Tag: Jack Jones

Busters for Raiders week 15 loss to Falcons

Where things went wrong for the Raiders in their loss to the Falcons.

The Ballers were made up mostly of defensive players. It was the offense and special teams that doomed the Raiders in this one. So, the makeup the Busters may not surprise you.

Busters

QB Desmond Ridder

This offense was severely hampered by the limitations of Ridder. He had several opportunities in this game, provided by the Raiders defense, on which he couldn’t capitalize.

Only once in the first three quarters did the Raiders get past the 50-yard-line. And even the one that did move into Atlanta territory ended with two bad throws by Ridder. Both were for Brock Bowers, the first was too low and the other was an overthrow and the Raiders settled for a long field goal.

Just before the half, he finally connected for a decent gain to Bowers. Then followed it up with another bad overthrow to Bowers and then took a sack to send the two teams to the locker room with a 9-3 Falcons lead.

The third quarter saw the Raiders offense convert one first down. One. The first possession, Ridder was sacked twice, neither were the fault of his Oline. Then after the only first down — on an Alexander Mattison run — he overthrew Tre Tucker, nearly threw an interception, and rolled out right and threw the ball away. He had one more three-and-out in the quarter.

To lead out the fourth quarter, the Raiders possession ended with two incompletions — one on an overthrown screen pass — and Ridder getting sacked. Again, it was not the fault of his Oline. Next series lasted two plays with Ridder throwing an interception, giving the Falcons the ball already in scoring range. It was just luck that they missed the field goal.

Most of Ridder’s completed passes came on the final two drives. But being flagged for a delay of game on fourth and three certainly didn’t help matters. It meant it would take an amazing play by Ameer Abdullah to keep hope alive.

STC Tom McMahon, S Chris Smith II

When’s the last time you saw three blocked kicks by one team in one game? I can’t recall ever seeing it before. But that’s what happened in this game.

Two of the blocked were on punts. Chris Smith was the personal protector and was blocking no one while a free runner got to AJ Cole. One of the blocks was a deflection that caused a punt to travel just 30 yards. The other was a full on block. Both gave the Falcons great field position.

The other block was on the extra point after the late touchdown. In this case, Michael Mayer was left to try and block two players on his own and that didn’t work out well.

Smith also missed the tackle on a 38-yard return to the 45-yard-line.

OC Scott Turner

Four times the Raiders offense started a drive inside their own ten-yard-line. And despite being backed up against their own end zone, Ridder lined up in the shotgun each time, often times handing the ball off. That’s a dangerous play as it mean the runner basically has three yards they have to run with the ball before they even reach the line of scrimmage.

The first time they did this was on a drive that started at their own three-yard-line. It led to consecutive tackles for loss and a safety to give the Falcons a 9-3 lead.

They did it again from their own three in the third quarter. Similar result. This time it was a run for no gain to start things off followed by two short catches and a punt.

The final time, they led out with another run for a loss. And the next play Ridder threw an interception to give the Falcons the ball in scoring range.

CB Jack Jones

The Falcons’ only touchdown was from some easy film study. Last week Jones bit on a sluggo off a pump fake for a long completion. So, with the Falcons at the Vegas 30-yard-line, they said ‘hey, let’s do that too’. And, so they did. And Jones bit, leaving Drake London wide open for the long touchdown.

On their second scoring drive, he gave up an eight-yard first down run and on their third scoring drive, he gave up a five-yard catch on third-and-four that put them in field goal range.

WR Jakobi Meyers

The first drive of the game, Meyers was given the ball on an end around and set up to pass the ball. But his target was double covered, so he instead took the sack for a ten-yard loss.

The next time they looked to Meyer, was to lead out the third quarter. He made the catch but pushed off and was called for offensive pass interference.

Next pass for him, he couldn’t get to it and it was knocked away. His first catch didn’t come until there was just over five minutes left in the game. To his credit, he had three catches on the drive for 26 yards and the Raiders would score the TD on the drive.

The final drive, he had a couple more catches. But also had one in his hands get knocked out on the way down. And on the hail mary on the final play, he let Jesse Bates high point him to make the interception.

C Jackson Powers-Johnson

JPJ gave up run stuffs for a loss on each of the first two possessions. The second leading to a three-and-out. Even on the field goal drive, he found himself blocking no one while the run was stuffed at the line.

The Raiders running backs averaged 2.17 yards per carry in the game on 17 carries. And while that certainly doesn’t fall on him alone, there weren’t any instances in which he was the key block on a run

T DJ Glaze

Overall, he seemed to have a decent game. But his holding penalty on the final drive was a killer. He was completely beaten on the play and his hold was about as obvious as you’ll see. It would take the Raiders four plays to make up for it, taking 44 vital seconds off the clock. Which ultimately meant the game hinged on Hail Mary passes, which is never a great bet.

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.

Raiders inactives vs Broncos Week 12: Is CB Jack Jones playing?

Two of the Raiders starting cornerbacks are down against the Broncos Week 12. But they will have Jack Jones, which is some good news.

The inactives are out for the Raiders. Much of it was to be expected, including Nate Hobbs and Jakorian Bennett not playing as both were ruled OUT. The question was whether Jack Jones would be able to go. And the starting right side cornerback is active, which means he is expected to start today.

Here is the full list of inactives:

Last week the Raiders were down to their last cornerback on the roster for the final ten snaps. So, getting Jones back is very good news.

They will still be without Bennett and Hobbs and rookie DeCamerion Richard and Darnay Holmes are expected to replaced them respectively.

Raiders will be down at least two starting CB Week 12 vs Broncos

Both Jakorian Bennett and Nate Hobbs are OUT Week 12 vs the Broncos.

Another week, another starting cornerback down for the Raiders. They were already without Nate Hobbs last week in Miami and two plays into the game, they lost Jakorian Bennett as well. Now both will be OUT against the Broncos on Sunday according to Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce.

Also lost to injury in that game was Jack Jones, who practiced on Friday, but whose status is Questionable which means he may not play either.

When Jones went out, the Raiders depleted their entire depth chart at cornerback, with the three corners in the game being DeCamerion Richardson, Darnay Holmes, and Sam Webb. And it’s possible they could be looking at that trio to *start* the game. Or at very least Richardson and Holmes.

They will most certainly be elevating one of the cornerbacks on the practice squad to the active roster to fill out the depth chart. Those three are rookie MJ Devonshire along with Kyu Blu Kelly and newly added Keenan Issac.

Raiders Week 11 snap counts vs Dolphins: Cornerback depth stripped down

At one point the Raiders had no starting cornerbacks on the field and no reserves left at the position either.

Coming into Sunday’s game, the Raiders were down one starting cornerback. Nate Hobbs was OUT with an ankle injury. He was replaced by Darnay Holmes at slot corner. But very quickly the situation got far more dire.

On the second snap of the game, Jakorian Bennett was lost to a shoulder injury and didn’t return. He was replaced by DeCamerion Richardson, leaving Jack Jones as the only starter.

Then Jones left the game for a time, ushering in, which brought in Sam Webb, who was the only remaining cornerback on the roster. And for a time, the Raiders were not only fielding three reserve corners, but their ONLY available corners.

Those three reserves were on the field together when the Raiders gave up the wide open 57-yard touchdown catch to Jonnu Smith that clinched the Dolphins win.

If you’re looking for a glimmer of good news, the offensive line stayed healthy.

All season long, the Raiders have had issues with their offensive line staying healthy. It’s for that reason that they were fielding their sixth starting offensive line of the season on Sunday. And they didn’t have a lot of wiggle room should one of that starting five go down.

So it was with great relief that the Oline started played wall-to-wall, a rare and welcome sight this season.

From left to right LT Kolton Miller, LG Dylan Parham, C Jackson Powers-Johnson, RG Jordan Meredith, RT DJ Glaze all played 100% of the snaps in the game. This is just the fourth time this season that has happened.

Offense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Dylan Parham G 65 100% 3 13%
Kolton Miller T 65 100% 3 13%
Jordan Meredith G 65 100% 3 13%
DJ Glaze T 65 100% 3 13%
Jackson Powers-Johnson C 65 100% 0 0%
Gardner Minshew II QB 65 100% 0 0%
Brock Bowers TE 62 95% 0 0%
Tre Tucker WR 58 89% 0 0%
Jakobi Meyers WR 57 88% 0 0%
Michael Mayer TE 34 52% 3 13%
DJ Turner WR 28 43% 14 61%
Ameer Abdullah RB 22 34% 12 52%
Zamir White RB 22 34% 2 9%
Alexander Mattison RB 20 31% 0 0%
Justin Shorter TE 9 14% 12 52%
Terrace Marshall Jr. WR 7 11% 0 0%
Ramel Keyton WR 5 8% 7 30%
Thayer Munford T 1 2% 3 13%
Defense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Isaiah Pola-Mao FS 68 100% 6 26%
Maxx Crosby DE 68 100% 6 26%
Tre’von Moehrig FS 68 100% 2 9%
Robert Spillane LB 68 100% 0 0%
Decamerion Richardson CB 66 97% 1 4%
Jack Jones CB 58 85% 0 0%
Adam Butler DT 51 75% 6 26%
Charles Snowden DE 46 68% 13 57%
Darnay Holmes CB 46 68% 6 26%
Divine Deablo LB 46 68% 2 9%
John Jenkins DT 35 51% 6 26%
Jonah Laulu DT 33 49% 6 26%
Tyree Wilson DE 23 34% 6 26%
K’Lavon Chaisson LB 19 28% 0 0%
Matthew Butler DT 16 24% 3 13%
Amari Burney LB 13 19% 20 87%
Sam Webb CB 10 15% 5 22%
Thomas Harper FS 9 13% 13 57%
Janarius Robinson DE 3 4% 0 0%
Jakorian Bennett CB 2 3% 0 0%
Special Teams Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Tommy Eichenberg LB 0 0% 20 87%
Amari Gainer LB 0 0% 18 78%
Christopher Smith SS 0 0% 14 61%
Kana’i Mauga LB 0 0% 14 61%
Daniel Carlson K 0 0% 8 35%
AJ Cole III P 0 0% 5 22%
Jacob Bobenmoyer LS 0 0% 5 22%
Andrus Peat G 0 0% 3 13%

 

Ballers for Raiders Week 9 loss to Bengals

Picking out the individual performances in the Raiders loss to the Bengals in Week 9.

Another early strong effort eventually crumbled and got away from the Raiders just as has happened so many times this season. And ultimately the game was over by midway through the third quarter.

Before that happened, however, there were some positive performances to mention.

Ballers

WR Jakobi Meyers

Believe it or not, Meyers surpassed 100 yards receiving for the first time as a Raider. Hard to believe considering how much he has meant to this team since they signed him prior to last season.

He got things started with the longest play on the Raiders opening drive, catching a 22-yard pass to put them at the Cincinnati 23. They went on to score an opening drive touchdown.

The next drive, he led out with a 15-yard grab to the Cincy 49 and then had the longest catch again, going for 23 yards on a slant to put the Raiders in field goal range at the 26. From there they tied it up at 10-10. Meyers would add two more catches for 22 yards on the Raiders final drive of the first half that nearly got them into scoring range again.

C Jackson Powers-Johnson, G Jordan Meredith

These two were doing some serious work on the Raiders opening drive. The Raiders run game actually looked proficient and it was because of these two pushing defenders around. They ran the ball seven times on the opening drive. The three longest ones either JPJ, Meredith or both laid key blocks. And JPJ opened up the hole one what was initially ruled a TD (and probably should have stood) on first and goal.

Funny thing is, the only reason either of these two are playing the positions they’re playing is because of injuries. But they are earning the right to keep those jobs.

CB Jack Jones

Early in the fourth quarter, he had a pick six to make the game a bit interesting late. Then he ended the next Bengals possession with a pass breakup on third down.

Continue to the Busters…

Raiders, Rams Week 7 injury update: 2 key starters return to practice

Raiders, Rams Week 7 injury update: 2 key starters return to practice

A couple Raiders starters returned to practice Thursday for the Raiders. But four starters were still missing.

The two starters who returned were LT Kolton Miller and CB Jack Jones. The four still missing are DE Maxx Crosby (ankle), WR Jakobi Meyers (ankle), G Dylan Parham (foot), and DT John Jenkins (illness).

The ones to worry about are WR Jakobi Meyers and G Dylan Parham.

Meyers missed last Sunday’s game and the Raiders couldn’t get the ball to the wide receivers who were healthy for the game. And with Davante Adams now with the Jets, the Raiders were without both their outside starters to begin the season.

Parham left midway through the game on Sunday and was replaced by Jordan Meredith.

Raiders, Rams Week 7 injury report: 6 Raiders starters miss practice

Another week for the Raiders with several starters missing.

Preparations for the Raiders week seven game in Los Angeles against the Rams have begun. This time without Davante Adams on the roster. But Adams wasn’t the only starter not practicing for the Raiders Wednesday. They were without six starters Wednesday.

Those starters included DE Maxx Crosby (ankle), WR Jakobi Meyers (ankle), T Kolton Miller (knee/shoulder), G Dylan Parham (foot), DT John Jenkins (illness), and CB Jack Jones (illness).

Maxx Crosby has been resting Wednesdays for a few weeks now and has played the past couple weeks. Same with Kolton Miller.

Meyers missed last Sunday’s game with his injury and the team struggled to replace him in the lineup. Dylan Parham left Sunday’s game with his foot injury and was replaced at right guard by Jordan Meredith.

Other Raiders players not practicing were linebackers Kana’i Mauga (knee) and Tommy Eichenberg (quad).

The only player missing for the Rams was long snapper Alex Ward (illness).

Busters for Raiders Week 5 loss to Broncos

Which Raiders players shoulder the greatest share of the blame in the loss to the Broncos

A collapse like this has many searching for answers. Hopefully the Busters list can provide some. At least in terms of how I saw it go down.

Busters

QB Gardner Minshew

As my mom used to say, “one ‘Oh, sh*t!’ can ruin a hundred ‘Attaboys’.”

Minshew started this game with a few attaboys. But none of it mattered when the ‘Oh, sh*t’ happened.

He had the Raiders offense rolling. Looking for a score on three straight drives to begin the game. A nine-yard completion to Brock Bowers and the Raiders were in first and goal at the nine-yard-line. Minshew rolled left and had Bowers wide open at the goal line. For whatever reason, he overshot him and Patrick Surtain intercepted it and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown the other way. Complete momentum stealer.

Instead of 17-3 it was tied 10-10. The Raiders offense seemed to close up shop after that. On three possessions the remainder of the second quarter, Minshew had one completion for one yard. And he even overthrew Bowers again.

The third quarter saw Minshew pinball around the pocket twice for sacks and then throw behind Tre Tucker for another interception. That was his last play of the game as he was pulled for Aidan O’Connell.

HC Antonio Pierce

Speaking of pulling Minshew… Pierce is far too reactionary. Sure, you want to protect the ball, but there just isn’t enough of a leash for Minshew to allow him to make mistakes or be aggressive. Twice in five games he’s been yanked and Pierce wouldn’t commit to him as the starter after the game.

This game was still in reach when Minshew was pulled. It was just 20-10. Minshew came back against the Ravens in Week two. Seemingly in part because Maxx Crosby came out and showed him a little faith and gave him a pep talk. Meanwhile, even when the problem has clearly been the scheme and the running attack, Pierce always seems to go back to placing the blame on not taking care of the ball.

Pierce talks about not riding the wave of emotion after games, but no one is more emotional during and after these games than him. He’s too high after wins and too low after losses, talking about ‘business decisions’ and benching players and having his star receiver requesting a trade.

As far as game management, he continues to make the wrong decisions on fourth downs. In this game, the offense ran it on third and five from the Denver 45 — which you only really do if your plan is to go for it — got three yards on it, setting up fourth and short and then oddly punted it away. That’s simply the wrong decision however you look at it. And he makes a poor fourth down decision seemingly every week.

Oh, and TWICE the Raiders defense was flagged for 12 men on the field. Just inexcusable.

LB Tommy Eichenberg

The rookie was making his first start. And it kinda looked like it. He had just one assist in the game. And should have had a lot more than that. His one assist came on an eight yard run on fourth and one. So, even that tackle wasn’t notable.

The score was still just 13-10 in the third quarter. Eichenberg gave up a 13-yard run on the second play. But thanks to a Denver holding penalty and a Crosby sack, they got out of it. They weren’t so fortunate on the next drive.

It started with Eichenberg getting blocked so hard on the punt return, he took out another coverage guy, allowing a huge return that may have been a touchdown had John Samuel Shenker not made the shoestring tackle to stop it at midfield. It didn’t end up mattering much though, because a few plays in, Eichenberg missed the tackle on a nine-yard run and later gave up the touchdown on a catch out right from four yards out.

The next touchdown drive began with Eichenberg missing another tackle in an 11-yard scramble. Later he gave up a 19-yard catch that put the Broncos in first and goal. He was flagged for holding on the Broncos’ final touchdown, which means had they not scored on the play, they would have been in first and goal at the four-yard-line anyway.

CB Jack Jones

Jones’s day got off to a good start. He made the pass breakup on third down to force a punt on the Broncos’ first drive. Not much went right for him after that.

He was flagged for illegal contact on the Broncos’ first scoring drive. On their next scoring drive, he gave up a 19-yard catch on third and seven that put them in field goal range in the final seconds. He had a missed tackle on a 27-yard catch and run on their third scoring drive  And he gave up the final touchdown from nine yards out.

G Jackson Powers-Johnson

Far too often during a play, JPJ ends up flat on his face. It’s odd, really. He gets up slowly as if he was either injured on the play or is fighting through an injury. But that’s not it. I just think he gets dejected when he can’t hold his block or is tossed to the ground.

The second play of the game, he was beaten to give up a tackle for loss on a run. The second play of the next drive, he was put on his face to allow a run stuff for no gain. Then on the second play following the game-tying pick six, he gave up another run stuff at the line, helping lead to a three-and-out.

A couple possessions later, he was flagged for a false start, helping lead to another three-and-out.

Gotta figure out these NFL DT’s, young fella. And maybe, pop back up after being beaten and get back at it because, if nothing else, staying on the ground like that after the play isn’t a good look.

WR Jakobi Meyers

Nothing was working for the Raiders offense after that pick six. But Meyers might have helped spark things. Instead he had a one-yard catch, a drop on third down, and then an offensive pass interference leading to two three-and-outs.

His stats were a bit misleading considering half his catches (3) and most of his yards (43) came after the game was out of reach.

DE Tyree Wilson

Last week, Wilson got the seemingly random PFF pat on the back; apparently for having a couple QB hits, even though he didn’t really impact the game in any meaningful way. This week, despite 34 snaps — which was second only to Maxx Crosby among DE’s — he was completely invisible. His stat line consisted of one assist.

See the Ballers

4 Raiders defenders among NFL elite in key statistics

Four weeks into the season, a handful of Raiders defenders are distinguishing themselves among their peers.

We’re now four weeks into the season. That’s basically a quarter of the way through the NFL season. Thru those four games there are four Raiders defenders sitting among the NFL’s best in key areas.

LB Robert Spillane

Spillane has been on a tear this season. He has double digit tackles in every game, totaling 44 tackles in four games. That puts him third in the league in combined tackles. Here’s the top five:

Nick Cross — 47
EJ Speed — 47
Robert Spillane — 44
Zach Baun — 43
Logan Wilson — 43

CB Jack Jones

Few corners have been more stingy in coverage this season than Jones, who is fifth in the league in coverage DVOA over the first four weeks.

CB Jakorian Bennett

Bennett has been swatting down passes a lot this season. Several of them have been huge plays too. Last week he batted down a would-be first down throw midway through the 4th quarter with the Raiders clinging to a four-point lead. He also regularly sticks with receivers on deep routes to break up what would otherwise have been a long catch or even a touchdown.

In total he has five pass breakups in four games. Which is tied for sixth in the NFL. Here’s the company he keeps:

Paulson Adebo — 7
Brian Branch — 7
Denzel Ward — 7
Zyon McCollum — 6
Quinyon Mitchell — 6
Jakorian Bennett — 5
Michael Jackson — 5
Jaylen Watson — 5

DE Maxx Crosby

Even while being hobbled for one game and missing last week entirely, Crosby is still among the league leaders in tackles for loss. His five tackles for loss this season is tied for fifth.

Kyle Van Noy — 7
Aidan Hutchinson — 6
Patrick Jones — 6
Devonte Wyatt — 6
Maxx Crosby — 5
Dennis Gardeck — 5
Gregory Rousseau — 5
Jared Verse — 5
Bobby Wagner — 5
TJ Watt — 5