Raiders player grades – Page 2

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 7 loss to Bears

One of the tougher tasks I have occasionally had in the 16 years I’ve been doing this series is finding anything positive in a seemingly complete collapse. This was one of those times.

The hapless Bears jumped to a 14-0 lead in this game and never looked back. The Raiders couldn’t stop the Chicago offense led by undrafted rookie QB Tyson Bagent. Mostly because they couldn’t stop the ground game and found themselves on their heels all game long.

It was so bad that even the final score didn’t accurately reflect the disparity. The final six points was a garbage time score after they were down 30-6. And honestly we all knew once the Raiders went down 21-3 in the third quarter, that was the clincher. After all, the Raiders offense hadn’t broken the 20-point barrier all season, and they were clearly not going to do it on this day.

But, as we typically do, let’s start with the glimmer of good before we go to the myriad of bad.

Ballers

DE Maxx Crosby

The best all-around edge rusher in the NFL is often the exception for the Raiders. Nearly every week he is not just a Baller, but the Top Baller. Even if that isn’t all that difficult to do on this team.

The defense didn’t hold up well most of the game, but every time they did, Crosby was the reason why.

The day began on a high note. The Bears won the toss and made the rare decision to start on offense. Then the Raiders forced a three-and-out, which immediately put them at an advantage. That advantage was created because on second down, Crosby got pressure to set up Bilal Nichols to make a tackle for loss and the Bears couldn’t dig out of it.

Down 7-0 to begin the second quarter, the Bears began driving again, picking up a couple first downs. Then Crosby burst into the backfield, forcing a holding penalty on his man and the Bears once again could not overcome it and punted.

Down 14-3 late in the second quarter, the Bears were threatening again. They moved into Vegas territory at the 47 and would get no further. Crosby flew in for the sack to put them back in their own territory with seconds left and that ended that.

That was as close as the Raiders would get. Still within two scores. Unfortunately Crosby can’t do it all by himself and the Bears were able to extend their lead, while the offense not only couldn’t close the gap, but actually made it worse with a late pick-six to turn this one into a laugher.

WR Jakobi Meyers

The Raiders had three scoring drives in the game. The first one featured a heavy dose of Meyers. He caught four consecutive passes for a combined 34 yards to put the Raiders in scoring range.

The second scoring drive featured a catch my Meyers to convert on third-and-three and a four-yard catch on second-and-goal from the ten.

He would later catch the Raiders only touchdown in the game. Even if it was a meaningless one in garbage time.

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Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 6 win over Patriots

Raiders Week 6 Ballers & Busters in their win over Patriots

It’s honestly a wonder the Raiders now sit at .500. After losing three straight, they have put two wins together to pull to 3-3 on the season. Even though the offense has yet to score even 20 points in a game.

They have won their three games by a combined nine points with the offense topping out at 19 points on the season. Much of that is a factor of playing a few truly horrible teams with their wins coming against teams with just four wins combined.

But, hey, you beat the team in front of you and a win is a win. So, let’s look at this week’s best and worst performances, shall we.

Ballers

DE Maxx Crosby

Crosby wasn’t perfect in this game. His big mistake was a terrible roughing the passer penalty that set up the Patriots’ second TD which pulled them to within a field goal of the win. But when the Raiders needed him most, he once again stepped up and proved he is the glue holding this team together.

With the Patriots in third and 15 in the shadow of their own end zone, Crosby got into the backfield to sack Mac Jones for a safety and end the game. That makes up for any number of mistakes Crosby had before that.

And let’s not act like he was actually bad before that play. He was still the engine of that defense. He tied for the team lead with seven tackles and got to the quarterback at least twice along with a batted pass. He was the primary factor in at least three Patriots stalled drives, including getting a pressure that helped lead to the Pats only turnover.

DT Bilal Nichols

Crosby was credited for half the sack for a safety because Nichols came up the gut as well.

TE Michael Mayer

It was the coming out party for the Raiders’ second round rookie. Coming into the game he had just three catches on the season. He had that on the team’s first drive. The first three catches of the game went to Mayer for a total of 35 yards. Two of those catches were on third down and they went for an opening drive field goal.

The second scoring drive saw Mayer make a catch and break several tackles to pick up 32 yards on third and six. That drive went for a touchdown.

In the third quarter, Mayer had a seven-yard catch on third and seven that put the Raiders at the 11-yard-line, leading to a short field goal and a 16-10 lead,

WR Jakobi Meyers

Meyers played well against his former team, catching five passes for 61 yards and the Raiders’ only touchdown. Two plays before that, he made a six-yard catch on third and five to keep the drive alive and set his team up at the 13-yard-line.

Just prior to half time, Meyers had catches of 14 and 16 yards to put them in range of a short field goal and a 13-3 lead.

S Tre’von Moehrig

His big play was the interception late in the second quarter. The Patriots were driving and were in scoring range until Mac Jones rolled out right and lobbed a gift wrapped ball for Moehrig. The Raiders would score off the turnover just before the half.

Moehrig had a stellar game overall though. He only gave up one catch for seven yards in the game. He also made a run stuff at the line on first and goal from the three and later had a tackle on a catch for minimal gain.

Honorable Mention

K Daniel Carlson — scored 12 of the Raiders 21 points all on short field goals.

WR Tre Tucker — Had the longest completion in the game on a 48-yard bomb from Brian Hoyer to lead off the second half.

DT John Jenkins — Started a three-and-out in the third quarter with a sack that allowed the Raiders to score six unanswered points after the Patriots had pulled to within three.

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Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 5 win over Packers

Raiders Ballers & Busters in win over Packers

It was another nail-biter for the Raiders Monday Night, but this time they came out on top, finishing with a 17-13 win over the visiting Packers.

Just like the Raiders first win of the season, it was a low-scoring affair. This one featured four turnovers, with three of them coming via interceptions by the Raiders.

The Packers struck first with a long drive to go up 3-0 in the first quarter. Come the second quarter, the Raiders put together a hard-fought drive to go ahead 7-3 and added a field goal off their first takeaway to take a 10-3 lead at the half.

The Packers took one back early in the third quarter and took advantage of the short field to tie it up at 10-10. Then they got a huge 77-yard reception from Christian Watson, but couldn’t finish it off and went up 13-10 on a short field goal.

The goal-line stand by the Raiders defense inspired the Raiders offense and they put together their best drive of the game to go up 17-13. And that would prove to be the final score.

DE Maxx Crosby

Earning Defensive Player of the Week was a pretty good sign that Crosby was the Top Baller for the Raiders in this game.

Several drives he stopped almost single-handedly. He got a pressure that led to a run stuff on the first drive that ended a play later with a punt. Early in the second quarter, the Packers had a four-play drive, with Crosby making a run stop for a loss and a pressure that led to a two-yard catch.

Later in the second quarter, with the Raiders just having taken a 10-3 lead, he had another run stop for a loss and another pressure that led to an incompletion to force a three-and-out and give the Raiders another shot at scoring before the half. Then, just for good measure, he got one more pressure on the final play of the second quarter.

The Raiders came back to take the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter. And Crosby set out to keep it. The ensuing Packers drive made it to the Vegas 40-yard-line. Then Crosby broke through for a sack to back them up to the 47. In their attempt to get that yardage back, Jordan Love threw his second interception.

A quick three-and-out for the Raiders offense and Crosby and Co. were back on the field. No problem, Crosby returned the favor, getting pressure on a screen attempt to force an incompletion and laying a hit on Jordan Love that led to another incompletion.

LB Robert Spillane, CB Marcus Peters, CB Amik Robertson

The turnover crew. And for once, that’s a good thing for the Raiders.

Spillane got things started, when he read Jordan Love’s eyes on a pass in the second quarter, picking it off and returning it to the seven-yard-line. The Raiders offense was unable to do anything with it and settled for a field goal to go up 10-3.

Spillane got another one, this time off a pass breakup that was tipped in the air by Peters. It stopped a drive that had moved into Vegas territory as the Packers looked to either pull to within a point or take the lead.

Peters’s big day started before that, however, when he made a touchdown saving tackle off a 77-yard catch by Christian Watson. Peters was called for a horsecollar, but who cares. He gave the Raiders’ defense a chance and they held the line to keep the Packers out of the end zone.

Robertson was the one who gave up that 77-yard catch to Watson, but he got the last laugh when the 5-9 cornerback leapt high above the 6-4 receiver to make the game-sealing interception.

WR Jakobi Meyers

While the Packers made a point to try and take their former teammate Davante Adams out of the game, Meyers was the beneficiary.

On the Raiders’ first scoring drive, he had a ten-yard catch on third and five and the touchdown catch from nine yards out. He would help put them in scoring range again just before the half with an 18-yard sliding grab on third and ten, followed by a 16-yard catch. Unfortunately Daniel Carlson’s 53-yard field goal was blocked.

The team’s final scoring drive was kept alive with an eight-yard catch by Meyers on third and four. After that, the Raiders finally managed to get Adams involved and went for their second touchdown.

P AJ Cole

His first punt was a beauty that went 55 yards and bounced out of bounds at the seven-yard-line. His next punt was fair caught at the ten-yard-line. His third punt went 53 yards with a two-yard return to the 17. His final punt was also stopped at the 17-yard-line, which was the best field position the Packers had off of any of his punts in the game.

RB Josh Jacobs

Jacobs put up 89 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. A good portion of that came on two drives late in the game. He led off a drive late in the third quarter with a 24-yard run that began with a wicked dead leg fake out that left Jaire Alexander reaching at air. He added a six-yard run on the next play and would end up finishing off the drive with a touchdown run from two yards out.

His best play early on wasn’t even with him touching the ball. In fourth and one from the 16-yard-line, the Raiders ran a sweep with DeAndre Carter that was converted because Jacobs laid a big time block. They punched it in for the touchdown two plays later.

Late in the game, when they needed him most, he got the ball on six of seven plays for 29 yards of offense and put the Raiders in scoring range. But Carlson’s 52-yard field goal clanked off the right upright.

He had 63 yards of offense on those two drives alone, first to take the lead, and then to try and run clock and extend it.

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Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 4 loss to Chargers

Raiders Week 4 Ballers & Busters

It was a third straight loss for the Raiders in a game that most of the way didn’t even look close. Though the Raiders were able to make it interesting late, pulling one play away from a potential tie — they could not get over the hump and watched another one slip by them.

Ballers

DE Maxx Crosby

Crosby didn’t get the headlines because of Khalil Mack’s insane six-sack day, but the man who would eventually replace Mack with the Raiders had a good day as well. Crosby put up two sacks of his own and even led the Raiders in tackles.

RB Josh Jacobs

Easily his best game of the season. Jacobs led the team with eight catches for 81 yards for a total of 139 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown.

WR Davante Adams

He and Aidan O’Connell got off to a slow start in this one, but as the game went on, they got more acquainted. In the end, Adams nearly dragged the Raiders kicking and screaming back from the depth. Five of his eight catches came on the Raiders’ final two drives, including a 19-yard catch on fourth and ten that put them in first and goal at the three. O’Connell threw an interception on the next play.

S Tre’von Moehrig

Speaking of interceptions, the Raiders got their first of the season in this game. Moehrig had two chances at picking off a Justin Herbert pass. The first one was in the end zone and he got both hands on it, but was bumped in the air by the receiver and was unable to come up with it. But the next time he got a shot at it, he made the catch.

Unfortunately, a penalty on the return would make it the equivalent of a fair catch on a punt, but that wasn’t his fault. Had his return stood, he would’ve put the Raiders in great field position.

DT John Jenkins, DT Bilal Nichols

It was good to see a couple of the Raiders’ interior linemen do some good work. Jenkins tied for second on the team in tackles, many of which were for a loss or little to no gain. He also batted a pass down at the line. Nichols held up at the line to make the stop on two separate QB sneak attempts. His tackle on Justin Herbert on a scramble just short of the sticks set up a fourth and one stop and gave the Raiders’ offense one more chance to tie it.

P AJ Cole

Cole averaged 53.8 yards per punt on five punts. This included a 61-yard punt and a 70-yard punt that was downed at the five-yard-line.

FB Jakob Johnson

Johnson was laying blocks much like we saw a lot of last season, opening some sizable holes for Josh Jacobs to run through. This included a block downfield on a Jacobs catch, allowing him to go for 21 yards on third and 18. That set up a field goal to pull to within two scores.

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Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 2 loss to Bills

Raiders Week 2 Ballers & Busters

Safe to say this is one the Raiders would like to put behind them. But hopefully not before they try and learn from it. If there is anything to learn other than that they just can’t hang with a team like the Bills.

Things looked promising on the opening drive for the Raiders, just as they did in the opener in Denver. But it didn’t last long. A 7-0 lead in the first three minutes was a 21-10 deficit at the half and ended with a 38-10 demolition.

It’s hard to pinpoint much of anything that was actually working for the Raiders. Which should be pretty clear in this weeks Busters. But before we get to those details, let’s get the few Ballers out of the way.

Ballers

WR Davante Adams

As if often the case, Adams is a rare bright light in the darkness. He made a 16-yard back shoulder grab to convert the first third down of the game and then ended the opening drive by taking a screen pass 17 yards to the house.

The other scoring drive for the Raiders, Adams caught a 19-yard pass on third and 11 and later in the drive put the team in scoring range by breaking off his route and getting behind the DB to make a 21-yard catch.

He finished with six catches for 84 yards and a touchdown.

T Kolton Miller

He kept Garoppolo’s blind side protected all day and on the Adams touchdown screen, he got out wide to make the block.

S Marcus Epps

Epps did his best to stop to the Bills from scoring in the first quarter. He broke on a pass in the flat to stop it for a loss and two plays later made the stop on third down to bring up fourth and one. But as happened most of the day, the Bills converted it and went on to score anyway.

The one time in the game the Raiders were actually able to stop the Bills on fourth and short, Epps set it up by making the stop on a Josh Allen scramble at the goal line.

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Raiders 2022 season Ballers & Busters

Let’s put a bow on this: 2022 season Ballers & Busters

It’s time to wrap up this year’s Ballers & Busters. After 20 of these puppies this season (preseason and regular season) we tally up the 17 regular season games to recognize those who deserve credit for their body of work this season.

So, let’s get to it.

Ballers

WR Davante Adams

A remarkable 12 times Adams was a Baller this season. Three of those times, he was the Top Baller, including each of the final two weeks of the season. He led the league in receiving touchdowns (14) and finished the season third in the league in receiving yards (1516), setting a franchise record with eight 100-yard receiving games.

DE Maxx Crosby

Crosby was a Baller ten times this season and four times a Top Baller. And not once was a Buster. He was the only player on the defense that was consistently elite. The result was leading the league in tackles for loss (22), leading all edge rushers in tackles (88) and run stops (44), second in the league in QB hits (35), and third in pressures (81).

RB Josh Jacobs

The league’s rushing title holder, Jacobs was a Baller eight times, with half of those (four) being Top Ballers. He finished with 1653 yards on the season which was more than 100 yards ahead of runner-up Derrick Henry.

WR Mack Hollins

Eight times a Baller and a Top Baller once. Along with his career-best receiving season, he did great work as a blocker and a special teams gunner.

DE Chandler Jones

A slow start to the season gave way to a strong second half. In total, he was a Baller five times and was Top Baller three weeks in a row from Weeks 13-15.

K Daniel Carlson

Four times a Baller, but outstanding throughout the season, including hitting a record 11 field goals from outside 50 yards.

P AJ Cole

Thrice a Baller, which is pretty good for the guy no one wants to see. His 43.8 net yards per punt was a career-high. He had just one touchback all season while pinning the opponent inside the 20-yard line 26 times.

Honorable Mention

CB Tyler Hall — Joined the team midseason and showed some great instincts and playmaking ability, earning him three Baller nods and one Top Baller.

FB Jakob Johnson — Fullbacks don’t get a lot of pub, but he made some huge blocks to help spring Jacobs this season.

G Dylan Parham — A rough start while bouncing around to three different positions, but by midseason, he had found his footing and finished strong, thrice a Baller in the final eight games.

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Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 17 vs 49ers

Plenty of Ballers in this game, but more Busters led to another late collapse.

It was the first game of the post-Derek Carr era in Las Vegas. And not only did the offense not skip a beat, it looked better than it had all season long. Meanwhile the banged up defense look as bad as it had at any point this season.

Thus how the two teams went into overtime tied at 34 and the Raiders ultimately lost 37-34.

Ballers

QB Jarrett Stidham, WR Davante Adams

Stidham was perfect to start this game, driving the Raiders down the field for a touchdown on the opening drive while going three-for-three for 58 yards and a 24-yard touchdown pass to Darren Waller.

The second drive, Stidham got Adams involved. His first pass went to Adams who broke wide open for a 27-yard gain. A few plays later, Adams forced a pass interference to give the Raiders a first and goal at the five-yard-line. They would get to the one and settle for a field goal to go up 10-7.

Just before the half was up, the two had their first gorgeous connection. Stidham put it up along the left side of the end zone for Adams who caught it over a defender and tapped his toes for the touchdown to give the Raiders a 17-14 lead at the half.

A couple minutes into the third quarter, they connected again. Again it was for a touchdown. This time Stidham rolled out left and kept his eyes downfield with defenders closing in. All the while Adams was working to break open. Just as Stidham reached the left sideline and was about to get nailed, Adams got behind the defense and Stidham threw it to him for a 60-yard touchdown. Adams later said Stidham congratulated him on the sideline with blood in his teeth. Instant respect.

The 24-14 lead would disappear in the fourth quarter and become a 27-24 deficit. Then a 34-27 deficit with two minutes left. Then Stidham went back to work, first finding Mack Hollins for 21 yards, then throwing one up for Adams who made a spectacular adjustment and diving catch for 45 yards. A couple plays later, the Raiders tied it up at 34.

In the overtime period, Stidham dropped back and was hit as he threw, causing the ball to flutter and was picked off and returned to put the 49ers in position for the game-winner.

Stidham finished with 365 yards and three touchdowns. That’s the most passing yards by a Raiders quarterback since week 11 of the 2021 season. And matches Derek Carr’s highest TD total of any game in the past four years.

Adams had seven catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns. His second best game of the season.

CB Tyler Hall

The Top Baller from last week in Pittsburgh, Hall is showing up with some big time plays of late. He had two pass breakups in the fourth quarter that helped end drives. The first was on a deep ball near the goal line. The second was at the goal line on a pass that wasn’t even to his man. He just read Purdy’s eyes and came off his man to knock down a would-be touchdown pass to George Kittle. Hall also didn’t give up a catch on 26 snaps.

TE Foster Moreau, TE Darren Waller

Moreau rebounded from a rough game in Pittsburgh to be a reliable target and blocker in this one. Waller looked to be back to his old self as well.

The first play of the game went to Moreau on a swing pass that went for 20 yards. The final play of that drive, Stidham again rolled right, this time dropping one in for Waller who had gotten behind the defense for the touchdown.

Waller’s stat line was interesting. He had three catches for 72 yards. That’s an average of 24 yards per catch. But in actually, his three catches all literally went for exactly 24 yards each.

Moreau’s second catch came in the fourth quarter. Stidham threw for him with the defender’s back turned and Moreau reached over the defender’s back and pulled the pass in for 21 yards. Two plays later, he caught one over the middle for 14 yards to set up a long field goal to tie the game at 27-27.

The 49ers answered with a touchdown to go up 34-27. Then it was Waller getting open in the end zone to force a pass interference that put them in first and goal at the one and another game-tying score.

K Daniel Carlson

Without Carlson’s big leg, this game doesn’t get to overtime. He came in and split the uprights on a 57-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. What a weapon he is.

Honorable Mention

CB Amik Robertson — Climbing the ladder to take a ball away from George Kittle is no small thing. That’s what Robertson did to give the Raiders their only takeaway of the game.

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Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 15 vs Patriots

The good and the bad for the Raiders from a crazy rollercoaster of a game vs the Patriots

You rarely see a team shoot themselves in the foot and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as much as the Patriots did in Las Vegas on Sunday. And even with all the self-mutilation they did in this game, they still managed to make a comeback from 14 points down to lead the Raiders 24-17 with under two minutes left in the game.

That blowing double-digit leads thing is the Raiders’ MO this season. And it was only because of the final utterly inexplicably boneheaded decision to try a double lateral at the end of the game that the Raiders were able to win this one in regulation.

Ballers

DE Chandler Jones

Jones was the recipient of the ‘Right place at the right time’ award on that final play. He had missed the initial tackle on Rhamondre Stevenson that led to a big run which, for a moment, looked like he could go the distance. Everyone expected that last play to be stopped and the two teams to go to OT. But Stevenson lateraled it to Jacoby Meyers at the last instant.

That lateral wasn’t the big mistake. That came when Meyers decided to try and lateral it AGAIN, this time attempting to throw it way back to the entirely not athletic Mac Jones. Well, the lateral was complete to Jones, all right. It was just the wrong Jones. Then Chandler planted Mac with a stiff arm and took it back for the game-winning touchdown. Never seen anything like it.

Jones also had a pressure resulting in an incompletion two plays before that and made a run stop at the line on the previous possession leading to a crucial three-and-out. Earlier in the quarter, he hit Mac Jones from behind on third down to force the Pats to settle for a long field goal. All in all, a strong finish for Chandler.

CB Tyler Hall

He played 43 snaps (66%) and the only catch he gave up, he stopped in its tracks for four yards. He also had a big pass breakup on a deep pass to stop the Patriots’ first drive of the third quarter.

DE Malcolm Koonce

It’s not the number of snaps you have, but rather what you do with them. With 27 seconds left in the second quarter, Koonce came in on the punt team and streaked in to block the punt and give the Raiders the ball at the New England 20-yard-line. What looked like two teams that were headed for the locker room with the Raiders leading 10-3, would end up a scoring opportunity on which the Raiders were able to capitalize.

QB Derek Carr, WR Mack Hollins

The first touchdown drive for the Raiders came early in the second quarter. On the drive, Carr completed a 19-yard pass to Keelan Cole on third and nine and finished off the drive with a perfect pass over the middle for a 25-yard connection with Darren Waller.

After the punt block, Hollins made the first catch for 11 yards. He then drew an illegal contact penalty on the next play. Then in first and goal from the five-yard-line, Carr put the ball into a tight window, at Hollins’s knee level and he made the grab for the touchdown to give the Raiders a 17-3 lead at the half.

A Carr pick-six saw the Raiders lead cut to 17-10. Then they were unable to get back on track on the next drive. But Hollins would do his part to tilt the field. AJ Cole launched a 47-yard punt to the goal line where Hollins was waiting to down it at the two-yard line.

Ultimately the Raiders’ lead would disappear, giving way to a 24-17 Patriots lead with under three minutes remaining.

Carr would look to Hollins again. The first pass was overthrown and the Raiders went three-and-out. However, had Darren Waller not been in the wrong area and tried to catch the pass intended for Adams, that looked like it would have been a long touchdown catch and run.

Carr and Hollins got another shot with two minutes left in the game. Carr overthrew Hollins again on third down. But, the next play, on their last possible chance, Carr hit Hollins on a comeback route for 12 yards. They thought the play was so nice, they did it twice to the same result.

A few plays later, Carr found Keelan Cole for a 30-yard touchdown. It didn’t look like Cole actually got both feel inbounds, but Carr’s pass was where it needed to be and the officials saw no definitive evidence to overturn it so the score was tied at 24-24.

Honorable Mention

RB Josh Jacobs — He had ten touches for 61 yards on the Raiders’ first two scoring drives and finished with 93 yards on 22 carries (4.2 yards per carry).

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Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 14 vs Rams

We look at the Ballers & Busters for Raiders in their Thursday Night loss to the Rams

Coming off a full team win over the Chargers last week, the Raiders came in feeling pretty good about themselves against a banged up Rams team that had lost six straight. And the old collapsing Raiders showed up.

A 13-3 halftime lead gave way to a scoreless third quarter and a late comeback win by Baker Mayfield and the Rams. And thus both teams’ streaks came to an end on Thursday night in Los Angeles.

Ballers

DE Maxx Crosby, DE Chandler Jones

Jones answered the question as to whether his three-sack game last week was a one-off. It wasn’t. He had another big week as did Crosby. Though Crosby usually does.

Crosby ended the Rams’ first possession with a tackle for loss on an end around on third-and-one for a three-and-out.

Leading 13-3 in the second quarter, Crosby had another tackle for loss and on the next play closed off the outside, leading to another tackle for loss. Two plays later, the Rams were at the Vegas 23-yard-line where Chandler Jones punched the ball out of Cam Akers’s hands and then recovered the fumble himself.

The Raiders held the Rams scoreless in the third thanks in large part to Crosby and Jones getting pressure from both sides to force an incompletion and the the two of them teaming up for a sack.

On the two drives to win the game for the Rams, Crosby looked to be held several times, but none were called. Jones was held at least once that was called and had a QB hit on an incompletion. And the two of them again teamed up for a sack.

Can’t blame these two for the collapse. They were playing their hearts out all the way to the bitter end.

K Daniel Carlson

After scoring a touchdown on their opening drive, the rest of the way for the Raiders it was Carlson. He connected on a 52-yard field goal and two others. You just wanted to see probably a TD instead of a field goal on at least one of them. Or perhaps one more field goal, but that’s not on Carlson. He did his job.

P AJ Cole

Speaking of players you’d like to have seen less of…AJ Cole. No offense to him. He knows no one wants to see him take the field. But we did see him. And he showed he’s a weapon. He had two punts downed inside the 20, including a 64-yarder that was downed at the two-yard-line prior to the final drive by the Rams. Literally nothing more he could have done to try and keep the Rams from driving for the win than to force them to go 98 yards to do it.

WR Davante Adams

Adams made one of the most unreal catches on the opening drive. First pass of the game, with Jalen Ramsey all over him. Ramsey literally holding one of his arms down and putting his other hand over Adams’ eyes, Adams still made a ridiculous one-handed grab for 32 yards. That set up the TD on the opening drive.

Later, he caught a 35-yard pass in which he waited to the last instant to snatch the pass to Ramsey was unable to bat it away. That one should’ve set up another score, if not for Derek Carr throwing an interception in the end zone.

Adams even laid a couple nice blocks in the game. Too bad he was abandoned in the second half.

WR Mack Hollins

Hollins did most of his damage on the ground, taking three end-arounds for a total of 40 yards. He also had a couple of catches in which he found the soft spot in the zone and sat in it nicely.

LT Kolton Miller, LG Dylan Parham

The left side of the Raiders line was secure in this one. Miller didn’t allow much in the way of pressure while Parham did work in the run game. He even twice forced his man to be flagged for illegal hands to the face to try and keep from being blocked.

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Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 13 vs Chargers

Plenty of Ballers for Raiders in their solid all-around win over the Chargers

Easily the Raiders most impressive win of the season. And not just despite their two turnovers in the first quarter, but in part because of how they responded to them.

They kept believing in themselves and fought their way back into it to tie it up in the second quarter. Then got a takeaway of their own along with two big scores and stole the momentum to pull out the 27-20 victory.

Ballers

DE Chandler Jones

It was Jones’s coming out party. He had a half-sack coming in and exploded with three sacks. But he did a lot more than just put up sacks.

Jones looked to have ended the first Chargers possession with a three-and-out when he made the tackle in Justin Herbert’s scramble to stop it short of the first down. The Chargers ran a successful fake punt to give themselves a few more plays, but couldn’t pick up another first down and punted anyway.

The next Chargers drive didn’t yield a first down. They went for it on fourth and two and Jones again made the stop on the Herbert scramble to stop it short of the sticks.

His first sack ended the Chargers’ next possession, forcing them to settle for a field goal. And he would have two more sacks before the end of the first half while getting the pressure around the edge that led to a fourth sack. He later had a batted ball on third and 12 to force the Chargers to go for it on 4th and 12.

WR Davante Adams

The Raiders’ first scoring drive began with Adams making a catch on a zero route in the left flat and running for 12 yards. It moved into LA territory when Adams got open for a 19-yard catch to the 44-yard line.

Off the takeaway in the third quarter, Carr threw the ball for Adams on the first play. The ball was inside and low with Asante Samuel in his face and Adams still made the catch for the 31-yard touchdown.

The next time the Raiders got the ball, Adams got open on the flea-flicker. The safety opted to cover Mack Hollins deep so Carr launched it for Adams and the result was a 45-yard touchdown.

The final Raiders scoring drive had Adams make a three-yard catch on third and two, and a 16-yard catch. Carr threw for him for the touchdown, but the ball was knocked down and the Raiders settled for a field goal to take a 27-13 lead.

With the Chargers having pulled it to a one-score game at 27-20, Adams made a 15-yard grab to give the Raiders a fresh set of downs to burn more clock. That was his final catch to give him 177 yards and two touchdowns on eight catches.

RB Josh Jacobs

Jacobs averaged 5.5 yards per carry in this game. And it wasn’t because he broke one while getting stopped for short yardage on most of the others. He was simply earning every yard all game long.

It didn’t start great or Jacobs. He fumbled a catch in the first quarter which he and the Raiders were lucky didn’t end up yielding any points for the Chargers.

Things got going for Jacobs in the second quarter. With the Raiders at the LA 29-yard-line, Jacobs broke a tackle in the backfield and took a run for nine yards. He got the ball again on the next play and it looked very much like the one he broke last week to beat the Seahawks in overtime. The only difference was he had just 20 yards to the end zone this time.

The Raiders’ third touchdown off the flea-flicker was set up by Jacobs having made a savvy run for 13 yards on the previous play. With the defense now preparing for him, Josh McDaniels called for the okeydoke and it worked like a charm just as it had last week. Paydirt.

On the next drive, Jacobs had runs of six, nine, 15, and nine to put the Raiders in scoring position and they took a 27-13 lead. Jacobs would finish with 144 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries.

CB Nate Hobbs, S Duron Harmon

Hobbs’s return was noticeable. He is the Raiders’ top cornerback every time he steps foot on the field. And he brings energy on every play.

He began coming up big for the Raiders at the end of the second quarter when he had tight coverage to force an incompletion on third down.

On the second play of the third quarter, Austin Ekeler took a screen pass and picked up good yards. But at the end of that run, Harmon punched the ball out. And after exchanging hands a few times — mostly Raiders defenders — it was Hobbs who finally fell on it to give the Raiders possession at the LA 31. The Adams touchdown pass followed.

After the game, Hobbs was asked about the fumble recovery and he was told it was Harmon. “Of course,” he responded.

With 2:48 left in the game, the Chargers lined up in 4th and nine needing a touchdown to tie it. Herbert went deep for DeAndre Carter, but Nate Hobbs was right there in tight coverage and Carter couldn’t make the catch, essentially ending the Chargers’ chances of tying the game up.

LT Kolton Miller, LG Dylan Parham, C Andre James, RG Alex Bars, RT Jermaine Eluemunor

The entire Raiders offensive line deserves credit for their work in this game. They gave up no sacks and no run stops for negative yards.

Several times, Derek Carr had all day in the pocket to find his receiver. And it was a big reason he had four passes over 30 yards and a 19-yard completion.

DE Maxx Crosby, DT Jerry Tillery

Crosby and Chandler Jones were both getting good pressure around the edges. Helping those pressures lead to sacks was Tillery. The former Chargers’ top pick was clearly energized to face his old team.

The first play of the game saw Crosby get the right edge to hit Herbert’s arm as he threw to force a fumble. It was recovered by the Chargers.

Two plays later, on the first third down of the game for the Chargers, Tillery flushed Justin Herbert from the pocket and Jones made the tackle on the scramble short of the first down.

After the successful fake field punt, Tillery and Crosby made short work of their new set of downs. They both got pressure to force an incompletion on first down and then did it again on third down, with Tillery getting a good hit on Herbert as well.

In the third quarter, Matthew Butler and Clelin Ferrell shared a sack. That sack was made possible because Tillery kept Herbert from escaping the pocket.

As often happens, Crosby only got better as the game went along. Come the fourth quarter, on three consecutive plays, he had a QB hit for an incompletion, a tackle on a run which he chased down way out in the right flat. and a pressure on a short catch.

WR Mack Hollins

Early in the second quarter, the Raiders were driving and found themselves in third and nine from the Chargers’ 43-yard-line. Then Carr found Hollins for 14 yards. Two plays later Josh Jacobs took the handoff on the right side of the line and, behind blocks from Hollins and Jakob Johnson, went 20 yards for the touchdown.

Come the third quarter, the Raiders went up 24-13 and got the ball back after a missed field goal. On the first play, Jacobs went for 13 yards behind another Hollins downfield block.

The next play was the flea-flicker. It was the same set up as last week when Hollins was wide open for the score. Only this time Hollins drew the safety on his go route which left Adams in single coverage. The result was the same. Touchdown.

Had Carr seen Hollins wide open in the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter, the Raiders would have taken a 31-13 lead. But he threw for Adams and the ball was knocked away so they settled for a field goal.

HC Josh McDaniels, DC Patrick Graham

They catch plenty of grief (including from myself) for their performances, so it’s only fitting they be recognized when things go right.

McDaniels made some pretty great play calls on offense and a week after the defense saw some serious lapses in coverage, to give up 34 points, they came out in this one and had their best performance of the season.

Honorable Mention

S Isaiah Pola-Mao — Came on the blitz several times, resulting in a sack, two QB hits, and a tackle for loss. He had six tackles in just 13 snaps. That’s efficient.

FB Jakob Johnson — Was doing his usual dirty work clearing potential tacklers from Josh Jacobs’s path. That includes the 20-yard touchdown run and a 15-yard run to set up the Raiders’ final score.

Busters

None

There simply wasn’t a performance that sunk to the level of a Buster. A respectable performance all around for the Raiders in this game.

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