Tag: Raiders vs. Colts

Raiders, Colts final injury report: RB Josh Jacobs ‘game time decision’

Raiders, Colts final injury report: RB Josh Jacobs ‘game time decision’

It looks like Raiders could be without two of their offensive starters again this week as they head to Indianapolis to face the Colts. Tight end Michael Mayer has been ruled OUT while running back Josh Jacobs is officially Doubtful.

“That’s going to be a game time decision, just be honest with you,” head coach Antonio Pierce said of Jacobs’s status for Sunday. I mean, no need to rush it. If he can go at one o’clock on Sunday, I’m happy with that.”

Both players missed all practices this week.

Both Mayer and Jacobs missed Monday’s game in Kansas City and the Raiders, while they won the game, weren’t able to do much on offense.

Zamir White had a big day replacing Jacobs, but 58 of his 145 yards rushing came on the final drive thanks in large part to the Raiders’ defense putting the Raiders in a position to run out the clock late.

Starting center Andre James (ankle) and right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor (knee) were both Questionable after being limited in practice all week.

Raiders winners and losers in 25-20 defeat vs. Colts

Raiders winners and losers in 25-20 defeat vs. Colts

[sendtonews_embed video_id=”ZQxTcIken0-2360253-7498″]

Somehow, the Raiders keep finding new ways to lose in 2022, with every defeat more unbelievable than their last.

Las Vegas lost in humiliating fashion for the third time in a row on Sunday, as they fell to a Colts team that fired their coach just last week. Indianapolis named former Colts lineman and TV analyst Jeff Saturday as a replacement, but the Raiders couldn’t take advantage of his inexperience and lost, 25-20.

The Raiders had a chance to take the lead with just seconds to go, but a pass from quarterback Derek Carr to wide receiver Davante Adams fell incomplete. A touchdown to win the game would have been a modest triumph for them and the Raiders, but instead, Las Vegas suffered an embarrassing defeat at home.

Here are the winners and losers for the week following this loss that left the Raiders’ record at a dismal 2-7.

Winner: CB Amik Robertson

Sure, coverage from cornerback Amik Robertson on the Colts’ go-ahead touchdown to WR Parris Campbell was lacking, but if it wasn’t for a forced fumble by Robertson earlier in the game, the Raiders’ chances may have been cooked by that time.

Robertson knocked the ball loose from a Colts receiver in the second quarter as it appeared Indianapolis was about to go ahead by three scores. The Raiders offense took advantage and scored their first touchdown of the game, a Carr pass to tight end Foster Moreau, on the ensuing drive.

Winner: DE Maxx Crosby

Despite playing a Colts offensive line that was last in the league in sacks allowed coming into Sunday, the Raiders had just one QB sack on the day.

Defensive end Maxx Crosby took Colts QB Matt Ryan to the turf early in the third quarter; after the play, Indianapolis missed a field goal and Las Vegas again took advantage of momentum, driving for a touchdown from running back Josh Jacobs when they got the ball back.

Winner RB Ameer Abdullah

The Raiders’ third and final touchdown of the game also had help from a complimentary football play, this time from the special teams.

Running back Ameer Abdullah downed a boot from punter A.J. Cole at the Colts’ 5-yard line, and the defense forced a punt, thanks in large part to a pass breakup by Robertson. Taking the ball at the Colts’ 48-yard line, Carr found Adams for a 48-yard touchdown to take the lead.

Loser: DC Patrick Graham

Before we get to today’s No. 1 loser, Raiders coach Josh McDaniels, let’s talk about the Las Vegas defense. Led by defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, the unit allowed 415 total yards to a Colts offense led by first-time play caller Parks Frazier.

The last of the Colts’ 25 points came on Campbell’s 35-yard score, and it wasn’t pretty. After Campbell got by Robertson, CB Anthony Averett and safety Tre’von Moehrig failed miserably an an attempted tackle.

Loser: Raiders run defense

Las Vegas allowed 207 rushing yards, with 66 of them coming on one touchdown run from RB Jonathan Taylor.

It appeared that linebacker Luke Masterson overran the play and got pushed inside, creating a massive hole for Tayler to burst through. Crosby also got blocked on the play. And to finish it off, S Duron Harmon stuttered and took a bad angle after Taylor took off.

Loser: QB Derek Carr/WR Davante Adams

Carr recovered in this game after starting out ice cold in the first quarter, and he eventually began to find Adams for big, meaningful receptions. But in the end, the two had a chance to win the game and failed on Las Vegas’ last snap on offense.

Carr and Adams have something to prove each week, as their pairing was supposed to lead the Raiders to a big season. That certainly hasn’t gone as planned, though Adams is having a good year statistically.

I supposed Carr is the bigger loser of the two here. Las Vegas can break ties with him after this season if they want to because Carr’s contract allows for it. If the Raiders keep losing, will Carr return next season? That’s hard to say, mostly because it’s not 100 percent certain who Las Vegas’ coach will be.

Loser: HC Josh McDaniels

Though it’s likely McDaniels will return and coach the Raiders next year, simply because this is his first year at the helm in Las Vegas, it’s reasonable to believe he could be fired if the Raiders keep losing so spectacularly. If his contractual circumstances were different, it’s possible he would be let go after his latest defeat.

The Colts were the laughingstock of the NFL all week, given Saturday’s lack of experience as a head coach in the college or professional ranks. Plus, Indianapolis has been awful all year. Turns out, all they needed was a matchup with McDaniels and his staff to turn their situation into a feel-good story.

Now, the Raiders are sure to be the punchline to a new set of jokes this week. Team owner Mark Davis hired McDaniels and thought he was fortunate McDaniels was even available. Now, he’s probably wondering whether he made a huge mistake bringing McDaniels to Las Vegas in the first place.

Davis was reportedly in the Raiders’ locker room after the game, presumably talking to his coaching staff, though that’s unknown.

As for Carr, his emotion after the game said it all. The Raiders QB and co-captain couldn’t hide his despair regarding how this season, which started with big-time aspirations, has gone. At least one Raiders reporter, The Athletic’s Vic Tafur, opined that Carr has issues with McDaniels and crew. Either way, they have to recover in time to be competitive against a 3-6 Broncos team next week in Denver.

[vertical-gallery id=97348]

Raiders winners and losers in victory vs. Colts

Raiders winners and losers in victory vs. Colts

The Raiders went to Indianapolis with their season on the line on Sunday and beat the Colts, 23-20 after a last-second Daniel Carlson field goal sealed the deal.

It wasn’t easy getting there for Las Vegas, however. After dominating the early portion of the game and taking a 10-0 lead, mistakes by the Raiders let the Colts get back in it. Indianapolis eventually took a 17-13 advantage, but Las Vegas didn’t give up and secured its first winning season since 2016.

Here are the Raiders winners and losers in this week’s consequential win. The victory puts their record at 9-7 and sets up a mega-matchup next weekend against the Chargers at Allegiant Stadium. If Las Vegas wins that game, they’ll make the playoffs.

Winners

Hunter Renfrow

Raiders wide receiver Hunter Renfrow had his fingerprints all over this big win. He had a 41-yard punt return early on, and he had a receiving touchdown that put the Raiders ahead, 20-17. It was on a 4th-and-2 play and Renfrow broke open in the end zone with masterful skill, making his job look easy in the process.

Renfrow also had a huge reception on the Raiders’ game-winning drive. For a second, it appeared he scored a 48-yard touchdown, but he was down by contact. The play put the Raiders in range for Carlson’s winning kick, however.

Also, Renfrow crossed the 1,000-yard mark for the season, the first 1,000-yard campaign of his young career. By the looks of it, it won’t be Renfrow’s last.

Zay Jones

Speaking of firsts, WR Zay Jones notched the first 100-yard game of his career. He finished the game with eight grabs for 120 yards, including a 42-yard haul that set up Renfrow’s touchdown.

Jones made several other clutch receptions, but his 42-yard catch was huge — both within this game and for the Raiders’ identity, which for much of the year has involved taking huge chunks of yardage. If Las Vegas can have more big plays next week, it would drastically increase their chances to make the playoffs.

Derek Carr

Carr had two interceptions in this game, but he remained steady and got the job done late, surviving a string of Raiders miscues.

He was only sacked twice, but Carr had to scramble for his football life on several occasions, including the Raiders’ big 4th-and-2 touchdown to Renfrow. He finished his day with 255 yards on 24-31 passing, one touchdown, and those two picks.

Daniel Carlson

Kicker Daniel Carlson notched the game-winning kick, but for a moment, it appeared he might be a major reason Las Vegas lost this one.

Carlson was a part of the Raiders’ string of mistakes to end the first half and start the second. After a false start from offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood ruined a 3rd-and-1 try in the red zone, Carlson made one of his three field goals on the day. But he booted the ensuing kickoff out of bounds. The Colts took advantage of the good field position and drove for a touchdown just before halftime, reducing Vegas’ lead to 13-10.

But in the end, Carlson was clutch. It appears the Raiders made a great decision to sign him to a contract extension earlier this season.

[lawrence-newsletter]

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Can Raiders WR Henry Ruggs III finish strong in the season’s fourth quarter?

Raiders WR Henry Ruggs had a strong finish against the Jets. Can he make a similar impact as the season enters the ‘fourth quarter?’

In barely beating the winless Jets last weekend, many of the Raiders had subpar performances, mostly on the defensive side of the ball. On offense, wide receiver Henry Ruggs III hurt his team on multiple occasions before coming through at the very end of the contest, with a miraculous game-winning 46-yard touchdown catch.

Now, as the Raiders attempt to qualify for the playoffs down the stretch run of the 2020 season, one question of many for Las Vegas is this: can Ruggs, the team’s speedy, first-round selection, finish the season strong as he finished the game strong in New York? Perhaps starting with Sunday’s pivotal matchup against the Colts?

Offensive coordinator Greg Olson said he’d hope that Ruggs’ big play last week, after dropping a pass that led to an interception and also fumbling, would boost the rookie’s inner confidence, though coach Jon Gruden already believes in the Alabama product.

“For Jon [Gruden] to have the confidence to go to him on that final play, it’s huge as well,” Olson told reporters on Friday. “So, we know that he didn’t play his best game by any means and I know there is a lot riding on his shoulders from the miscues that happened earlier in the game, but we have a lot of confidence in him. That’s why we drafted him where we did.

“He’s still developing. He’s a young player, he’s developing and we’ve got high expectations for him, and high standards for him. So, we expect him to meet those going forward and hopefully like you said that was a big step in the right direction and we’ll see more of that here in the final quarter of the season.”

The expectations for Ruggs start with his 4.27-second time in the 40-yard dash, a factor that compelled Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock to make Ruggs the first WR selected in an incredibly deep class at that position.

And he’s shown well above average ball skills, save for a few rookie mistakes. Still, he has just 20 receptions for 396 yards on the campaign, on 35 targets. His big-play ability is evident though, with eight plays of more than 20 yards, tied for the team lead with WR Nelson Agholor.

For Ruggs to have an impactful “fourth quarter” of the season, however, an abundance of catches isn’t necessary. And that’s a good thing because the Raiders don’t throw to their wide receivers much at all, making opportunities rare for the wideouts. Hunter Renfrow leads that group in receptions with 42 at this late stage of the season, for instance.

Ruggs’ speed is already shifting the gravity of the defense, and with tight end Darren Waller on a hot streak and Agholor an increased presence for defenses to account for, Ruggs will certainly have opportunities to impact the season’s final four games.

He must play mistake-free football when he gets those chances, and Gruden still has to find ways to get him the ball, especially as the season comes to a close. It’s the fourth quarter of the campaign now, and just like the waning moments against the Jets, it’s time to utilize Las Vegas’ most talented players.

[vertical-gallery id=77159]

[lawrence-newsletter]

Raiders offense irritated with struggling rushing attack

Coach Jon Gruden says the Raiders feed their families with success in the run game, and the team is frustrated by recent performances.

When coach Jon Gruden returned to the Raiders, it was obvious the Las Vegas offense would be based on running the football, judging from the coach’s past — especially from his first stint as Raiders coach when he employed a bevy of backs.

Indeed, this vintage of Gruden’s Raiders leans heavily on the run game. The offensive guru simply believes in its power, and his gameplan needs a healthy rushing attack to succeed.

But while the 2020 squad held those standards early in the campaign, the offense has struggled in that department lately while losing at Atlanta and beating the winless Jets last weekend. The absence of dynamic running back Josh Jacobs and behemoth right tackle Trent Brown certainly had something to do with the paltry 14 rushing yards at halftime against the Jets, but the Raiders need production down the stretch, regardless of who plays.

“I haven’t been happy with [the run game] the last couple games. I know our guys haven’t either.,” Gruden told reporters on Wednesday. “We can be optimistic and we can be realistic, and I’m going to be realistic, we got to do a better job. We got to have better plans, we got to coach better. We got to do it better, and I’ll just leave it like that.

“We feed our families with our running game. We got to be able to run out the clock at the end of the game like we did in Arrowhead. We got to be able to convert in short-yardage and we didn’t do that in Atlanta and it still irritates all of us. So, we got to do better and we made the effort to get better today.” 

It’s clear how important the rushing attack is to Gruden. It makes his life, and his family’s life, go ’round. He’s instilled that into his team, and apparently, they’re all irritated about the poor performances recently.

But Gruden says they worked on the rushing attack in practice, and on Wednesday, Brown was on the field with the team. He’s been out due to two stints on the reserver/COVID-19 list. Jacobs didn’t practice Wednesday due to an injured ankle, however, but that doesn’t mean he won’t play this week against the Colts. He played on occasion last year without practicing at all. He started the Atlanta game but ran like his body needed a rest.

The Raiders could use them both against the Colts, who are the fourth-best defense in rush yards per attempt, allowing just 3.8 yards per try. With Las Vegas trailing Indianapolis by one game in the AFC playoff hunt, Gruden’s tactics and personnel will face a mighty test this week, and regardless of who’s on the field, expect him to stay to true his bread and butter, the run game.

[vertical-gallery id=76892]

[lawrence-newsletter]