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Raiders 2023 Season Busters
While the Raiders may have ended the season with a good feeling overall, they ended it with a meaningless game. Being unable to reach .500 and knocked out of the playoffs before the end of the season obviously means a few things went wrong.
We covered the top performances in the Ballers. Now let’s get to the bad news with our Busters.
CB Jack Jones played majority of snaps vs Chiefs replacing Marcus Peters
It’s been less than two weeks since the Raiders claimed Jack Jones off waivers from the New England Patriots. And Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, he was thrust into every down duties.
Jones didn’t get the start. That went to Marcus Peters who had started every game this season at right outside cornerback for the Raiders. But after just 20 snaps, Peters was yanked from the game and Jones was inserted.
Peters didn’t return to the game and has since reportedly been cut. While Jones ended up playing 67% of the snaps (40).
The only cornerbacks who played more snaps were starters Amik Robertson and Nate Hobbs.
| Offense | Spec Tms | ||||
| Player | Pos | Num | Pct | Num | Pct |
| Greg Van Roten | G | 58 | 100% | 4 | 15% |
| Dylan Parham | G | 58 | 100% | 4 | 15% |
| Jermaine Eluemunor | T | 58 | 100% | 4 | 15% |
| Davante Adams | WR | 58 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Aidan O’Connell | QB | 58 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Andre James | C | 58 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Kolton Miller | T | 53 | 91% | 3 | 12% |
| Jakobi Meyers | WR | 53 | 91% | 0 | 0% |
| Michael Mayer | TE | 49 | 84% | 4 | 15% |
| Josh Jacobs | RB | 44 | 76% | 0 | 0% |
| Hunter Renfrow | WR | 28 | 48% | 0 | 0% |
| Austin Hooper | TE | 24 | 41% | 0 | 0% |
| Tre Tucker | WR | 13 | 22% | 4 | 15% |
| Ameer Abdullah | RB | 12 | 21% | 13 | 50% |
| DeAndre Carter | WR | 7 | 12% | 10 | 38% |
| Justin Herron | T | 5 | 9% | 1 | 4% |
| Zamir White | RB | 2 | 3% | 17 | 65% |
| Defense | Spec Tms | ||||
| Player | Pos | Num | Pct | Num | Pct |
| Nate Hobbs | CB | 60 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Robert Spillane | LB | 60 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Tre’von Moehrig | FS | 60 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Amik Robertson | CB | 50 | 83% | 5 | 19% |
| Marcus Epps | SS | 50 | 83% | 0 | 0% |
| Maxx Crosby | DE | 49 | 82% | 0 | 0% |
| Divine Deablo | LB | 48 | 80% | 0 | 0% |
| Jack Jones | CB | 40 | 67% | 4 | 15% |
| Bilal Nichols | DT | 37 | 62% | 5 | 19% |
| John Jenkins | DT | 35 | 58% | 5 | 19% |
| Jerry Tillery | DT | 29 | 48% | 5 | 19% |
| Tyree Wilson | DE | 28 | 47% | 5 | 19% |
| Adam Butler | DT | 28 | 47% | 4 | 15% |
| Malcolm Koonce | DE | 26 | 43% | 7 | 27% |
| Marcus Peters | CB | 20 | 33% | 0 | 0% |
| Malik Reed | LB | 16 | 27% | 11 | 42% |
| Luke Masterson | LB | 10 | 17% | 22 | 85% |
| Isaiah Pola-Mao | FS | 10 | 17% | 17 | 65% |
| Janarius Robinson | DE | 3 | 5% | 1 | 4% |
| Tyler Hall | CB | 1 | 2% | 4 | 15% |
| Special Teams | Spec Tms | ||||
| Player | Pos | Num | Pct | Num | Pct |
| Brandon Bolden | RB | 0 | 0% | 22 | 85% |
| Curtis Bolton | LB | 0 | 0% | 22 | 85% |
| Christopher Smith | SS | 0 | 0% | 19 | 73% |
| Jesper Horsted | TE | 0 | 0% | 17 | 65% |
| DJ Turner | WR | 0 | 0% | 17 | 65% |
| Daniel Carlson | K | 0 | 0% | 8 | 31% |
| Jacob Bobenmoyer | LS | 0 | 0% | 7 | 27% |
| AJ Cole III | P | 0 | 0% | 7 | 27% |
| Jordan Meredith | G | 0 | 0% | 4 | 15% |
| Thayer Munford | T | 0 | 0% | 4 | 15 |
Raiders release CB Marcus Peters day after benching
You pretty much knew the moment Marcus Peters didn’t take the field just before half time against the Chiefs that it was a big deal. The veteran cornerback had started every game this season, hadn’t missed many snaps this season, including playing every snap the previous two weeks. And he didn’t appear to be injured, yet was yanked from the game in favor of recently signed Jack Jones.
Interim head coach Antonio Pierce confirmed following the game that Peters being pulled was not injury related. That it was “coach’s decision”.
Hours later, Peters was released according to Vic Tafur of the Athletic.
Breaking: The Raiders have released CB Marcus Peters. He had a interception return for a TD in Week 8, but was benched last night. The move saves the team $1.5 million in incentives that Peters was on pace to earn.
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) November 27, 2023
Peters had become well known for his poor tackle attempts this season. He always appeared contact averse, instead constantly looking to pick the ball off or rip it out. He was only successful at taking the ball away once and gave up a whole lot more catches and missed tackles, so it seemed hardly worth it.
Peters will be subject to waivers.
Raiders CB Marcus Peters yanked before half time vs Chiefs and didn’t return
Sunday was the first time Marcus Peters has faced the team that drafted him since he joined their division rival Raiders. And that reunion lasted less than a half of football.
The only reason Raiders interim head coach Antonio Pierce would give was “Coach’s decision”.
That reasoning rules out Peters being pulled from the game for injury reasons and leaves it to either his play or his attitude.
I pressed him to offer more details on exactly why he made that decision and he simply repeated “Coach’s decision”.
Peters spent the entire second half standing on the sideline without his helmet and instead sporting a beanie, which suggested he knew he wasn’t getting back in the game.
Peters was replaced at right outside cornerback by Jack Jones who the team claimed off waivers from the Patriots two weeks ago.
The Raiders were still up 14-7 when Peters was pulled from the game, so it’s hard to say what exactly happened that triggered Pierce to yank Peters, but it must have been pretty serious in his eyes.
Peters has started all 11 games this season and seven times played every single snap, including each of the previous two weeks. You’d have to wonder if this benching could be more than just sending a message.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 10 win over Jets
The way this one played out was pretty much exactly as everyone expected. In the lead up to the game, I basically kept thinking to myself ‘first to 16 wins’. That’s because ain’t nobody was gonna be scoring more than one touchdown and if either team did, that would be the deciding factor.
That team was the Raiders, who beat the Jets 16-12.
Even if you remove his late game clutch interception, Spillane might still have been the best player in this contest. And that’s saying a lot.
Spillane was on a mission. At least four times in this game, plays he made were the deciding factor in stopping a Jets’ drive.
Come the second quarter, the Jets had scored on their first three possessions to go up 9-3. Thanks to Spillane, they wouldn’t score again until the fourth quarter.
Their next three possessions ended with Spillane making the play. A run stuff for no gain on third and two, a sack on second and two, and forcing a hold on third and 21 then making the stop on third and 22.
Then with the Jets within four at 16-12 and driving late in the fourth quarter, he stepped in front of the Zach Wilson pass for his third interception of the season. This one with a cast on his right hand. Unbelievable.
It was a back-and-forth game with the Raiders failing to take the lead once in the first three quarters. That ended on the first play of the fourth quarter when Aidan O’Connell escaped pressure and put a ball up high where only Mayer could get it and Mayer leapt in the air, plucking it from over the top of the defender to the go-ahead score.
It was Mayer’s first touchdown as a pro and it was a beauty. And in a game like this, it proved to be enough to get the W.
This game started poorly for the Raiders, with a 41-yard catch and run that put them in scoring range. It would go no further thanks to Crosby. He flew in for what should be credited as a sack. And when I say that, I think a rule change is in order, which states that if you have the player wrapped up and he is flagged for intentional grounding, that should be a sack. For the purposes of the game, it was the same. The Jets lost ten yards and a down and couldn’t make it back up, settling for a field goal.
It was big plays on each drive that put the Jets in scoring range. Their third one came off of an interception and moved them into first and goal at the three. A touchdown here may have been devastating in a game this close. So, Crosby wrecked it. He forced a holding penalty that backed them up to the 13. Then was in on the run stop on second and goal and the Jets would settle for a third field goal.
Jenkins had a run stuff on the Jets’ first drive. Tillery upended the second drive when he forced a holding penalty. Butler ended the third drive on third and goal when he batted the ball down at the line.
The next possession, Jenkins had another run stuff for no gain. Then the drive after that, he got one of his big mitts on a pass to bat it at the line. Come the third quarter, Butler had a tackle for loss on a three-and-out.
The first drive of the fourth quarter ended with Tillery getting all the way out to the left boundary to help Divine Deablo lead Zach Wilson out of bounds to end the drive. And on the Spillane interception, it was Tillery who got around his man to get pressure in Wilson’s face and force the throw.
His two fumbles in the game really had me thinking whether he deserved to be on this list. In the end I decided that because his hard running was such a key factor in the Raiders scoring 16 points in the first place, he deserved more credit than blame.
His first fumble came on the tail end of a 40-yard burst and it bounced out of bounds. The run put the Raiders at the 13-yard-line. The next play he ran for five yards to the eight. Two plays later, they scored the touchdown.
In the early going, yards were tough to come by for Jacobs against a stout Jets defensive front. Even so, his running was a major factor in several scoring drives. Their second scoring drive came near the end of the second quarter and featured runs of six yards and eight yards — both of which the Raiders made the first down on the next play.
The third scoring drive saw Jacobs convert a third and two and a fourth and one along with the longest play of the drive that went for 12 yards on a catch in the left flat. That drive tied the game at 9-9.
Just prior to his lost fumble late in the fourth, Jacobs showed he is still a strong runner late in games, when broke several tackles and carried defenders the final five yards of a seven-yard first down run. He also had a nine-yard run and converted on third and one on that drive.
Jacobs finished with 116 yards rushing — his first time going over 100 yards this season — and added two catches for 11 yards.
The Jets have the man once known at ‘Greg the Leg’ and ‘Legatron’. And the Raiders have the best in the game today in Carlson. Both kickers were doing work in this one, with Carlson splitting them from 40, 41, and 54 yards.
WR DeAndre Carter — Had a 32-yard kick return to the Jets 45 that helped lead to the game-tying field goal. Later had a 15-yard run on fourth and one.
Raiders vs Jets final injury report: LT Kolton Miller Doubtful, CB Marcus Peters Questionable
It looks like the Raiders will be without their starting left tackle Sunday when the Jets come to town. After missing the entire week of practices with a shoulder injury, Kolton Miller has been officially listed as Doubtful for the game.
LT Kolton Miller is Doubtful. CB Marcus Peters is Questionable for #Raiders vs #Jets pic.twitter.com/X96ZxtmeXY
— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) November 10, 2023
The Raiders have a couple options to replace Miller at left tackle. They could move right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor over there which would mean Thayer Munford would start at right tackle. Or they could leave Eluemunor at right tackle and start Justin Herron at left tackle.
“Part of our process here the last couple of days is just ‘next man up’ mentality,” said interim head coach Antonio Pierce. “So, if it isn’t Kolton Miller, it’ll be the next gentleman up. Obviously, everybody’s been practicing the right way, so if that comes to fruition and we have to move on from Kolton to somebody else, we’re not going to blink, and they’re not going to blink. And we expect him to do the exact same job Kolton Miller does. And when Kolton Miller goes in here, and he’s in there, he’s going be Kolton Miller. So, we’re fine. No panic. Nobody’s over here worried about what’s going to happen with Kolton if he’s in or not.”
Technically speaking, the ‘next man up’ would be Justin Herron as he is listed as the backup left tackle on the team’s website.
Other Raiders whose status is uncertain include CB Marcus Peters and FB Jakob Johnson. Both are Questionable for the game.
The Jets will be without a couple tackles as well with Billy Turner and Duane Brown both officially OUT.
T Kolton Miller, CB Marcus Peters both miss practice Wednesday
Wednesday the Raiders took the practice field preparing for their attempt at an encore against the other New York City team. And they did so with a few important players.
Most notably, they were without left tackle Kolton Miller with a shoulder injury. They were also without CB Marcus Peters with a knee injury.
Still not practicing were LB Divine Deablo (ankle) and FB Jakob Johnson (concussion).
T Kolton Miller (shoulder) and CB Marcus Peters (knee) both missed pracfice today for #Raiders pic.twitter.com/U1OehHOn1G
— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) November 8, 2023
The Jets were without LB Chaz Surratt and T Billy Turner.
Amik Robertson leads Raiders CBs in snaps vs Giants
Interim head coach Antonio Pierce decided this week that Robertson would be the starter on the outside opposite Marcus Peters. Then Robertson went out and earned it while leading all cornerbacks with 52 snaps (83%).
As a cornerback, you don’t often have a stat line better than the one Amik Robertson had Sunday against the Giants. First and foremost, he had a huge interception at the goal line in the second quarter. He returned it to the 40-yard-line and the Raiders took advantage by going for a touchdown.
Robertson also had two pass breakups and a forced fumble and was tied for fourth on the team with three solo tackles.
| Offense | Spec Tms | ||||
| Player | Pos | Num | Pct | Num | Pct |
| Greg Van Roten | G | 60 | 100% | 6 | 25% |
| Kolton Miller | T | 60 | 100% | 6 | 25% |
| Jermaine Eluemunor | T | 60 | 100% | 6 | 25% |
| Dylan Parham | G | 60 | 100% | 6 | 25% |
| Andre James | C | 60 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Aidan O’Connell | QB | 60 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Michael Mayer | TE | 53 | 88% | 6 | 25% |
| Davante Adams | WR | 53 | 88% | 0 | 0% |
| Jakobi Meyers | WR | 49 | 82% | 0 | 0% |
| Josh Jacobs | RB | 47 | 78% | 0 | 0% |
| Austin Hooper | TE | 29 | 48% | 0 | 0% |
| Tre Tucker | WR | 28 | 47% | 7 | 29% |
| Hunter Renfrow | WR | 13 | 22% | 0 | 0% |
| DeAndre Carter | WR | 9 | 15% | 6 | 25% |
| Ameer Abdullah | RB | 8 | 13% | 18 | 75% |
| Zamir White | RB | 5 | 8% | 14 | 58% |
| DJ Turner | WR | 3 | 5% | 18 | 75% |
| Jesper Horsted | TE | 1 | 2% | 18 | 75% |
| Netane Muti | G | 1 | 2% | 6 | 25% |
| Justin Herron | T | 1 | 2% | 0 | 0% |
| Defense | Spec Tms | ||||
| Player | Pos | Num | Pct | Num | Pct |
| Maxx Crosby | DE | 63 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Robert Spillane | LB | 63 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Tre’von Moehrig | FS | 63 | 100% | 0 | 0% |
| Marcus Epps | SS | 62 | 98% | 0 | 0% |
| Amik Robertson | CB | 52 | 83% | 3 | 12% |
| Nate Hobbs | CB | 50 | 79% | 0 | 0% |
| Marcus Peters | CB | 48 | 76% | 0 | 0% |
| Jerry Tillery | DT | 37 | 59% | 0 | 0% |
| Amari Burney | LB | 32 | 51% | 9 | 38% |
| Tyree Wilson | DE | 32 | 51% | 0 | 0% |
| Bilal Nichols | DT | 31 | 49% | 0 | 0% |
| Jakorian Bennett | CB | 26 | 41% | 1 | 4% |
| Jaylon Smith | LB | 25 | 40% | 0 | 0% |
| Malcolm Koonce | DE | 24 | 38% | 11 | 46% |
| Adam Butler | DT | 24 | 38% | 6 | 25% |
| John Jenkins | DT | 23 | 37% | 0 | 0% |
| Nesta Jade Silvera | DT | 16 | 25% | 0 | 0% |
| Isaiah Pola-Mao | FS | 11 | 17% | 18 | 75% |
| Malik Reed | LB | 8 | 13% | 5 | 21% |
| Tyler Hall | CB | 3 | 5% | 4 | 17% |
| Special Teams | Spec Tms | ||||
| Player | Pos | Num | Pct | Num | Pct |
| Brandon Bolden | RB | 0 | 0% | 18 | 75% |
| Curtis Bolton | LB | 0 | 0% | 18 | 75% |
| Christopher Smith | SS | 0 | 0% | 13 | 54% |
| Daniel Carlson | K | 0 | 0% | 13 | 54% |
| AJ Cole III | P | 0 | 0% | 11 | 46% |
| Jacob Bobenmoyer | LS | 0 | 0% | 11 | 46% |
| Jordan Meredith | G | 0 | 0% | 6 | 25% |
Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 8 loss vs Lions
Every week seems to be worse than the last for these Raiders. Which is saying a lot considering how terrible they looked last week in Chicago.
This week they were in Detroit against a much better team. And they were thoroughly outclassed and outcoached en route to a Lions 26-14 win.
Despite three takeaways, the offense Raiders never led.
They were down 9-0 early on. The Raiders had an improbable touchdown drive in the game. Improbable considering they did absolutely nothing on offense the rest of the game. The Raiders twice pulled to within two points, but both Raiders scores were immediately answered with a touchdown drive by the Lions.
Crosby’s place atop the Ballers is becoming like the RSTLNE on Wheel of Fortune. It’s the given.
Crosby flew in to make a tackle for no gain on a run that put the Lions in third and long on their first drive and they settled for a field goal. Later in the first quarter, he forced Jared Goff to step up in the pocket where he was hit and threw incomplete. They couldn’t pick up the third and long and punted. One of just two Lions punts in the game.
He wasn’t fooled on an end around in the second quarter lay a big hit on Jameson Williams that knocked his helmet off for a six-yard loss. The Lions would settle for another field goal to make it a 9-0 lead. He had another run stuff for no gain to start the next drive.
The first drive of the third quarter for the Lions, Crosby had a run stuff at the line and later ripped the ball out inside the four-yard-line to keep the Lions from putting the game away. They would ultimately put the game away, but Crosby’s efforts kept the Raiders in it until the fourth quarter.
To lead out the second quarter, the Lions were in scoring position again. They would line up in second and goal from the 16 and Butler made a run stop for a two-yard loss to put them in third and goal from the 18. They couldn’t pick it up and settled for another field goal.
The next drive, on third and nine from the 15, Butler batted down a pass at the line, and the Lions settled for a third field goal. He added a QB hit for an incompletion in the third quarter.
He finally got one. After going for the pick or the strip at the expense of making the tackle in the first seven games, Peters finally got an interception. And as he has done six times previously in his career, Peters took that pick and returned it for a touchdown. He went 75 yards for that score too, scoring as many points all by himself as the entire offense did.
