marcus Epps for the season with an ACL injury.

While it hasn’t always been great play for Pola-Mao, the former undrafted free agent held his own in his first real NFL starting opportunity. One that was three years in the making.

“He’s been learning how to play in this league on special teams, correcting some of the stuff we saw from college that he needed to get corrected with his tackling,” Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham said of Pola-Mao. “He’s done a good job with that. And then when he gets his opportunity, he makes the most of it. Talking about guys you’re proud of in terms of his growth and development, he’s one of them.”

Pola-Mao has hung around these past three seasons, mostly on special teams. He had never started a game on defense and only once saw more than 35% of the snaps in a game.

But for a guy in his position, he became a hot topic in training camp for the plays he was making. He had earned the confidence of the coaching staff to be the next man up both at safety and big nickel. So, when it was his time to step into a starting role, he was ready.

“It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, just throw him in.’ No, we were ready for him to play,” said head coach Antonio Pierce. “And all he’s done is taken every advantage of it. He’s vocal. He has a quiet . . . confidence about himself now. He has all the ability in the world; tall, long, can run, ball skills, physicality showed up [Sunday]. He’s really put himself in a good place. And it really started in the offseason when he was here every day after the Super Bowl.”

Marcus Epps is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. As is fellow starter Tre’von Moehrig. While Pola-Mao will be a restricted free agent the Raiders could easily retain with a tender.

Which means they could focus on re-signing Moehrig, allow Epps to hit free agency and have Pola-Mao and Moehrig as their projected starters next season while focusing on other position upgrades.

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 16 win vs Jaguars

Rounding up the individual performances after taking a detailed look at the tape from the Raiders week 16 win over the Jaugars.

It’s been a while since this piece was put together without the focus being more on the Busters than the Ballers because it was coming out of yet another loss. To be exact, it had been nearly three months!

As has been the case a lot this season, the defense carries the day for the Raiders. Only this time, it was enough to get the win.

Ballers

S Isaiah Pola-Mao, S Tre’von Moehrig

Moehrig’s pass breakup helped lead to the Jaguars’ second punt of the game. Then after the Raiders tied the game at 7-7 in the second quarter, he made the tackle on third down to force another punt.

The Raiders had two takeaways in the game. Both were Pola-Mao forced fumbles. The first came early in the second quarter and Moehrig was there to pounce on it for the recovery at the Jacksonville 45-yard line. They would get a field goal out of it to take a 13-7 lead.

The second turnover came late in the second quarter and it stopped what would have been a scoring drive by the Jaguars, sending the two teams to the locker room with the Raiders maintaining their six-point lead.

On the final Jaguars drive, Moehrig came flying in on the blitz to force Mac Jones to throw the ball into the turf to avoid the sack. Then on fourth down, Moehrig made the tackle short of the sticks to give the Raiders the win.

DE Charles Snowden. DE K’Lavon Chaisson

A week ago Snowden was inactive because of his DUI arrest. He returned to his regularly scheduled breakout season on Sunday, wreaking havoc on Mac Jones and the Jaguars offense.

Snowden made the stop on a catch in the right flat on third down to force the first punt of the game.

Two drives later, Chaisson made an almost identical play to the one he made last week against the Falcons, when he perfectly played a screen pass. That time, he batted the pass to himself for the interception. This time, he looked to have the interception outright, but couldn’t quite hang onto it. Still a well-played ball by Chaisson.

In the second quarter, Chaisson got pressure on the edge on third down, forcing Mac Jones to step up and throw where Snowden was there to bat the pass down at the line.

The first drive of the third quarter was stopped when on consecutive plays, Chaisson set up a tackle for loss and then made the sack for an 11-yard loss.

Snowden led out the first Jaguars’ possession of the fourth quarter with a tackle for loss that led to a three-and-out. Then on fourth-and-one with the game in the balance, he drew a holding penalty to make it fourth-and-11 instead. They couldn’t make it up and turned it over on downs.

RB Ameer Abdullah

Abdullah made the play of the game. Early in the fourth quarter, with the Jaguars having just taken a 14-13 lead, Aidan O’Connell was under pressure, and threw up a prayer ball Abdullah’s way and he came back to make the catch for the first down at the Jacksonville 35.

The next play, Abdullah made an 11-yard catch to put them in easy scoring range. Two play later, he took the ball up the gut from seven yards out for the touchdown to give the Raiders the lead. That 19-14 lead would hold the rest of the way.

He also had three runs for 24 yards to put the Raiders in field goal range for a 13-7 lead just before the half.

TE Brock Bowers

He made the first catch of the day for the Raiders. He was open on the right side and shot up the sideline for 32 yards. As it happens, he was exactly 32 yards from 1000 on the season and that play landed him right on the milestone.

On the game-winning drive, Bowers had three catches for 29 yards, including the 17-yard catch that put them in first and goal. His final two catches helped the Raiders eat up clock to preserve the win and give him 11 catches for 99 yards in the game.

DT Adam Butler, DT John Jenkins

The first tackle of the day was a run stop for no gain and it was set up because Butler shot through the gap to force the run elsewhere. Jenkins helped to end the drive with a punt with a run stuff on first down followed by a batted ball at the line.

Jenkins led out the second Jaguars possession with another run stuff. And he added another on the next drive.

Butler drew a holding penalty in the second quarter that led to a three-and-out. Then he drew another holding penalty in the third quarter that also stopped a drive. On the play prior to that second drawn holding, Jenkins got pressure up the middle to force and incompletion.

Butler is a perfect example of why the game is played outside the stats. He had no stats in the game. But affected the game greatly just the same.

RT DJ Glaze

Didn’t give up any QB hits, sacks, or run stops in the game. That’s just flat out doing his job.

Honorable Mention

QB Aidan O’Connell — The offense wasn’t great. But he led them on two TD drives and made some gritty plays along the way.

Continue to the Busters…

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

Busters for Raiders Week 13 heartbreaker vs Chiefs

How it started out poorly and then went wrong in the end for the Raiders in their week 13 matchup with the Chiefs.

A valiant effort by the Raiders, but alas they were unable to come away from Arrowhead with a W. This is where I am looking for why that may be.

Busters

S Isaiah Pola-Mao, CB DeCamerion Richardson, CB Jack Jones

Let’s talk about how the Raiders found themselves in a 16-3 hole in the first place.

The second play of the game, Richardson gave up a 14-yard catch. Later Jones was flagged for pass interference to put the Chiefs in field goal range.

The next drive me gave up a catch and missed the tackle for a ten-yard gain. And. few plays later, Pola-Mao gave up the longest catch to that point of 24 yards to put the Chiefs in field goal range.

The first Chiefs’ touchdown, Pola-Mao was out of position to give up a wide open 27-yard catch to the tight end — a new long for the game. That catch put them in scoring range in one play. But it was Jones who would give up the touchdown catch from six yards out.

And on the next drive, Jones it on the double move and Pola-Mao was late getting over to give up *another* 24-yard catch to midfield.

The first drive of the third quarter, Richardson gave up an 11-yard catch to make for an easier field goal to make it a 13-3 Chiefs lead. And then on the next drive, in third and ten, he allowed a 30-yard catch to put them in field goal range again. And there you have that 16-3 lead.

After the Raiders scored two quick touchdowns to take the lead, the Chiefs drove right down to take a back. They did so in part because Jones gave up a a 15-yard catch on second and 20 and on third and five Pola-Mao was late helping again to give up a 19-yard catch to put the Chiefs in first and goal.

LT Kolton Miller, RT DJ Glaze

There were several opportunities for the Raiders to close that 16-3 well before they actually did it. In the second quarter a drive began with a two runs for 28 yards. But it ended three plays later with Glaze giving up a sack.

The first drive of the third quarter began with a 12-yard run and a 25-yard catch and run to put the Raiders in field goal range. But when they went for it on 4th and one, Miller gave up the run stuff for no gain for the turnover on downs.

The next drive, the Raiders got as far as the KC 22-yard line off a crazy Brock Bowers one-handed grab. Then Miller gave up the sack for a 15-yard loss and Daniel Carlson missed the 55-yard field goal attempt wide left.

Miller was called for holding on the next Raiders drive which threatened to spoil a 69-yard return. But this time a long TD pass from O’Connell to Bowers dug them out of it.

After the Chiefs re-took the lead in the fourth quarter, the Raiders picked up a first down, but got no further when Glaze gave up pressure on third and nine, leading to an incompletion and a punt.

HC Antonio Pierce

Aidan O’Connell took the blame for the errant snap on the final play. And, yeah, it was his fault. He was clapping to hurry things up and right guard Dylan Parham took that to mean he wanted the ball snapped, so he tapped Jackson Powers-Johnson’s leg to get him to snap it. But here’s my bigger issue — they never should’ve been in that situation in the first place.

There was too much to lose and not enough to gain from calling that play. He shouldn’t have been in shotgun. He probably shouldn’t have been running a play at all. They were in field goal range with 11 seconds left. That should be the game winner. And instead the team was a panicky, discombobulated mess.

Even if there hadn’t been a botched snap, there would’ve been an illegal shift penalty that wiped out whatever they did and backed them up because they weren’t set when the ball was snapped. They simply have to be more poised in crucial moments like that. Or they shouldn’t be put in that position in a hostile environment like that.

We should be talking about *another* huge come-from-behind, improbable victory in KC. But instead we’re talking about a massive missed opportunity.

See the Ballers.

Busters for Raiders Week 11 loss to Dolphins

Those Raiders who had the worst day against the Dolphins in week 11.

Enough with the little positives. Let’s look at the glaring negatives. And when you fail to stop a team to force a single punt or turnover, naturally there are going to be plenty of those.

Busters

LB Divine Deablo

The first play of the game, he was in the wrong gap to give up a five-yard run. Two plays later, on the first third down play of the game, Deablo ran into a receiver to give up a 17-yard catch then gave up a seven-yard catch on the next play to put the Dolphins in scoring range. they would go on to score an opening drive touchdown.

He was blocked on a ten-yard run to lead off the Dolphins second scoring drive.

In the third quarter, the Dolphins could go on another touchdown drive. Along with way, Deablo had missed tackles on consecutive plays. Then on first and goal from the four-yard-line, he was called for a facemask that offset a holding penalty on the Dolphins so they just replayed the down.

And finally, the game clinching touchdown, Deablo was supposed to be covering Jonnu Smith, but instead just let him go by him, where he was completely wide open for a 57-yard touchdown.

S Isaiah Pola-Mao

Pola-Mao gave up the first touchdown of the game when he was late getting over in coverage on fourth and goal from the two.

Their second touchdown was set up by a 30-yard run on which Pola-Mao missed the tackle to put them in first and goal at the four.

And on the final TD, Pola-Mao committed to the right side of the field and ended up covering no one while leaving the entire middle of the field complete wide open for Jonnu Smith all alone to go 57 yards for the score.

CB DeCamerion Richardson

With Jakorian Bennett lost on the second play of the game, the rookie was pressed into service. And he didn’t fair well to say the least.

Richardson gave up a 16-yard catch on the first drive that set the Dolphins up at the Vegas 12-yard line. Then on the next drive, he gave up a 24-yard catch that set them up at the 16-yard line.

The second touchdown of the game for the Dolphins was given up by Richardson from nine yards out.

The next drive, he gave up a 14-yard catch on third and four, and finally failed to keep containment on the edge to allow for an easy run around the left side for the touchdown.

RT DJ Glaze, RG Dylan Parham

The Raiders got a reprieve on their first drive of the game when Calais Campbell was flagged for roughing the kicker on their punt attempt. They too advantage and moved into goal to go at the ten. Then on second and goal, Parham gave up the sack to back them up to the 18. They gave up on scoring the TD after that and kicked the field goal.

The next drive, they again drove into goal to go. And again, it was pressure that killed their shot. This time it was Glaze giving up pressure that forced a throw short of the first down and they again settled for three instead of six.

The Raiders got the ball to start the second half, and promptly went three-and-out. Because Glaze gave up pressure on third down again, leading to a bad pass that fell incomplete.

They would finally punch it in in the third quarter, but when they went for two to try and make it a three-point game, Parham got shucked to give up a run stuff for a loss.

See the Ballers

Raiders, Broncos Week 5 injury report: Maxx Crosby among 8 Raiders starters missing

Maxx Crosby, Kolton Miller among 8 Raiders starters who missed practice Wednesday

Quite an injury report for the Raiders heading into Week five for the Raiders. In total they were missing ten players, eight of whom are starters.

Among those not practicing for the Raiders are starters WR Davante Adams (hamstring), TE Michael Mayer (personal), T Kolton Miller (knee/shoulder), T Thayer Munford, G Dylan Parham (Achilles), DE Maxx Crosby (ankle), and LB Divine Deablo (oblique).

Limited were RB Zamir White (groin), LB Luke Masterson (knee), and S Isaiah Pola-Mao (personal).

Several of these players missed Sunday’s game against the Browns including Adams, Mayer, Munford, Crosy, and Deablo.