It was fallback-to-earth time for the Raiders. Coming off a big win in Dallas, the Raiders returned home to face the 5-6 Washington Football Team. And when the dust settled, both teams were 6-6, Washington continued a four-game losing streak, and the Raiders lost their fourth game of their last five.
It was game for the defenses. The Raiders couldn’t get their offense off the ground until late and didn’t put points on the board until seconds before the half. The lack of offense allowed Washington to hang around and win it 17-15 on a late field goal.
Ballers
WR Hunter Renfrow
One part of the offense that was working was their shifty slot receiver. He converted the first third down for the Raiders when he caught a pass in the left flat on third and one, broke a tackle and took it for nine yards.
Yes, third-and-Renfrow was in full effect as he converted their next third down as well, making a three-yard catch on third-and-two. He had catches for nine and ten yards on that drive as well.
In the third quarter, the Raiders went on a drive that started with a 15-yard grab by Renfrow and ended with a short field goal to pull it to a one-point game at 7-6.
After Washington scored a TD to extend their lead to 14-6, Renfrow was guarded by a linebacker and got him turned around to make a masterful catch around him for 28 yards. A few plays later, he forced a pass interference in the end zone to put the Raiders in first-and-goal from the one. They would score their only touchdown of the game off that penalty.
The following drive, Renfrow had the longest catch of the drive, getting wide open for a 16-yard gain. It put the Raiders in scoring range and they took a 15-14 lead on the ensuing field goal.
Renfrow finished with a career-high nine catches and his 102 yards were the third-most of his career.
DE Maxx Crosby
He got close on a few occasions to getting a sack in this game, but it didn’t happen. Even still, he made a significant impact. On the first drive, he got pressure in Taylor Heinicke’s face to help disrupt a screen play that was stopped for no gain. On the second drive, he made a run stop, two plays later had another pressure to force an incompletion and two plays after that, made. the tackle on third down short of the sticks to force a punt.
Washington’s final drive of the first half, Crosby made a tackle for loss on an end-around. Two plays later, there were in third and ten and he laid a hit on Heinicke as he threw. The pass fell incomplete and would have ended their drive, but for Crosby landing too hard on Heinicke and being flagged for roughing the passer. The drive still didn’t lead to a score.
The next time Washington’s offense took the field was the third quarter. And on third down, there was Crosby getting to Heinicke who somehow was able to slip out of the sack and escape the pocket. But his pass was too high and Washington punted anyway.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Raiders scored to make it a two-point game, down 14-12. Washington needed to get a score of their own, but on third-and-four, Crosby got pressure and hit Heinicke’s arm as he threw, causing the pass to flutter and be up for grabs where it was intercepted. The turnover set up the Raiders with great field position and they added a field goal to take their first lead of the game.
Crosby led a defense that held Washington to just 17 points, but it wasn’t enough.
CB Nate Hobbs
When Crosby his Heinicke’s arm, the ball looked for a moment to be intercepted by Casey Hayward. But Hayward bobbled and dropped it. Luckily Hobbs was right there to catch it on the rebound for a huge turnover.
That was the second time Hobbs had a shot at an interception off of Hayward. Early in the third quarter Hayward broke up a pass and tipped it in the air and Hobbs very nearly picked that one as well. He was quite frustrated he didn’t haul it in, but the drive ended on the next play anyway.
Hobbs had ended Washington’s previous drive as well, teaming up with Denzel Perryman to make a tackle for loss and two plays later making the tackle short of the first down marker. He finished third on the team with nine tackles along with a pass breakup and the interception.
LB Denzel Perryman
As usual, Perryman led the Raiders in tackles. He led them in combined tackles (12) and solo tackles (9). This despite getting injured in the game and missing 20 snaps of the team’s 67 defensive snaps (70%).
His absence was quite noticeable, making his importance to this Raiders defense even more obvious. For instance, their second touchdown drive occurred with him either out of the game or struggling to fight through his injury.
Prior to his injury, he was a force. Washington’s second drive lasted five plays. In the final two plays, Perryman made a run stuff and made the stop on a catch short of the sticks. The next drive he had a run stuff to bring up third and long and they didn’t convert. He had two more run stuffs on the next drive, the second for a loss.
RB Josh Jacobs
Jacobs scored the Raiders’ only touchdown. In first and goal from the one, he ran into a trio of Washington defenders at the line, bounced off tackle and broke out left to trot into the end zone.
The drive after that, he found a hole on the right side then hurdled a defender to pick up the first down. That put the Raiders in scoring range and they went ahead on a short field goal.
On each other their scoring drives, Jacobs had a nice play. He made a 10-yard catch on their first scoring drive and a nine-yard catch followed by a five-yard run on their second scoring drive. He finished with 90 yards (52 rushing) on 21 touches (13 carries) and the touchdown.
K Daniel Carlson
Kicked three field goals, including a 52-yarder and the 37-yard go-ahead field goal late.
Honorable Mention
S Johnathan Abram — twice blew up screens by shedding a block. The second time he was flagged with an incredibly bad low block penalty that was neither low nor a block. He also had a pass breakup.
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