Raiders Studs and Duds – Page 2

Ballers for Raiders Week 8 loss to Chiefs

Plucking out the good and bad performances in the Raiders’ Week 8 loss to Chiefs.

Missed opportunities was a recurring theme for the Raiders in this one. Every time they either created one or had one handed to them, they failed to capitalize. Some were just the Chiefs being the Chiefs. Others were the Raiders being the Raiders.

Ballers

WR Jakobi Meyers

His influence on the offense was obvious from the jump. He converted the first third down of the game on a 12-yard catch. And then scored the touchdown at the end of that drive as the Raiders tied it up.

The second scoring drive, Meyers had a 17-yard catch to put them in field goal range and a 54-yard Daniel Carlson field goal put the Raiders up 10-7.

The third quarter, the Raiders got their third score off a DJ Turner punt return with a late hit penalty tacked on. Meyers did his part to take advantage of the field position with a six-yard catch to led things off and an 11-yard catch on third-and-nine that put the Raiders in first and goal. Unfortunately that’s where the drive stalled, so they added a field goal to make it a 17-13 Chiefs lead.

Meyers led the Raiders in catches with six for 52 yards and a touchdown.

DE Tyree Wilson

Nice to see him show up here for just the third time in his two-year career and the first time this season. Not coincidentally, Wilson had his first sack of the season in this game. The sack ended the Chiefs second possession and allowed the Raiders to take the lead early in the second quarter. He also had a couple run stops, a pressure to force an incompletion, and drew a holding penalty. All solid contributions.

Continue to the Busters…

Ballers for Raiders Week 7 loss to Rams

Picking out the individual performances in the Raiders Week 7 loss to the Rams.

At some point we should just call all these Raiders loss to Raiders. Because it doesn’t seem to matter the team in the other jersey, the Raiders real opponent each week is themselves.

That being said, there are a few players who stepped up and did their part to try and pull out the win. Even if their efforts fell short. As per usual, we will start with them before we feature the failures.

Ballers

S Tre’von Moehrig

Moehrig was sent on the blitz several times in this game. To great results. He was sent on third down on the Rams first drive and nailed Matt Stafford to force an incomplete pass. He would then assist on a run stuff for a three-and-out in the second quarter.

He got in the backfield again for a tackle for loss to end a drive early in the third quarter. Then on the Rams’ final two drives, he had a pressure on an incompletion and a run stuff, finishing second on the team with six combined tackles, one for a loss, a QB hit and a pass breakup.

RB Alexander Mattison

Consecutive runs of 13 and 12 yards led out the Raiders’ first scoring drive. He would add a five-yard run later in that drive to help the Raiders jump to a 3-0 lead to begin the second quarter.

After falling down 14-3 late in the second quarter, the Raiders needed to go on a drive. And they did that courtesy of Mattison, who had two runs for a first down and a 17-yard screen that put them in field goal range.

Four runs for 21 yards set the Raiders up for their third score of the game in the third quarter. Mattison had 92 yards on the ground and 123 yards from scrimmage on 26 touches.

CB Nate Hobbs, CB Jakorian Bennett

Tight coverage by Bennett set up a third and long that would lead to a punt on the Rams’ second drive. After the Raiders took a 3-0 lead early in the second, Hobbs’ run stuff on 4th and one gave the Raiders the ball back with a turnover on downs.

Bennett ended the Rams first possession of the third quarter with a three-and-out by breaking up the pass on third down.

With the fourth quarter looming, the Raiders needed a score to give them a chance. They got that score when Robert Spillane got a hand on a pass and Hobbs picked it off and returned it 35 yards to the LA 14-yard-line. That made it a one-score game at 20-12.

The following drive ended with Bennett in tight coverage in the end zone for an incompletion and the field goal missed off the upright. And the final Rams possession ended with Hobbs making the tackle short of the sticks on third down.

TE Brock Bowers

The first time the Raiders got in scoring position in the game was off of his 25-yard catch and run. Most of that was YAC; something he has become known for.

By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, Bowers already had six catches for 64 yards and the Raiders were one score away. They looked to Bowers early and often on their drive to try and tie it up. He had three first down catches on the first five plays. Two plays later, he was the lead blocked on a first down run on fourth down.

He would finish the game with ten catches for 93 yards which was one catch shy of the entire total for the rest of the team (11).

DT Adam Butler

His first tackle was a run stuff at the line that ended the Rams’ second drive. He ended another Rams’ possession in the second quarter with another run stuff. He added another run stop in the fourth quarter to finished tied for second on the team in tackles (6).

K Daniel Carlson

Though it’s never a good thing when your kicker scores all your points, at least he was steady. Carlson made all five of his field goals in the game with the longest coming from 47 yards.

Continue to the Busters…

Busters for Raiders Week 7 loss to Rams

There’s plenty of blame to go around for the Raiders’ latest ugly display. But I’m still going to try and really zero on in the worst of the worst.

Busters

QB Gardner Minshew

His first drive looked decent, leading the Raiders to their first score. But it went downhill after that. His second possession they went three-and-out. His next drive ended with him rolling left on third down and forcing a pass to Brock Bowers that was easily intercepted. There was no reason to even attempt that pass. Just a terrible decision on Minshew’s part. And it led to the Rams’ first TD.

In fact, Minshew would turn the ball over four times in the games. The first three led to TD’s – two interceptions and a fumble scoop and score – and the fourth one ended the game.

Every time he got even near the red zone, things would fall apart. First time, he got to the 25 and went 0-2, second time he got to the 24 and had a false start and went 0-2, third time he got to the 23 and went 0-2, fourth time he got the ball at the 14 off a turnover and went 0-1, And the fifth time he got to the 15 and went 0-2 – completing one pass that was stopped for no gain. Yeah, that’s right, five times from the 25-yard line or closer, he didn’t complete a single pass for positive yards. Going 1-10.

T DJ Glaze

The first drive of the game ended with Glaze giving up a pressure that led to a bad pass on third down and a punt. The next drive he was flagged for holding and the Raiders were unable to make the yards back up, but in the process of trying, Aidan O’Connell injured his thumb on a rushing defender and is now on injured reserve.

His final act was to jump early on fourth and goal from the four when the Raiders needed a touchdown to have a chance to tie it up. Suddenly the fourth and goal at the four became fourth and goal at the nine.

G Jordan Meredith, C Andre James

The second score for the Rams came on defense. When Meredith failed to block Cobie Durant and he shot through to hit Minshew for the strip sack. Kam Curl picked it up and returned it for the touchdown to give the Rams a 14-3 lead in the second quarter.

The first possession of the third quarter for the Raiders ended with a three-and-out and it was led out with James giving up a run stuff.

The Nate Hobbs interception gave the Raiders the ball at the LA 14-yard-line. On first down, Minshew threw for Brock Bowers for six yards, but James was flagged for ineligible man down field to bring it back.

On the final drive for the Raiders, Meredith missed his block to give up a run stuff on third down that forced the Raiders to go for it on fourth and one. Then on first and goal from the four, James gave up a pressure, forcing Minshew to throw the ball away.

T Kolton Miller

Late in the second quarter, the Raiders drove to the Rams’ 24-yard line looking to get their first touchdown. That ended in part because Miller gave up a hit on Minshew, leading to a bad throw, so they settled for a field goal to go into the locker room down 14-6.

The Raiders were in third and five from the LA nine-yard line to begin the fourth quarter. But Miller gave up a pressure and Minshew ditched it out of bounds to preserve at least a field goal. The next drive he gave up a run stuff for a loss.

DT John Jenkins

After the Rams’ first takeaway, the first play saw Jenkins driven back nine yards on a run play that put them in scoring range. He later was seen being pushed back on another nine-yard run and on the final Rams’ possession, while they looked to run clock, he was blocked back on a 14-yard run. Jenkins finished with zero tackles or any other stat in the game.

HC Antonio Pierce, OC Luke Getsy

With a reprieve on the missed field goal (and earlier extra point), the Raiders went on what was to be their long drive to try and salvage the game. A touchdown and two-point conversion ties it. They would get all the way to the four-yard-line. Along the way they converted a fourth down with a Mattison run, followed by a nine-yard Zamir White run, and then a 12-yard end around by Tre Tucker to put them in first and goal at the four. And would get no closer.

From there, Getsy inexplicably went away from the run completely, calling three pass plays despite Minshew having been 0-7 on passes inside the 28-yard line before that. Then on fourth down, DJ Glaze was flagged for a false start and Antonio Pierce lost his nerve, opting for a field goal instead. This despite a field goal keeping them a touchdown away and giving up major field position and clock time in the process. A terrible decision by Pierce that at best made their hopes of tying or winning the game exponentially more difficult and at worst sealed the Raiders fate.

See the Ballers

Ballers for Raiders Week 6 loss vs Steelers

Those who deserve the credit for playing well and the blame for the collapse.

You will rarely see a game where a team couldn’t get out of their own way quite the way the Raiders did on Sunday against the Steelers. There were some good performances in the game, but they were overshadowed by all the mistakes. And often times those mistakes literally wiped away those plays.

As always (or usually) we hand out the credit to those who played well before we get to those who tore it all down.

Ballers

LB Divine Deablo

Divine was feeling it in his first game back off injury, making plays all over the field. It was a tackle for loss on a catch in the flat that was the key play to end the Steelers’ first drive and force them to settle for a field goal. Then in the second quarter, he blew up a trick play and Justin Fields with it for a 13-yard loss that took them out of Vegas territory and ultimately ended the drive.

It was still a 7-6 Raiders lead late in the second quarter. A turnover gave the Steelers the ball on the Vegas 30-yard-line. But two plays later, Deablo picked off a pass over the middle to get the Raiders the ball back. At least for an instant he did. A roughing the passer penalty wiped it away and the Steelers kept the ball. They would ultimately get the touchdown, but on the two-point conversion, there was Diablo to knock it down to keep the score at 12-7 at the half.

Diablo would finish with six tackles, two for a loss, a sack, a QB hit, and a pass breakup (which he wasn’t credited for because it was on a two-point conversion).

DE Maxx Crosby

Early in the second quarter, the Steelers mounted their second scoring drive. But Crosby didn’t make it easy. On the second play, Justin Fields saw Crosby screaming around the right edge off the snap and instantly tucked it and ran for 14 yards. Two plays later, Crosby drew a holding penalty which got eight of those yards back. The Steelers still managed to get a couple catches and a run to make it to the 31. Maxx stopped them there with two pressures leading to incompletions and they settled for a field goal.

The next drive, Crosby would draw another holding penalty. Two plays later he would get another pressure to force an incompletion. Three plays later they punted it away.

Early in the fourth quarter, with the score still 22-7, Crosby filled his gap, leading to a tackle for loss, and blew up another run in the backfield for a loss. They couldn’t get it back and punted. He finished with a half sack, three QB hits, and two tackles for loss and affected the game even more than the stats showed.

TE Brock Bowers

The Raiders drove for a touchdown on their opening drive and the offense went through Bowers to do it. He laid a key block on a seven-yard run. Two plays later he caught an eight-yard pass. Next play he blocked on a nine-yard run. And finally, on second and goal from the two, Bowers cleared the path for the touchdown run.

To lead out the third quarter, Bowers made ten-yard catch followed by a nice catch for 18 yards on a ball thrown behind him while he was running right to left. Unfortunately that catch was wiped away by a holding penalty on Andre James.

Even without that catch, Bowers led the team with nine catches for 71 yards.

Honorable Mention

RB Alexander Mattison — Had 19 touches (5 receptions) for 65 yards and a touchdown. And had a second touchdown called back by a very suspect illegal man down field penalty.

Continue to the Busters…

Ballers for Raiders in Week 5 loss to Broncos

Detailing the standout individual performances in Raiders loss to the Broncos.

Just five weeks in to this season and it seems each gam brings less hope than the last. Even the win in Week four over the Browns didn’t do much to raise hopes. Especially considering the next day, Davante Adams requested a trade.

With that drama as its backdrop, the Raiders headed to Denver to face a Broncos team coming off two straight wins, but with issues of their own, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

The first quarter it was dominance by the Raiders. They led out with a touchdown drive, then drove for a field goal, and drove all the way to first and goal at the five, looking to go up 17-3. Then it all fell apart and imploded on them in an instant.

We’ll get to that implosion in more detail in the Busters. For now, let’s get some Ballers out the way first.

Ballers

DE Maxx Crosby

Crosby loved playing the Broncos. He showed his love in this game with two sacks, two tackles for loss, and two QB hits. His first sack came on the Broncos’ second drive, taking them out of field goal range. They would get some yards back a couple plays later, hitting on a long field goal.

With the Broncos leading 13-10 to start the third quarter, Crosby ended their first possession with a three-and-out with his second sack of the day. He would nearly get his third on the following drive, but Nix would just barely lean over the line of scrimmage to get a yard.

TE Brock Bowers

The one big play in the game for the Raiders was Bowers leaping in the air and making a play on the ball before streaking for a 57-yard touchdown. It came on the third play of the game and it was Bowers’s first career touchdown.

A couple other times in the game Bowers broke open for what could have been touchdowns, but Gardner Minshew overthrew him on those passes. Aidan O’Connell’s interception late in the game went off Bowers’s hands, but that pass had way too much on it for point blank range, he hadn’t gotten his head turned before O’Connell released it, and it was just a tough catch out in front of him. A bit less on the ball or a split second later and Bowers makes that catch.

Even with those misses, Bowers finished with a team leading 97 yards and a TD on eight catches.

Honorable Mention

DT Christian Wilkins — He was injured for much of the second half, but before he left, he was doing some work. His five tackles was third on the team and included a tackle for loss and a sack.

Continue to the Busters…

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

Ballers for Raiders Week 4 win over Browns

Sifting out the notable performances for the Raiders in their win over the Browns.

For the third week in a row, the Raiders went against the grain and shocked the world. Week two it was an improbably win in Baltimore. Week three they were trounced by the winless Panthers. And this week, despite a slew of injuries including to their two best players, they beat the Browns.

They did so by spreading out the Browns’ defense while the Raiders defense completely shut down the Browns offense after the first quarter.

We start with those who were most responsible for that big win.

Ballers

DE Charles Snowden

A month ago, Snowden was cut. Now he’s playing hero for a Raiders team desperate to replace both of the guys they were going to count on to be their starting pass rushers. His biggest play was the last one when he chased down Deshaun Watson on fourth and three to sack him and end the game.

How he even got there is the most impressive part. Snowden came around the right side on a stunt and Watson rolled left, running all the way to the left sideline and Snowden still caught him.

That wasn’t his only big play tho. Two plays before that, he got pressure and batted down a Watson pass. In total, he tied for the team lead with three QB hits and a tackle for loss.

S Isaiah Pola-Mao

That game-ending sack never would have happened if not for Pola-Mao. He made the tackle on the previous play, stopping it short of the sticks to force fourth down. Pola-Mao also made the big play on the Browns’ previous drive, flying over from center field to knock the ball out of the hands of Jerry Jeudy on what was actually a long catch for an instant. He also made the drive stalling tackle on the Browns’ second drive to hold them to a field goal.

WR Tre Tucker

Tucker had a hand in both of the Raiders touchdowns in this game. The first touchdown drive, he made a 14-yard catch on third and seven to keep the drive alive. Then finished it off with an end around from three yards out for the touchdown.

The second touchdown, he laid the final block near the goal line, driving his man out of bounds to ensure DJ Turner could get the final few yards to get in the end zone.

DT Adam Butler

With the leadership void due to the absence of Maxx Crosby, Butler stepped up. He gave a speech to the team inspired by his military upbringing. Then brought that passion to the field. The first third down of the game, he came flying into the backfield on a pass to absolutely bury Deshaun Watson. He was flagged for a horrible roughing the passer penalty, but so what. It wasn’t roughing and the message needed sent.

The next drive ended with a field goal in part because Butler got into the backfield again to make a run stuff for a loss and they couldn’t pick it back up.

The final play of the third quarter for the Raiders’ defense was a sack. Christian Wilkins and Janarius Robinson split credit for it, but Butler was in on it as well, coming right up the gut to ensure the sack sandwich from each side.

The final two Browns’ possessions at the end of the game, Butler had three tackles and a QB hit in which he had Watson wrapped up and off the ground right as the ball was released. The next play, the game was over.

Butler finished tied for second on the team in tackles (six) along with a QB hit (two really) and a tackle for loss.

RB Alexander Mattison

The running game came to life in this game. In part because of the use of jet sweeps and reverses to spread out the defense. But the only back on this team who was consistently making good use of it was Mattison.

He had three huge runs in this game on just five carries. All three of those runs was longer than any run the Raiders had had in the three game to start this season.

The first big run went for 24 yards — double the previous longest run coming in — and it set up the Raiders game-tying field goal before the half. His second big run went for 16 yards to the 19 and the Raiders scored the touchdown around the outside on the next play. His final big run went for 18 yards late in the fourth quarter to help take time off the clock and win the field position battle.

Mattison finished with 60 yards on five carries (12 yards per carry) and Antonio Pierce has said since then that he has earned more carries as a result.

LB Robert Spillane

Once again, Spillane led the team in tackles, putting up double digits for the fourth straight game this season. The first three of those tackles came on the Browns’ opening drive and all for three yards or less.

He made two stops on each of the Browns possessions in the second quarter, including a tackle for loss and a three-and-out.

S Tre’von Moehrig

He had the Raiders only takeaway, hauling in an interception off of Amari Cooper’s chest. It set up the Raiders final touchdown drive. Also on the final Browns drive, Jerome Ford burst for a 35-yard run that might have been a touchdown if not to Moehrig making the tackle at the 16-yard-line.

DT Christian Wilkins

Wilkins tied for the team lead with three QB hits. He also shared a sack and forced a holding penalty that called back a long touchdown that would have put the Browns ahead in the fourth quarter.

Honorable Mention

WR Jakobi Meyers — led the team with 49 yards on five catches and forced a pass interference.

WR DJ Turner — scored a touchdown on a reverse from 19 yards out and would have had a long catch as well, but the pass was overthrown.

TE Brock Bowers — Had a 12-yard run and made a huge block on two defenders that sprung Turner for his 19-yard touchdown.

TE Harrison Bryant — Had several nice blocks including on the 12-yard Bowers run and a 10-yard run that put the Raiders in first and goal on their first TD drive.

P AJ Cole — Two huge punts in the fourth quarter helped to keep the Browns from scoring and hold the Raiders’ 20-16 lead.

Continue to the Busters…

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 2 win vs Ravens

Those whose play required heroics to overcome.

There wouldn’t have been a need for heroics had the Raiders not put themselves in a hole in this game. And it was pretty obvious at times what the problem was.

Busters

LT Kolton Miller, LG Andrus Peat, RT Thayer Munford

Let’s be clear, no one on this offensive line was good. The run game was historically bad and that falls on everyone. But these three were SO bad, they get special mention.

Last week Kolton Miller had what seemed to me to be the worst game of his career. Well, that wasn’t a fluke. He had another brutal game in this one.

Miller gave up a sack on the very first play of the game. And it was a strip sack which he luckily fell on or the Raiders would have been looking at going down a score seconds into this one.

Getting the start next to him was Andrus Peat, taking the place of Cody Whitehair. Three plays in, he was shucked out of the way to give up a run stuff for a two-yard loss. The Raiders moved backward on two of their first three plays and punted it away.

Second drive, Miller didn’t block the end to give up a free sack on third down.

The second quarter, the Raiders finally got a first down. They even drove into scoring range. But it ended with Peat missing his block to give up a tackle for loss, leading to a 53-yard field goal.

They got into scoring range again later in the second quarter. But Munford was beat around the edge and since Peat was also beaten up the middle, Minshew had nowhere to go and was sacked, leading to a 51-yard field goal.

Peat was sent back to the bench for the second and Cody Whitehair took over.

Munford had a disastrous possession in the third quarter. Starting out by blocking no one to give up a run stuff. Then two plays later losing his block to give up another run stuff for no gain, following immediately be giving up a tackle for loss. They convert on third and long and ended up turning it over on downs.

The offense may have come up late in this one, but the run game never did. And Minshew still had to overcome poor pass blocking as well. Miller gave up another sack, as did Munford.

S Tre’von Moehrig, S Marcus Epps

Weird to think all the starting cornerbacks are Ballers and both starting safeties are Busters. Not sure I’ve seen that happen before.

The biggest play of the Ravens first drive of the game was a 19-yard catch given up by Epps on third and seven. And they got on the board with a field goal.

The next Ravens scoring drive started with Moehrig giving up a 17-yard catch. And the final scoring drive of the first half saw Moehrig give up an eight-yard catch that put them in scoring range at the 34.

They would go for a touchdown to open the third quarter and the big play was a 30-yard run by Derrick Henry on which Epps missed the tackle near the line. Two plays later, Moehrig gave up the touchdown catch from eight yards out.

To begin the fourth quarter, the Ravens would drive for another TD. They would drive into Vegas territory at the 48 and Epps would miss a tackle to give up a 15-yard run. Two plays later came the biggest play of the drive with Epps getting blocked to give up a 17-yard run and Moehrig tacking on a few more with a late hit out of bounds call. This put the Ravens in first and goal at the six-yard-line. They scored two plays later.

DE Charles Snowden

That first touchdown drive to start the third quarter saw Derrick Henry break off a 30-yard run. He got the edge to begin with because Snowden was blocked. Then Snowden tried to recover and chase Henry down only to embarrassed by a wicked stiff arm.

Their second touchdown drive, that 17-yard run mentioned a couple paragraphs back began with Snowden missing a tackle. He showed some pass rushing prowess in the preseason, but his tackling leaves much to be desired.

Also see the Ballers

Ballers for Raiders Week 2 win vs Ravens

What a game. Through much of this game it was looking like a replay of the season opener against the Chargers. Where the Raiders defense keeps it close while the offense flails and ultimately sees the opposing team put things together late to win it.

Even early into the fourth quarter, it still had that feel. The Ravens drove for a field goal to end the first half and a touchdown to begin the third quarter to make it a ten-point game. Meanwhile it was most of the way through the third quarter and the Raiders still hadn’t gotten in the end zone and were down by ten.

Then suddenly they turned it on and scored three straight times while the defense allowed one score and they pulled off the upset.

There were so many heroes, it was hard to pick a Top Baller this week. But I managed.

Ballers

LB Robert Spillane

To be the biggest playmaker in a game full of playmakers is quite an accomplishment.

He led the team with ten combined tackles (eight solo) and nearly all of them were huge plays. The first Ravens drive featured two Spillane run stuffs for a net two yards and the third down tackle on a catch short of the sticks.

Spillane stalled another drive in the second quarter by tracking Lamar Jackson on a rollout to the right sideline to keep containment and force him to make a bad pass incomplete.

The Ravens got in the endzone on their first drive of the third quarter. But Spillane did his part to try and keep that from happening when he stuffed a run at the line on first and goal. The next drive, he intercepted a Lamar Jackson pass off a deflection to give the Raiders another shot with great field position. They took advantage of it to drive for their first touchdown, making that turnover crucial to the outcome.

The Raiders would pull within seven points midway through the fourth quarter, putting it in the hands of the defense to give them a shot to tie it up. They did the job too, with Spillane batted down Jackson’s pass on third down to send the Ravens offense away with a three-and-out.

After the offense drove for a game-tying touchdown, the defense came out to try and keep the Ravens from driving for the game winner. Spillane followed up a big sack by Maxx Crosby with a run stuff for no gain. The Ravens couldn’t make up the third and long, giving the Raiders a chance to win it in regulation. And they did just that.

DE Maxx Crosby

He was his usual holy terror self, which is not always the easiest thing to do against a multifaceted quarterback like Lamar Jackson.

Crsoby had a run stuff on the Ravens’ first play from scrimmage and a sack on the fourth play. Then he had a run tackle for loss on the second possession, leading to a three-and-out. So, yeah, it was shaping up to be a long day keeping the Condor contained.

First play of the second quarter was another Crosby run stuff for a loss, leading to another three-and-out. He added a batted pass on the next drive.

After the Raiders tied it up at 23-23 midway through the fourth, Crosby came flying up the gut right into to Jackson’s face for a nine-yard sack. That sealed the Ravens’ fate.

QB Gardner Minshew, WR Davante Adams, TE Brock Bowers

We pick up the action in the third quarter. That’s when the Raiders offense started to get things rolling. The first big completion went for 25 yards to Brock Bowers to put them in scoring range. But ultimately the Raiders could go for it on the 4th and short and fail, with Minshew’s pass for Davante a bit short and Adams unable to make the catch around a defender. But it was a sign of things to come.

The Raiders defense would take the ball back and the offense returned to mount another drive. The big play saw Minshew stand tall in the pocket as he waited for something to open up and then Bowers came back to his QB to make the catch inside the five and put the Raiders in first and goal at the one. They punched it in on the next play.

Next possession they were on the move again. It featured consecutive connections with Adams for 26 yards and 30 yards. The 26-yarder came on a perfect pass from Minshew, throwing it before Adams had even made his break, so he turned the find the ball right there. The 30-yard catch was especially impressive, with Adams leaning out of bounds, dragging his toes.

That drive ended in a field goal, which meant a touchdown was needed to tie it up. First play of the Raiders next drive, had well placed ball from Minshew with Davante’s notorious late hands ensuring the defender had no shot at it up the left sideline for 29 yards. Bowers got hte next first own on a 15-yard grab. Then Bowers would convert on third down with an 11-yard catch to put the Raiders in first and goal at the nine. Adams was interfered with to put it at the one. Where Minshew had a masterful read option where he pulled it back and threw it over the defense to Adams for the game-tying touchdown.

CB Nate Hobbs, CB Jack Jones, CB Jakorian Bennett

Just like the above trio, I just couldn’t separate these guys. Bennett showed up first with a huge pass breakup on a deep ball attempt up the left sideline in the second quarter. This forced a 56-yard field goal attempt which Justin Tucker missed wide.

The next drive began with a coverage incompletion by Jones. Bennett would also force an incompletion on the drive with tight coverage. And finally, Jones made the tackle short of the first down to force the Ravens to settled for a field goal.

The third quarter saw Bennett break up another pass. This time Spillane was there to intercept it off the deflection. The takeaway led to the Raiders getting their first touchdown of the day.

With the Raiders making a push, and within a score, Jones helped that effort by stopping Lamar Jackson for a loss on a scramble. Jones would then effectively end the game with a pass breakup on a deep attempt up the right sideline that looked for a moment to be a catch that would have been enough for the Ravens to tie it up. Clutch.

Nate Hobbs just simply locked it up on the day, giving up just one catch for 13 yards.

K Daniel Carlson

He was 4-for-4 on the day with field goals from 53 and 51 yards. That’s doing his job.