Studs and Duds – Syndication Server

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 11 loss to Dolphins

Singling out the individual performances for the Raiders week 11 vs the Dolphins.

Despite the lopsided score, things weren’t all bad on Sunday for the Raiders. And when you’re in the midst of a six-game losing streak, it’s important to try and find the little positives to suggest things won’t always be this way.

So, as always, let’s start there.

Ballers

TE Brock Bowers

Bowers set single game records for catches by a rookie tight end (13) in a game while going over 100 yards (126) for the first time in his young career. He just seems to get better and better all the time. Which is saying a lot considering he was already on pace for some record numbers on the season.

His first catch of this game went for 14 yards to put the Raiders in first and goal at the ten and they added a field goal on their opening drive. The second scoring drive, he had three catches for 38 yards, including an 11-yard catch on third and ten to the 18 and they added another field goal to make it a 10-6 game at the half.

In the third quarter, with the Raiders in third and nine from the Miami 23, he went in motion, Gardner Minshew saw single coverage, threw it to him in the flat, and Bowers did the rest. He shot out of a cannon for the end zone, breaking a tackle and scoring to make it a five-point game at 17-12.

After falling behind 24-12 in the fourth quarter, Bowers went to work again, making three first down catches, including a third down conversion, fourth down conversion and the final catch that put them in first and goal at the ten. Three plays later, they were in the end zone to bring it back to a one score game at 24-19. Things got out of hand after that.

LT Kolton Miller

His primary job is protecting Gardner Minshew’s blindside and he did that flawlessly in this game. No pressures or penalties on his part and I saw no instances where his man made a run stop either. Just a nice clean game for Miller which he needed in a rough season.

DT Adam Butler, DT John Jenkins

Jenkins had two run stuffs on the Dolphins’ first drive; one for a loss and the other on first and goal from the five, forcing them to have to end up going for it on fourth and goal to get the touchdown.

The first actual stop by the Raiders defense was made by Butler. The Dolphins drove to first and goal. On the Dolphins’ second drive, they were once again in first and goal. Butler got containment and Jenkins made the stop for one yard. Two plays later, Butler made the sack on third down to force the Dolphins to settle for a field goal.

The next full drive, the Dolphins were in first and goal yet again and Jenkins beat his man at the line to draw a holding penalty.

Butler would add two more tackles for loss in the game in the fourth quarter. He finished with five combined tackles, two for a loss, a sack, and a QB hit. Jenkins had four combined tackles, two for a loss.

DE Charles Snowden

Snowden got into the backfield to make a tackle for loss on the second play of the game. It was a preview of the kind of day he was going to have.

The next full drive came in the third quarter, and he forced an incompletion in coverage and on another play got pressure that led to a tackle for loss. He added a pass breakup later.

Honorable Mention

LB Robert Spillane — Led the team with 11 tackles, four of which were on runs of three yards or less.

WR Jakobi Meyers — Had key third down plays on each of the Raiders first two scoring drives. His 20 yards on one run led the Raiders in rushing.

Continue to the Busters…

Busters for Raiders Week 11 loss to Dolphins

Those Raiders who had the worst day against the Dolphins in week 11.

Enough with the little positives. Let’s look at the glaring negatives. And when you fail to stop a team to force a single punt or turnover, naturally there are going to be plenty of those.

Busters

LB Divine Deablo

The first play of the game, he was in the wrong gap to give up a five-yard run. Two plays later, on the first third down play of the game, Deablo ran into a receiver to give up a 17-yard catch then gave up a seven-yard catch on the next play to put the Dolphins in scoring range. they would go on to score an opening drive touchdown.

He was blocked on a ten-yard run to lead off the Dolphins second scoring drive.

In the third quarter, the Dolphins could go on another touchdown drive. Along with way, Deablo had missed tackles on consecutive plays. Then on first and goal from the four-yard-line, he was called for a facemask that offset a holding penalty on the Dolphins so they just replayed the down.

And finally, the game clinching touchdown, Deablo was supposed to be covering Jonnu Smith, but instead just let him go by him, where he was completely wide open for a 57-yard touchdown.

S Isaiah Pola-Mao

Pola-Mao gave up the first touchdown of the game when he was late getting over in coverage on fourth and goal from the two.

Their second touchdown was set up by a 30-yard run on which Pola-Mao missed the tackle to put them in first and goal at the four.

And on the final TD, Pola-Mao committed to the right side of the field and ended up covering no one while leaving the entire middle of the field complete wide open for Jonnu Smith all alone to go 57 yards for the score.

CB DeCamerion Richardson

With Jakorian Bennett lost on the second play of the game, the rookie was pressed into service. And he didn’t fair well to say the least.

Richardson gave up a 16-yard catch on the first drive that set the Dolphins up at the Vegas 12-yard line. Then on the next drive, he gave up a 24-yard catch that set them up at the 16-yard line.

The second touchdown of the game for the Dolphins was given up by Richardson from nine yards out.

The next drive, he gave up a 14-yard catch on third and four, and finally failed to keep containment on the edge to allow for an easy run around the left side for the touchdown.

RT DJ Glaze, RG Dylan Parham

The Raiders got a reprieve on their first drive of the game when Calais Campbell was flagged for roughing the kicker on their punt attempt. They too advantage and moved into goal to go at the ten. Then on second and goal, Parham gave up the sack to back them up to the 18. They gave up on scoring the TD after that and kicked the field goal.

The next drive, they again drove into goal to go. And again, it was pressure that killed their shot. This time it was Glaze giving up pressure that forced a throw short of the first down and they again settled for three instead of six.

The Raiders got the ball to start the second half, and promptly went three-and-out. Because Glaze gave up pressure on third down again, leading to a bad pass that fell incomplete.

They would finally punch it in in the third quarter, but when they went for two to try and make it a three-point game, Parham got shucked to give up a run stuff for a loss.

See the Ballers

Raiders midseason Ballers & Busters

The best and worst performers for the Raiders over the first half of the 2024 NFL season.

This season the Raiders’ bye week lands pretty much right in the middle of the season. Making for a good time to check in on how things are going. Which is…not too well.

Each season the Raiders like to say how close they are to things going a different way. But this season that kind of statement might just be met with either some serious side eye or just outright laughter.

That being said, the cupboard isn’t completely bare in terms of talent. So, we’ll start with those who stepped up over the first nine games before we move on to the bad news.

Ballers

TE Brock Bowers

Easily the best rookie tight end in the NFL and he has arguably been the best tight end in football, period. He leads all tight end in catches (57) and receiving yards (580) and was named a Baller four times this season as a result.

He has elite instincts, route running, and hands and excels in yards after catch. He’s even shown some decent in-line blocking abilities. Making him the Raiders most steady performer on an otherwise unsteady offense.

DE Maxx Crosby

A high ankle sprain cost him basically a couple games this season, including missing his first game ever. But he still has 6.5 sacks in the other seven games this season.

Even though he hasn’t posted a sack the past couple weeks, he’s still on pace to approach 20 sacks on the season. He has been a Baller four times so far and opened the season and his three best games were against rival Chargers and Broncos and the team’s one big win against the Ravens in Week two.

WR Jakobi Meyers

This is a ‘what have you done for me lately’ situation. Meyers has been the Top Baller each of the past two weeks for the Raiders since Davante Adams was shipped to New York and Meyers had to step up and be the guy. This included him posting his first 100-yard game a a Raider in Week 9 against the Bengals.

Continue to the Busters…

Busters for Raiders Week 9 loss to Bengals

Those who had the roughest outing in the Raiders big loss in Cincinnati.

Over a ten minute stretch from the end of the second quarter to midway through the third quarter, the Bengals left the Raiders in the dust. What was a 10-10 tie because a 31-10 Bengals lead and they pretty much never looked back. Next thing you knew it, it was a 41-17 game and coaches’ heads were rolling before the night was up.

Busters

LB Divine Deablo

Tight ends have been gouging the Raiders of late. Opponents are realizing that’s one of their weaknesses and they’re exploiting it. Mike Gesicki alone had five catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns.

Often times it was Deablo who they went after for those catches. But that wasn’t the only area Deablo struggled in this one.

The Bengals’ first drive went for a touchdown. At one point, on three consecutive plays, Deablo gave up either the catch or run for 27 yards to put them at the Vegas 33. The second TD drive came in the final three minutes of the first half and it was Deablo who gave up the TD catch from ten yards out.

First drive of the third quarter saw the Bengals drive for another TD. Deablo missed a tackle on a 21-yard run early in the drive, then in first and goal at the seven, he was out of position on a five yard run, and two plays later gave up another touchdown catch.

LB Robert Spillane

Kudos to him for playing through his injury, but he doesn’t look right out there. Just like last week, he’s still making some tackles. They’re just several yards down the field. And he’s having more troubling fighting through blocks and cutting quickly.

The Bengals’ second scoring drive, he gave up the two biggest plays on the drive — an 18-yard catch and a 12-yard catch and run where he missed the tackle. Then the first play of the third quarter, he had Joe Burrow dead to rights on the blitz and missed the tackle to give up an 11-yard scramble instead.

He finished with seven combine tackles, which was his second lowest total of the season and had just one solo tackle.

WR DJ Turner

Even with the Bengals scoring to end the first half and to begin the third quarter, it was still a two-score game. Then Turner lined up in the backfield to take the handoff and fumbled it. The Bengals recovered it at the Vegas 21 and drive for another touchdown. Dagger.

T Thayer Munford

What Troy Hendrickson did to him in this game was sickening. Henderickson finished the game with a single game career -high four sacks. And three of those came from the left side while Munford was in the game.

It may be considered cruel to call Munford out considering he was pressed into left tackle duties after Kolton Miller and Andrus Peat both went down with injuries. But, I am not here to give consideration to such things. He got embarrassed in this one. Enough so that you realize why he is the third string left tackle and not the primary backup. We’re talking about the season opening starting right tackle here too.

HC Antonio Pierce, OC Luke Getsy, DC Patrick Graham

No coach is safe from criticism here. And not just because it was a bad game and we’re spreading around blame liberally. But because they each had their very specific issues.

The offense once again dried up after the opening drive. Just a few days after Getsy took exception to the term “scripted drive”. And probably about the time the Raiders plane landed in Vegas, he was no long employed by them.

Even still, the Raiders were down just one score in the final seconds of the first half and driving. But in third and four from the 48, after Getsy called a doomed screen, they are in prime position to go for it on fourth down. Just 17 seconds left and about five yards away from Daniel Carlson field goal range. Instead Pierce showed no aggressive and a complete lack of faith in his offense and his defense by sending out the punt team. There was nothing to gain from that decision and almost everything to lose.

If you are worried you won’t make it and the Bengals would drive into field goal range, then you think they can just easily to that anyway, so what’s even the point? Otherwise, you just go down fighting. You don’t give up. Before halftime, the Raiders gave up.

As for Graham and this defense…the Bengals scored on every one of their first five possessions; four of which were touchdowns. And far too many times, there were wide open receivers. Whether it be backs squirting out of the backfield with no one around, tight ends finding huge soft spots in the zone, or running backs finding gaping holes for chunk plays. This defense is a shell of what it looked like when it found inspiration late last season.

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Ballers for Raiders Week 9 loss to Bengals

Picking out the individual performances in the Raiders loss to the Bengals in Week 9.

Another early strong effort eventually crumbled and got away from the Raiders just as has happened so many times this season. And ultimately the game was over by midway through the third quarter.

Before that happened, however, there were some positive performances to mention.

Ballers

WR Jakobi Meyers

Believe it or not, Meyers surpassed 100 yards receiving for the first time as a Raider. Hard to believe considering how much he has meant to this team since they signed him prior to last season.

He got things started with the longest play on the Raiders opening drive, catching a 22-yard pass to put them at the Cincinnati 23. They went on to score an opening drive touchdown.

The next drive, he led out with a 15-yard grab to the Cincy 49 and then had the longest catch again, going for 23 yards on a slant to put the Raiders in field goal range at the 26. From there they tied it up at 10-10. Meyers would add two more catches for 22 yards on the Raiders final drive of the first half that nearly got them into scoring range again.

C Jackson Powers-Johnson, G Jordan Meredith

These two were doing some serious work on the Raiders opening drive. The Raiders run game actually looked proficient and it was because of these two pushing defenders around. They ran the ball seven times on the opening drive. The three longest ones either JPJ, Meredith or both laid key blocks. And JPJ opened up the hole one what was initially ruled a TD (and probably should have stood) on first and goal.

Funny thing is, the only reason either of these two are playing the positions they’re playing is because of injuries. But they are earning the right to keep those jobs.

CB Jack Jones

Early in the fourth quarter, he had a pick six to make the game a bit interesting late. Then he ended the next Bengals possession with a pass breakup on third down.

Continue to the Busters…

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.

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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.