Tag: Jack Jones

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

We now know what Antonio Pierce’s ‘business decision’ was for Raiders

Antonio Pierce made his ‘business decision’ against the Browns. And the issue was with who many suspected.

A week ago at this time, the Raiders were reeling after getting pummeled by the Panthers. Immediately following the game, head coach Antonio Pierce said some of his players made “business decisions” and said he would need to make some business decisions of his own in response.

At the time everyone was left to wonder just who he was talking about.

Soon a clip of Jack Jones deciding not to tackle a Panthers running back on a play was circulating and the finger of suspicion was pointed at him.

It made some sense considering after the game, myself and several others stood at his locker after he was finished dressing to ask him some questions and he just walked away, seemingly hoping to avoid the inevitable questions he didn’t want to have to answer.

Sunday in the game against the Browns, it was immediately apparent the business decision was to bench him.

The Raiders instead went with five defensive linemen and two cornerbacks early. And after the game, Pierce admitted that was his business decision.

Some in the media managed to track down Jones after the game this time to ask him about it, including ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez.

While we won’t know until the snap counts come out, it didn’t appear as if Jones played much in the early going. What you hope is that he will take this the right way from his college and high school coach who wants the best for him and won’t let him slack.

Jones needs to remember that he’s the starter on this team because he replaced Marcus Peters for doing the very thing he did in that game — shying away from tackling. It’s part of the job and Pierce won’t stand for anything but maximum effort in that area.

 

Ballers for Raiders Week 3 loss to Panthers

Singling out the performances in Raiders Week 3 loss to Panthers

There wasn’t much to sing about if you’re the Raiders in their loss to the Panthers. The 36-22 final score didn’t tell the story at all. The real score was 33-7 which sealed it early in the fourth quarter.

A lopsided score like that suggests a complete collapse on both sides of the ball. They couldn’t run the ball, they couldn’t stop the run. They couldn’t pass the ball, they couldn’t stop the pass.

Andy Dalton was picking them apart through the air and Chuba Hubbard (who?) ran all over them on the ground. Gardner Minshew completed one deep pass and the Raiders still have the worst rushing attack in the NFL dating back like 25 years at least.

Anyway, let’s see about them Ballers, eh?

Baller

WR Tre Tucker

That one deep completion went to Tucker. He got behind the defense and made the long catch 54 yards downfield. It set up the Raiders only touchdown that actually mattered. It tied the game at 7-7 in the first quarter.

When the game essentially was over, he had three catches for 64 yards. But he didn’t just pack it in, he added four more catches to finish with 98 yards and a touchdown.

That’s it. That’s the list.

Continue to the Busters…

Busters for Raiders Week 3 loss to Panthers

Singling out the many poor performances in the Raiders Week 3 loss to Panthers

Welcome to the primary portion of the program. There was a lot more bad news in this one than good. In fact, it wasn’t all that easy to find anything good to say about this performance by the Raiders.

So, let’s not belabor the point any longer.

Busters

OC Luke Getsy

Run, run, pass. Run, run, pass. Run, run, pass. Sensing a pattern? Yeah? Well, you’re not alone. The Raiders opponents do too. Perhaps Getsy thinks it’s like a pendulum that will lull opposing defenses to sleep because that is his approach so often, it’s downright maddening.

If this were a situation where the Raiders were having some success, it would be one thing. But they’re not. For whatever reason they are not running the ball at an NFL level. And you have to wonder if it’s the scheme that’s the problem because this wasn’t the case last season. Quite the contrary actually, they were the best running team in the league the final four games of last season. Now they’re the worst.

Four times on the first three drives of this game the Raiders started a series with consecutive runs. One of those they did three straight runs. Only once did they get a first down on the ground. And it wasn’t the one where they ran it three straight times! That one they went for it on fourth down and didn’t pick it up. The defensive backfield literally stood in a line three yards off the line and all the Raiders’ receivers ran that far. Minshew threw for Brock Bowers and it was knocked down easily. Terrible play call against the defense designed to stop that very thing.

Down 21-7 going into the third quarter, and you’ll never guess what they did then. Run. Run. Pass. Punt. So, they were down 24-7 before they finally stopped doing that.

This is a replay of the first two games. They bang their heads against a wall for three quarters and then try to make a late comeback. The defense was able to keep them in it the first two weeks. That didn’t happen this time. And it should never have to happen that way.

Something needs to change right now because right now their run game is broken. Whether it’s moving away from zone blocking, leaning more on the passing game, or just mixing things up a bit more to keep the defense honest.

QB Gardner Minshew

Whatever he found in the fourth quarter in Baltimore he lost again. Too often in this game he seemed gun shy, pulling his passes back, dancing around the pocket, and bouncing off his linemen like a pinball before either getting sacked or throwing it away.

Through three quarters — remember that’s when the game ended for all intents and purposes — he had completed 10 passes for 127 yards and no touchdowns. Most of his yards came on one completion to Tre Tucker for 54 yards. That was one of just four first downs he had through the air.

WR Davante Adams

Adams wasn’t helping things much. He had two drive killing drops in the second quarter alone. The first one came on third and short to end the drive. The second one took them out of field goal range and Daniel Carlson just missed the 57-yard attempt wide left at the half.

CB Nate Hobbs, CB Jakorian Bennett, CB Jack Jones

A week ago we were celebrating their work on the outside. Not so much this week. This week Andy Dalton made burnt toast out of them all.

The first drive Hobbs gave up a 17-yard catch and the touchdown catch from six yards out.

Second drive, Bennett gave up a 24-yard catch on third-and-14, Tre’von Moehrig gave up a 35-yard catch and run, and Jones gave up the touchdown on third-and-goal from the five.

Their third touchdown drive saw Hobbs give up a catch to Diontae Johnson, then try to chase him down only to whiff on the tackle for a 35-yard play. The next play Jones gave up a 31-yard touchdown catch to Adam Thielan.

The final touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter started with Bennett giving up an 11-yard catch. Then Jones missed a tackle on a 14-yard run, Bennett missed a tackle on a five-yard run, and on third down, Bennett was flagged for pass interference in the end zone to put the Panthers in first and goal from the one. They punched it in two plays later to go up 33-7.

Jones added to his poor day when he didn’t bother to try and make the tackle on a ten-yard run that led many to accuse him of being the player Antonio Pierce was referring to when he said players were making “business decisions” in the game.

RB Zamir White

I don’t know if he’s just trying to stick with what he thinks he’s trying to do or what. But there were so many times he just seemed to run right into a tackle or right in to the back of his own lineman. One of those times was the second play for the offense when he landed on the legs of Thayer Munford, causing him to leave the game with an injury and not return.

He was having much more success late last season. Now he looks like the least effective running back on this team. He’s averaging just 3.2 yards per carry and despite his size and apparent strength, they don’t even use him at the goal line. They give it to Alexander Mattison who has two touchdowns this season as a result.

LG Cody Whitehair, C Andre James

They’re just not getting any push up the middle. They aren’t creating any running lanes. The Raiders went for it on fourth down twice in the first three quarters. The first time Whitehair was driven back into Minshew’s lap as he threw. The other time it was a QB keeper that James got no push. Both attempts failed.

DT John Jenkins

You know who was getting push? The Panthers offensive line. Often times it was Jenkins who was getting pushed around. Jenkins had one tackle in the first three quarters. It was on a six-yard first down run. He also gave up the Panthers’ final touchdown from one yard out.

See the Baller

Raiders HC Antonio Pierce not backing down from ‘business decisions’ comment ‘I don’t bite my tongue’

Antonio Pierce is standing firm on his accusation of Raiders players making ‘business decisions’ in the loss to the Panthers. Adding ‘I don’t bite my tongue’

Following the Raiders’ embarrassing loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, Antonio Pierce took to the podium where he made a strong statement. It didn’t just suggest there were certain players were not putting out maximum effort, he flat out said it, going as far as to say there were those who made “business decisions.”

Pierce added that the team might also have to make some business decisions as well, suggesting those player who he didn’t see as putting full effort on the field could be benched or perhaps gone from the team.

Some have speculated who he could be talking about. Naturally, Davante Adams has been brought up considering all the talk of him being unhappy — something Adams has refuted — and the possibility of a trade happening this season involving him. But that is all speculation at this point.

The question I had was whether Pierce was just speaking from an emotional place and in turn might he pull back some on his strong words when given the chance to cool down.

Nope.

“I don’t bite my tongue,” said Pierce when asked if he regretted his choice of words after the game. Then he repeated it.”I don’t bite my tongue.”

He said he hasn’t made any of those business decision yet. That he would need to get with the team first. And he wouldn’t be more specific either, saying simply “Whatever helps the Raiders win. Right now that performance is not going to help any team, let alone the Raiders.”

Last season, Pierce saw Marcus Peters out there not putting in maximum effort. And once he thought Jack Jones was read to go, he benched and then cut Peters and put in Jones.

So, you know Pierce won’t put up with lack of effort. It’s just a matter of there being a better option for whoever he benches or sends packing.