Tag: Isaiah Pola-Mao

Raiders bring back S Isaiah Pola-Mao

Valuable depth safety Isaiah Pola-Mao returns to Raiders

Thursday the Raiders made a move to keep one of their valuable depth players from the past couple seasons. They have held onto safety Isaiah Pola-Mao with an Exclusive Rights Free Agent tender.

Pola-Mao went undrafted out of USC in 2021 and signed with the Raiders. He would land a spot on the practice squad after training camp and by midseason, he was signed to the active roster.

Since then, he has appeared in 27 games for the Raiders including 16 last season. He has proven himself to be an instinctual player who isn’t afraid of laying a big hit.

He has had 40 combined tackles over the past two seasons, two sacks, and had an interception and a pass breakup last season. He also played a majority of all special teams snaps.

The Raiders have their two starting safeties in Tre’von Moehrig and Marcus Epps, who started every game last season and played nearly every snap. But should either of them get injured, Pola-Mao has given his coaches confidence he could step up if the need arises.

As a former undrafted rookie, he has one more year left on his contract, at which point he would be a Restricted Free Agent.

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 11 loss to Dolphins

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 11 loss to Dolphins

There were more than a few people who were surprised at how the Raiders hung around with the Dolphins the entire game in Miami. Many thought the Raiders would get their doors blown off and that isn’t so much disrespect for the Raiders as much as it is respect for the Dolphins.

But Antonio Pierce has the Raiders playing inspired football. Even if, at times, it isn’t great football — at least not on the offensive side of the ball — it’s inspired. And that’s all you can really hope for if you hope to get the most out of the talent you have available.

Hence the reason this game was never more than a one-score difference for either team and went down to the wire before the Dolphins won it 20-13.

Ballers

DE Maxx Crosby, DE Malcolm Koonce

In a game of defensive heroics, Maxx was still the heroic-est. But this time he got a little help from the other side of the line.

We pick things up in the third quarter. That’s when the Raiders stopped letting the Dolphins get to the end zone. Crosby stopped their second drive almost single-handedly. They moved to first down at the Vegas 36. Then Crosy got in the backfield to make the stop on run stuff for one yard. Next play he helped make a tackle on a two-yard catch. And on third down, got pressure to force a bad throw. The Dolphins attempted a 50-yard field goal and missed.

The next drive ended when Koonce got pressure up the middle on a stunt to force an incompletion, leading to another field goal attempt. This one connected from 41 yards out. Koonce would get pressure to help end the next drive as well with the Dolphins again settling for a field goal.

The fourth quarter saw three possessions by the Dolphins for a total of 19 yards of offense. The first had Koonce made a run stuff, then ended with a vicious tackle by Crosby to make the stop well shy of the sticks. The second was upended with Koonce forcing a holding penalty that the Dolphins couldn’t overcome. The final possession, they got their only first down on the fourth quarter, but it still ended three plays later with Crosby getting a pressure to force an incompletion. That defensive stand gave the Raiders offense one more shot with just under two minutes remaining.

CB Nate Hobbs, S Isaiah Pola-Mao

After the Raiders went up 10-7 in the first quarter, the Dolphins led out the second quarter looking like they might respond with a touchdown to retake the lead. Hobbs saw to it that didn’t happen. Once they got to the 30-yard-line, Hobbs made two tackles on short catches. The Dolphins would still drive to inside the five-yard-line. They would go for it on fourth-and-one from the three-yard-line and it was Hobbs who came up to make the initial hit behind the line and Pola-Mao finished it off for the turnover on downs.

In the final seconds of the second quarter, the Dolphins were up 14-10 and driving. That was until Hobbs punched the ball out to force a fumble and give the Raiders the ball at the Miami 32-yard-line. The ensuing field goal made it a one-point game at the half.

First play of the third quarter, Pola-Mao picked off a deep Tua Tagovailoa pass. He later teamed up on a stop on third down.

Hobbs and Pola-Mao finished third and fourth on the team in tackles respectively. And they combined for two of the Raiders’ three takeaways in the game.

P AJ Cole

Cole was launching some punts into orbit in this game. His first punt went 50 yards with an illegal blindside block at the end of it to start the Dolphins’ drive at the 14-yard-line.

He added a 53-yard punt in the second quarter that was fair caught. And later in the quarter broke off a beauty that traveled 61 yards and bounced out of bounds at the 12-yard-line.

Then in the third quarter he booted a 51-yard punt the was fair caught at the 15. And, finally, he kicked another 53-yarder with an illegal block on the return that started the Dolphins possession at their own 10.

A couple weeks ago against the Giants, Cole had four punts of 63 yards or more, which set a record. But this game was better in some regards, because of those big punts, only one was stopped inside the 20-yard-line. And two of them went for touchbacks. In fact, in Sunday’s game in Miami, on six punts, Cole had zero touchbacks and the Dolphins started their drive inside the 20 four times. That usually means better hang time and better placement. Which is preferable to just simple punt distance.

LB Robert Spillane

It might not surprise you to learn that Spillane led the Raiders in tackles (13). He also had a tackle for loss and a pass breakup that was very nearly an interception. Because of course he did. He’s become quite the ball hawk this season.

His first tackle of the game went for a loss. Then on the Dolphins’ first drive of the second quarter, he had three run stops, including a stop on third and ten just short of the sticks. The Dolphins went for it on fourth-and-one from the three and couldn’t convert.

Spillane was a big factor in stopping the Dolphins on their final two drives, thus giving the Raiders offense two more shots at tying the game late. He was in on the tackle on third-and-15 to force the first punt. Then he was in on the run stop on their second to last play as well.

Honorable Mention

WR Davante Adams — Got open a lot in this game. It wasn’t his fault Aidan O’Connell only connected with him on one deep shot. But it was the Raiders’ one TD in the game.

LB Luke Masterson — Forced the fumble on the Dolphins’ first drive to start the Raiders second possession already in scoring range.

DC Patrick Graham — While Antonio Pierce gets credit for this team playing inspired football, Graham should get some love for his work as well.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Raiders Week 11 snap counts: S Isaiah Pola-Mao career-high leads team in total snaps

S Isaiah Pola-Mao career-high leads Raiders in total snaps

In just about every game this season the Raiders have had to go with the ‘next man up’ at one of the defensive back spots. As of now, the only DBs on the team who have not missed any time are safety Tre’von Moehrig and cornerback Marcus Peters.

Up until Sunday in Miami, Marcus Epps was on that list. But he was lost in the first quarter with a neck injury. Coming in for him was Isaiah Pola-Mao.

The former undrafted free agent out of USC played the final three quarters on defense (77%) while also performing his usual special teams duties (88%). His combined 77 snaps was the most on the team.

It also set several career highs for Pola-Mao. It was the most defensive snaps (54) of his career, the most special teams snaps of his career (23), the most tackles of his career (7). He also recorded his first career interception.

Epps is a solid safety. But the Raiders no doubt feel pretty good having Pola-Mao as an option should Epps miss extended time.

Offense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Greg Van Roten G 61 100% 3 12%
Thayer Munford T 61 100% 3 12%
Jermaine Eluemunor T 61 100% 3 12%
Aidan O’Connell QB 61 100% 0 0%
Andre James C 61 100% 0 0%
Davante Adams WR 60 98% 0 0%
Dylan Parham G 58 95% 3 12%
Jakobi Meyers WR 50 82% 0 0%
Michael Mayer TE 49 80% 3 12%
Josh Jacobs RB 47 77% 0 0%
Austin Hooper TE 29 48% 0 0%
Hunter Renfrow WR 27 44% 0 0%
Tre Tucker WR 24 39% 4 15%
Ameer Abdullah RB 14 23% 18 69%
DeAndre Carter WR 3 5% 8 31%
Jordan Meredith G 3 5% 3 12%
Jesper Horsted TE 2 3% 18 69%
Defense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Marcus Peters CB 70 100% 0 0%
Tre’von Moehrig FS 70 100% 0 0%
Maxx Crosby DE 70 100% 0 0%
Robert Spillane LB 70 100% 0 0%
Nate Hobbs CB 69 99% 0 0%
Isaiah Pola-Mao FS 54 77% 23 88%
John Jenkins DT 44 63% 5 19%
Bilal Nichols DT 41 59% 5 19%
Tyler Hall CB 41 59% 3 12%
Divine Deablo LB 41 59% 0 0%
Adam Butler DT 39 56% 3 12%
Jerry Tillery DT 35 50% 5 19%
Malcolm Koonce DE 32 46% 23 88%
Luke Masterson LB 23 33% 23 88%
Malik Reed LB 19 27% 5 19%
Tyree Wilson DE 19 27% 5 19%
Marcus Epps SS 16 23% 0 0%
Jack Jones CB 12 17% 0 0%
Jakorian Bennett CB 5 7% 0 0%
Special Teams Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Brandon Bolden RB 0 0% 23 88%
Curtis Bolton LB 0 0% 18 69%
DJ Turner WR 0 0% 18 69%
Christopher Smith SS 0 0% 17 65%
Zamir White RB 0 0% 11 42%
AJ Cole III P 0 0% 9 35%
Jacob Bobenmoyer LS 0 0% 9 35%
Daniel Carlson K 0 0% 7 27%
Amik Robertson CB 0 0% 5 19%
Brandon Parker T 0 0% 3 1

Ballers & Busters: Raiders preseason Week 3 vs Cowboys

Raiders Ballers & Buster for their preseason finale vs Cowboys

One more chance for many hopefuls on this Raiders training camp roster to show what they can do, both for the Raiders coaches as well as the rest of the league.

How did they do in this final exhibition? Let’s take a look

Ballers

WR Kristian Wilkerson

With one, and possibly two, receiver spots up for grabs on the Raiders roster, Wilkerson set out to prove he was worthy of it. And he put his best foot forward, catching 10 passes for 122 yards. No other Raiders receiver came with seven catches of his total and only one receiver came within 100 yards of his receiving total.

K Daniel Carlson

Went three for three in the game, including a 62-yarder and a 50-yarder. That 62-yarder was an upright splitter which looked like it would’ve been good from 70 yards. What a weapon.

RB Damien Williams

He doesn’t just have a great first name, he was breaking off big yards in chunks. He had two of the top four longest plays by the Raiders in this game and the only two runs that went for over ten yards. He had the Raiders’ only touchdown in the game on a 24-yard burst. Then he had a 20-yard run to lead out the third quarter that led to a field goal. He finished with 54 yards and a TD on six carries (nine yards per carry).

G Jordan Meredith

On both of those long Williams runs, Meredith laid a key block. His only mistake in the game was being flagged for holding.

DT Nesta Jade Silvera

Early in the second quarter, he had a run stuff for one yard on third and two. A few plays later he made the stop on a three-yard run. His best play may have come on a 16-yard catch in which he raced into the secondary to make the tackle. His five combined tackles led all Raiders defensive linemen. He added a QB hit as well.

Honorable Mention

QB Aidan O’Connell — Another efficient day for the rookie. Though he was unable to throw any touchdowns, he didn’t turn the ball over either.

WR Cam Sims — Had another fantastic grab in this one. This time reaching up high to pluck a 22-yard grab up the left sideline. The skills he has shown as a jump ball target are valuable.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Another 3 interception day for Jimmy Garoppolo vs Raiders ‘hungry’ defense

Second straight rough day for Jimmy Garoppolo. And Raiders ‘hungry’ defense taking advantage.

Friday Jimmy Garoppolo put the ball in the hands of the defense three times according to media present. But in case you were wondering if that was a one-off, it happened again on Saturday.

There have been six different defensive recipients of Garoppolo passes over the past two days — cornerbacks Jakorian Bennett, Marcus Peters, and Amik Robertson, safeties Isaiah Pola-Mao and Tre’von Moehrig, and linebacker Robert Spillane.

And those are just the interceptions, Jimmy G reportedly had three other dropped picks with just one completion on the final drive of the day.

Some who covered Garoppolo with the 49ers recalled today of a camp practice in which he threw five straight interceptions. Then went on to quarterback the 49ers to the Super Bowl that year.

Clearly not a great day for Garoppolo. Even still, the question whenever this kind of thing happens is how much of the fault lies on the QB and how much credit should the defense get.

Camp performances against your teammates is not a time to make sweeping judgments and predictions about how the season will go. We don’t know enough about what is going on with those plays. And camp is when you take these risks and work out timing issues and tendencies.

The concern would be more if the defense was getting picked apart every day and never got their hands on the ball. So, potentially, there is good news here from a defensive standpoint. Especially with as little has been expected from this defensive unit.

“We’re hungry,” said Marcus Peters, who had one of the three picks Saturday.

“I want to get the ball, and when the ball is in the air, you’ve got to have a will and want to go get it. And I want to go get it more than everybody else. You’ve got to just make sure that infects the whole locker room and we all just do it as one unit, you feel me, and it’s going to pay off for us.”

It’s been paying off the past couple days.

They will have one more chance on Sunday to do it again before being off Monday and Tuesday.

Raiders sign S Matthias Farley off practice squad, waive S Isaiah Pola-Mao

Raiders have waived S Isaiah Pola-Mao and signed S Matthias Farley off the practice squad

After elevating safety Matthias Farley from the practice squad in each of the first three games this season, the Raiders finally made it official. They have signed Farley to the active roster.

In a corresponding move, they have waived safety Isaiah Pola-Mao who had made the team out of camp as an undrafted free agent out of USC.

Farley has been a special teams maven for much of his eight-year career. He originally made the Colts roster as an undrafted free agent in 2016 and spent four seasons in Indianapolis, appearing in 37 games and starting 16 on defense.

Since then, he played two seasons with the New York Jets and the 2021 season with the Titans where he appeared in all 17 games and tied for the team lead with 11 special teams tackles.

In two appearances this season for the Raiders, Farley has played 52 special teams snaps and four defensive snaps, accumulating one tackle.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqby7y715wxzbczy player_id=none image=https://raiderswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Couple preseason standouts make Raiders debut vs Cardinals

Tashawn Bower — who led NFL in preseason sacks (4) — among those making Raiders debut today

No one wants injuries to happen, but they’re inevitable in the NFL. The Raiders suffered injuries to several starters in the season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers. Center Andre James, linebacker Denzel Perryman, and safety Tre’von Moehrig were all ruled out on Friday and are among the team’s inactives today against the Cardinals.

As a result, a couple of the team’s preseason standouts will make their Raiders debut in the team’s preseason opener today.

Tashawn Bower led the NFL with four sacks this preseason. He was inactive for the season opener last week and gets the nod today, becoming the fifth edge rusher on the game day roster.

Darien Butler finished seventh in the league with 21 combined preseason tackles (13 solo). The Perryman injury has him and fellow undrafted linebacker Luke Masterson both active.

Along with Butler and Masterson, two other undrafted rookies are active — CB Sam Webb and S Isaiah Pola-Mao. This will also be Pola-Mao’s NFL debut. And it means that all four of the undrafted rookies on the Raiders roster are active today.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqby7y715wxzbczy player_id=none image=https://raiderswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Ballers & Busters for Raiders preseason matchup with Patriots

Those Raiders who made a strong impression in the preseason finale, and those who did not.

The 2022 preseason for the Raiders wrapped up Friday night in Las Vegas. It was the last chance a lot of Raiders players had of making a strong impression, both on the Raiders as well as other teams that may be watching.

The goal here for many of these roster hopefuls is to make the Raiders’ decision very difficult. For others, it was to make the Raiders feel confident in keeping them.

Some achieved those goals, others did not.

Ballers

CB Sam Webb

No one stepped up bigger than Webb did. If only because he stepped out of obscurity to making his presence felt big time. The undrafted rookie out of Missouri Western was all over the place.

A possession in the first quarter began with Webb forcing an incompletion in coverage and ended two plays later with him making the tackle short of the sticks.

The next drive, he kept a short catch in front of him to make the tackle, have coverage on an incompletion on third down to force the Pats to go for it on fourth down, and had coverage on Davante Parker in the end zone, forcing him to push off for an offensive pass interference penalty. Webb also on occasion forces run-on sentences.

The next possession ended with Webb again keeping the play in front of him to make the tackle short of the sticks. He ended two more drive in the third quarter with a tackle short of the first down and a pass breakup on a deep ball attempt. He finished tied for the team lead with five solo tackles.

DE Tashawn Bower

Bower took an already impressive preseason and put an exclamation point on it. With the team in much need of pass rush depth behind Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones, Bower made a big statement that he can be that next man up.

He did it all in this game on defense. He made stops in the run game, he made a tackle outside on a receiver, and most importantly, he got pressure on the QB. To the tune of two sacks and a QB hit.

His second sack was a strip sack. And though the Raiders didn’t recover it, Bower made up for it later, when he recovered a fumble that ended the game for the Patriots. He led all defensive linemen with five combined tackles, all solo.

LB Luke Masterson

No player in this game did himself more favors than Masterson. He was simply masterful in proving his worth.

Why do I say that? Well, in part because fringe roster guys like him need to show up big time on special teams. And Masterson had two special teams tackles in this game.

It was more than his special teams play, though. He showed up as a linebacker on defense when he teamed up for a tackle for loss on the second play of the game.  Then he showed up in coverage on the next drive, picking off a pass over the middle and returning it 30 yards. The Raiders would score a touchdown off that turnover.

LB Darien Butler

The man who led the team with seven combined tackles. He teamed up with Masterson to make that tackle for loss on the second play of the game. Then he just played relatively mistake-free football the rest of the way, being where he needed to be and making the stop when it had to be made.

P AJ Cole, K Daniel Carlson

If there were any other kickers on this team right now, these two would have been parked on the sideline with the starters. But there aren’t, so they just went out and showed they are arguably the best kicker/punter duo in the league.

Cole’s first two punts traveled 64 yards and 63 yards. Then he opened the third quarter with a 62-yard punt with no return. His final punt went 35 yards and was fair caught at the 13-yard-line.

Carlson made all three of his field goals, including a 50-yarder.

Honorable Mention

WR Isaiah Zuber — He earned the nickname “two-way Zay” in this one. Because he had a nice catch on offense, and then picked off a deep pass when put in the game at safety as well.

[lawrence-newsletter]

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Know your foe, USC: Five Trojans who could give Notre Dame problems

The Irish will have to be aware of these 5 Trojans

As we all know, wide receiver Drake London has been getting a lot of publicity recently and rightfully so. He’s fourth in the NCAA in yardage, and has four straight 100-yard games. London is an absolute monster but the Trojan’s aren’t a one-trick pony. The have lot of talent and these are five other USC players who could give Notre Dame problems Saturday night.