Tag: Tre Tucker

Busters for Raiders week 14 loss to the Buccaneers

Upon further review, the poor performances that most led to the Raiders loss in Tampa.

When you lose your ninth straight, there’s gonna be a few fingers pointed. Here are a few.

Busters

S Isaiah Pola-Mao

The Bucs scored four touchdowns in the game. And he was a part of

On the first touchdown, Jack Jones bit on a pump fake and Pola-Mao was supposed to give him help over the top. But he didn’t get over in time and Jalen McMillan scored the 15-yard touchdown.

Pola-Mao gave up a 20-yard catch that put the Bucs in scoring range on their second touchdown drive.

The Bucs had two big plays on their third TD drive. And Pola-Mao missed tackles on both of them. The first, he lowered his head and dove, leading to Mike Evans hurdling him to go for 32 yards. The next one he laid out and whiffed again on a 34-yard run that put them in first and goal.

The final touchdown drive featured a Pola-Mao giving up a catch and missing the tackle on a 45-yard play. Three plays later, they put the game away.

QB Aidan O’Connell

To lead out the second quarter, the Raiders got a rare takeaway. And on then O’Connell fumbled the snap on the first play of their possession to give it right back.

The defense would get it back again on their first fumble recovery of the season and this time AOC made something out of it. If not for Brock Bowers drawing a pass interference on third down, the Raiders would have likely only gotten a field goal out of it. That gave the Raiders first and goal and led to AOC getting the first rushing yards of his career on a TD sneak. Making it seem for a moment like the Raiders would make a game of it.

But even with a 29-yard run on the next drive, the Raiders couldn’t get a touchdown out of it.

To begin the third quarter, they had a long drive. And that QB sneak TD seemed to make AOC feel mobile for a moment. He tried to run it and got four yards, but hurt himself when he was tackled. He stayed in the game and the offense moved inside the ten. Then AOC tried forcing a pass to Brock Bowers and was picked off to get no points out of the 16-play drive.

The next drive, he tried rolling right and was pushed after the pass, hurting his leg bad enough they put it in an air cast and carted him off the field. Yeah, mobility is still not his thing.

C Jackson Powers-Johnson

Even if you don’t blame him for the fumbled snap, he had plenty of issues in the game.

After giving up a touchdown to open the game, the Raiders needed a response. They instead had a three-and-out. On third and ten, JPJ didn’t pick up the blitz and AOC was sacked for a ten-yard loss.

He was flagged for a blindside block on the next Raiders drive that called back a nice screen to Sincere McCormick. Though to be honest it was a pretty questionable call.

On the play in which AOC got hurt on the rollout, one of the defenders who was chasing him down got by JPJ.

Then there was another fumbled snap exchange between him and Desmond Ridder.

LB Robert Spillane

On the second TD drive for the Bucs, Spillane gave up a 13-yard run, then a 12-yard run, and then was standing in the middle of the field a few yards away watching Rachaad White catch the touchdown. That was three consecutive plays.

The next TD drive, he gave up the edge on a 34-yard run and then didn’t fill the gap on the three-yard touchdown run on the next play.

CB DeCamerion Richardson

The rookie has been a mainstay among the Busters since he took over for Jakorian Bennett after the injury. He was out of position on a 15-yard catch and run on the first TD drive.

In the third quarter he was posterized on a wicked stiff arm to give up a 12-yard run. The next drive, he gave up a 14-yard catch on third and eight. And the next drive he gave up a 32-yard catch, which was the big catch that seemed to get the Bucs offense back on track and they scored a two touchdowns down the stretch to end it.

WR Tre Tucker

The Raiders deep threat had two catches for seven yards. They went to him early and he couldn’t get open up the middle. A couple drives later, O’Connell threw for him up the left sideline and he couldn’t keep his feet inbounds.

P AJ Cole

He had four punts. None were stopped inside the 20 and one bounded into the end zone for a touchback to average a net 38.5 yards per punt.

See the Ballers

Raiders offense seeing signs of progress of late

Even as the Raiders losing streak continues, there are positive signs they could be putting things together on offense under interim OC Scott Turner.

Make no mistake, the Raiders are still one of the worst teams in the league. They are still in the midst of an eight-game losing streak and the offense hasn’t cracked 20 points in a month. But if you are looking for signs of hope, there are signs to be found.

A month ago, the Raiders fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and promoted passing game coordinator Scott Turner to interim OC. And things have improved in the three games since he took over.

Total yards have been better in each of the past three games than they had been for any of the games over the final month under Getsy. The passing yards totals have been better than at any point since their losing streak began and have gone over 300 yards in each of the past two games, which hadn’t happened all season coming in. And their 116 yards on the ground in Kansas City last week was their third highest total of the season.

Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce credits Turner for that improvement.

“When I look at all our skill guys and improvement that they’re making these last three games, I think Scott [Turner] has done a good job of really getting everybody involved and that’s even in our running game,” said Pierce. “And that’s a credit to these players, because it hasn’t gone our way for most of the season offensively, and to see the progress that we made over the last two or three weeks is good to see.”

The deep passing game has been the catalyst for the overall improved numbers through the air. And the best example was the 58-yard touchdown from Aidan O’Connell to Tre Tucker last week.

“We’ve been talking about hitting shots for a while now, and I thought the best thing we did was play design,” Pierce said. “Let’s look at that, right? We got him in motion. We got movement between the corner and the nickel, now we’ve got Tre Tucker running full speed on them, something we’ve been really working on in practice.”

Coaching may be where it starts, but you can’t call a pass play like that without a QB who can make that throw. It’s something former starter Gardner Minshew lacked, but that is very much in a staple of current (and former) starter Aidan O’Connell’s game.

“We haven’t thrown the ball down the field, let’s just keep it frank,” Pierce continued. “And Aidan [O’Connell] saw it, and I’m not going to lie he did right in front of me, I just said ball and that bad boy kept running. It was beautiful to see.”

At some point, it may lead to a win. Which, with the Raiders officially eliminated from playoff contention, may not matter much. What you really want to see now is progress and some signs of a good foundation for the future.

Watch: Aidan O’Connell throws 2 TD passes late to take lead over Chiefs

Two huge throws by Aidan O’Connell to Brock Bowers and Tre Tucker has the Raiders storm back early in the fourth to take the lead in KC.

It was getting late and the Raiders were showing little signs of life on offense. The Chiefs were up 16-3 and the way things were going, that seemed like enough to win it.

Then things changed very quickly.

Aidan O’Connell threw a couple touchdown passes to take the lead in Kansas City.

The first was a drop in the bucket to Brock Bowers.

Bowers had a one-handed grab a bit earlier, so he was showing that he was where they need to go to get the tough yards.

The defense forced a Chiefs three-and-out, and on the first play of the Raiders’ possession, O’Connell threw a perfect deep ball to a streaking Tre Tucker up the left sideline for another touchdown…and the lead.

Suddenly it was a 17-16 Raiders lead which no doubt had the Chiefs having flashbacks to their loss to the Raiders on Christmas Day last season.

Raiders Week 7 snap counts vs Rams: Who filled in at receiver with Jakobi Meyers OUT

With Davante Adams traded away and Jakobi Meyers again out with injury, the Raiders had to cobble together a wide receiver corps vs the Rams

It is becoming increasingly obvious with each game the lack of star power on this Raiders team. Obviously it starts at quarterback where it clearly hasn’t mattered whether it’s Aidan O’Connell or Gardner Minshew behind center. But it extends well beyond that.

Several of the team’s biggest stars heading into this season were not on the field or not on the roster for Sunday’s game in Los Angeles. Including Davante Adams who was traded to the Jets and Christian Wilkins who is on injured reserve.

At receiver in particular, they were also without start Jakobi Meyers who has an ankle injury.

Leading the way in snaps for the Raiders were Tre Tucker and DJ Turner, both of whom plaed 75 snaps (95%). That takes care of one outside receiver spot (Tucker) and the slot (Turner).

For the other receiver spot, the duties were split between recent practice squad players Alex Bachman and Kristian Wilkerson; neither of whom got a single target. So, yeah, not really what you want.

It was a four-man rotation at defensive tackle of Adam Butler, John Jenkins, Jonah Laulu, and Matthew Butler.

Offense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Jackson Powers-Johnson G 79 100% 5 18%
Kolton Miller T 79 100% 5 18%
Jordan Meredith G 79 100% 5 18%
DJ Glaze T 79 100% 5 18%
Andre James C 79 100% 0 0%
DJ Turner WR 75 95% 7 25%
Tre Tucker WR 75 95% 0 0%
Brock Bowers TE 66 84% 0 0%
Gardner Minshew II QB 65 82% 0 0%
Alexander Mattison RB 55 70% 0 0%
Alex Bachman WR 36 46% 12 43%
Harrison Bryant TE 23 29% 4 14%
Kristian Wilkerson WR 18 23% 6 21%
John Samuel Shenker TE 14 18% 11 39%
Aidan O’Connell QB 14 18% 0 0%
Ameer Abdullah RB 13 16% 15 54%
Zamir White RB 11 14% 0 0%
Justin Shorter TE 3 4% 12 43%
Andrus Peat G 3 4% 5 18%
Thayer Munford T 3 4% 5 18%
Defense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Isaiah Pola-Mao FS 55 100% 7 25%
Maxx Crosby DE 55 100% 1 4%
Tre’von Moehrig FS 55 100% 0 0%
Robert Spillane LB 55 100% 0 0%
Jack Jones CB 53 96% 0 0%
Divine Deablo LB 51 93% 11 39%
Nate Hobbs CB 48 87% 0 0%
Jakorian Bennett CB 44 80% 0 0%
Adam Butler DT 36 65% 5 18%
John Jenkins DT 34 62% 7 25%
Tyree Wilson DE 30 55% 3 11%
Jonah Laulu DT 27 49% 6 21%
K’Lavon Chaisson LB 22 40% 1 4%
Matthew Butler DT 16 29% 4 14%
Charles Snowden DE 11 20% 11 39%
Decamerion Richardson CB 9 16% 16 57%
Thomas Harper FS 4 7% 16 57%
Special Teams Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Amari Gainer LB 0 0% 23 82%
Amari Burney LB 0 0% 23 82%
Christopher Smith SS 0 0% 16 57%
Trey Taylor SS 0 0% 12 43%
Daniel Carlson K 0 0% 10 36%
Jacob Bobenmoyer LS 0 0% 9 32%
AJ Cole III P 0 0% 9 32%
Darnay Holmes CB 0 0% 7 25%
Nesta Jade Silvera DT 0 0% 7 25%
Cody Whitehair G 0 0% 5 18%
Tyreik McAllister RB 0 0% 2 7%

Raiders only full time starting WR had zero touches Week 6 despite playing nearly every snap

The Raiders only starting receiver played nearly every snap vs the Steelers and had zero touches

With Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers OUT for this game, the only wide receiver on the Raiders’ roster was Tre Tucker. So, you’d figure he would be a big part of the offense. Yeah, about that…

Tucker played all but three snaps in the game (62), but didn’t have a single catch or carry to show for it.

It wasn’t really his fault. He was only targeted twice in the game and the first one didn’t come until the final seconds of the second quarter.

Tucker is a weapon for this team, with his speed and improved catching abilities this season. But while Aidan O’Connell and the Raiders offense was searching for answers, they oddly weren’t looking to Tucker much to find it.

Offense Spec tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Delmar Glaze T 63 100% 1 4%
Jackson Powers-Johnson G 63 100% 1 4%
Kolton Miller T 63 100% 1 4%
Andre James C 63 100% 0 0%
Aidan O’Connell QB 63 100% 0 0%
Tre Tucker WR 60 95% 0 0%
Brock Bowers TE 50 79% 0 0%
Jordan Meredith G 43 68% 1 4%
Alexander Mattison RB 43 68% 0 0%
DJ Turner WR 42 67% 2 8%
Harrison Bryant TE 36 57% 8 32%
Alex Bachman WR 27 43% 14 56%
Kristian Wilkerson WR 27 43% 0 0%
Dylan Parham G 20 32% 1 4%
Ameer Abdullah RB 19 30% 15 60%
John Samuel Shenker TE 8 13% 15 60%
Andrus Peat G 2 3% 1 4%
Dylan Laube RB 1 2% 11 44%
Defense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Isaiah Pola-Mao FS 67 100% 6 24%
Robert Spillane LB 67 100% 0 0%
Tre’von Moehrig FS 67 100% 0 0%
Jack Jones CB 64 96% 0 0%
Maxx Crosby DE 63 94% 0 0%
Divine Deablo LB 62 93% 4 16%
Nate Hobbs CB 62 93% 0 0%
Adam Butler DT 56 84% 1 4%
John Jenkins DT 42 63% 6 24%
Charles Snowden DE 33 49% 10 40%
Matthew Butler DT 32 48% 6 24%
Jakorian Bennett CB 32 48% 0 0%
Jonah Laulu DT 24 36% 6 24%
K’Lavon Chaisson LB 24 36% 0 0%
Tyree Wilson DE 23 34% 5 20%
Nesta Jade Silvera DT 10 15% 6 24%
Thomas Harper FS 5 7% 23 92%
Darnay Holmes CB 4 6% 3 12%
Special Teams Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Kana’i Mauga LB 0 0% 24 96%
Amari Gainer LB 0 0% 24 96%
Amari Burney LB 0 0% 24 96%
Christopher Smith SS 0 0% 18 72%
Trey Taylor SS 0 0% 14 56%
Decamerion Richardson CB 0 0% 8 32%
AJ Cole III P 0 0% 5 20%
Jacob Bobenmoyer LS 0 0% 5 20%
Daniel Carlson K 0 0% 4 16%
Cody Whitehair G 0 0% 1 4%

 

3 causes for concern as Raiders face the Steelers Week 6

There are a few areas that are no doubt pretty worrisome for the Raiders against the Steelers Sunday.

While there are some reasons for optimism for the Raiders as they get set to face the Steelers this Sunday, there are also plenty causes for concern. Here are three I’m looking at.

Turnover differential…differential

With these two teams, you have nearly opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to turnovers. The Raiders have literally the worst turnover differential in the league (-7). While the Steelers have the fifth best tunover differential (+4).

Just once has a Steelers QB thrown an interception this season. Meanwhile, the Raiders are tied for the most interceptions thrown in the league (6).

It seems kind of funny, then, that both teams are talking about switching quarterbacks. Clearly the bar for QB play with each team is set at very different heights.

Down two number one receivers?

That’s what the Raiders could be looking at in this game. Davante Adams is set to miss his third game with a hamstring/trade request situation. His fellow starter — and number one receiver replacement the past two weeks — Jakobi Meyers is dealing with an ankle injury that has his status in doubt as well.

The past couple weeks they turned to DJ Turner as their third option behind Meyers and Tre Tucker. If Meyers is out too, Turner could start and it’s hard to say who else will step up considering the only other wide receiver on the roster is Tyreik McAllister. And Tucker, Turner, and McAllister are all very similiar types of receivers.

Suffice to say their options are limited and depth is a huge concern.

Terrible Towel Takeover

Word is this game is a hot ticket. And you can bet it isn’t because Raiders fans are simply much more eager to see their team take on this old rival. It’s because Steelers fans are coming. And with them the Raiders lose anything resembling home field advantage.

Expect Allegiant to be inundated with Terrible Towels. Yeah, the idea that a piece of cloth would be intimidating is laughable. But, really, it’s not about the towel. It’s about the noise of the fans attached to them. And in a covered stadium like this, it will get extremely noisy.

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…

Raiders Week 4 snap counts vs Browns: Who got bulk of playing time replacing injured starters

How did the playing time shake out replacing Raiders injured starters vs Browns

Due to the string of injuries to Raiders starters, the lineup that took the field for them on Sunday was almost unrecognizable.

The offense was without several starters including WR Davante Adams, RT Thayer Munford, and TE Michael Mayer.

In their stead, WR Tre Tucker saw 50 snaps (85%), Harrison Bryant saw 45 snaps (76%), and DJ Glaze saw all 59 offensive snaps at right tackle.

Also making his debut on the offensive line was Jackson Powers-Johnson who played ever snap at guard.

On the defensive side, they were without both original starting defensive ends with Maxx Crosby being lost this week. They also recently lost safety Marcus Epps for the season and were without LB Divine Deablo as well.

The edge rushers were led by Tyree Wilson’s 42 snaps (71%) and K’Lavon Chaisson’s 41 snaps (69%). Then Charles Snowden got 29 snaps (49%) and Janarius Robinson had just eight snaps (14%).

Jack Jones was benched early in the game, giving Darnay Holmes 12 snaps (20%). While Jones would end up playing 39 snaps (66%).

Offense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Delmar Glaze T 59 100% 4 15%
Jackson Powers-Johnson G 59 100% 4 15%
Kolton Miller T 59 100% 0 0%
Gardner Minshew II QB 59 100% 0 0%
Andre James C 59 100% 0 0%
Jakobi Meyers WR 57 97% 0 0%
Dylan Parham G 51 86% 4 15%
Tre Tucker WR 50 85% 3 12%
Brock Bowers TE 48 81% 0 0%
Harrison Bryant TE 45 76% 5 19%
Zamir White RB 35 59% 0 0%
DJ Turner WR 25 42% 0 0%
Alexander Mattison RB 21 36% 0 0%
Cody Whitehair G 8 14% 4 15%
John Samuel Shenker TE 5 8% 12 46%
Tyreik McAllister RB 4 7% 6 23%
Andrus Peat G 4 7% 4 15%
Alex Bachman WR 1 2% 9 35%
Defense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Isaiah Pola-Mao FS 59 100% 3 12%
Robert Spillane LB 59 100% 0 0%
Tre’von Moehrig FS 59 100% 0 0%
Jakorian Bennett CB 56 95% 0 0%
Nate Hobbs CB 55 93% 0 0%
Christian Wilkins DT 53 90% 4 15%
Adam Butler DT 50 85% 4 15%
Tyree Wilson DE 42 71% 3 12%
K’Lavon Chaisson LB 41 69% 5 19%
Jack Jones CB 39 66% 0 0%
Luke Masterson LB 34 58% 22 85%
Charles Snowden DE 29 49% 0 0%
John Jenkins DT 24 41% 5 19%
Amari Burney LB 12 20% 19 73%
Darnay Holmes CB 12 20% 7 27%
Tommy Eichenberg LB 11 19% 19 73%
Janarius Robinson DE 8 14% 3 12%
Nesta Jade Silvera DT 6 10% 5 19%
Special Teams Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Amari Gainer LB 0 0% 22 85%
Christopher Smith SS 0 0% 20 77%
Thomas Harper FS 0 0% 18 69%
Ameer Abdullah RB 0 0% 16 62%
Sam Webb CB 0 0% 11 42%
AJ Cole III P 0 0% 9 35%
Dylan Laube RB 0 0% 9 35%
Daniel Carlson K 0 0% 9 35%
Jacob Bobenmoyer LS 0 0% 9 35%
Jonah Laulu DT 0 0% 5 19%
Jordan Meredith G 0 0% 4 15

Raiders change up run game approach vs Browns, eclipse entire season rushing total

Funny what can happen when you try something other than running into brick walls over and over.

Three games in and the Raiders were averaging 51 yards rushing per game. Their offense was incredibly predictable and going nowhere fast. Something seems to have finally clicked with the coaching staff that starting nearly every set of downs with two runs up the middle was not establishing anything but how terrible the Raiders were at doing it.

So, today, the Raiders tried something new – give the receivers the ball.

And by that, I mean literally hand it to them.

Five times in the game, the Raiders gave it to a receiver either on a sweep or a reverse. The result of those plays was 44 yards and both of the Raiders’ touchdowns.

The first time came late in the first quarter and it went to Brock Bowers who picked up 12 yards on the play. That led out a long touchdown drive. That drive ended with Tyreik McAllister going for ten yards on a sweep and two plays later, Tre Tucker on the reverse for the touchdown from three yards out.

“You call it in the huddle and in my head it’s a touchdown because no one’s running me down. It’s three yards I had to get,” said Tucker. “I bet my life I can get three yards down there, so that’s what I did.”

Plays like that have residual effects.

The next Raiders drive, Tucker caught a pass in the right flat and then turned it into nine yards. The next play, Alexander Mattison got the ball up the middle and took off for the longest run of the season, going for 24 yards. It was a pull block by newly minted starter Jackson Powers-Johnson that helped open up the hole Mattison used.

“Definitely a domino effect,” said Powers-Johnson of one good run leading to another. “You just gain confidence. Sometimes you just need…I mean you look at a pitcher who practices his curve ball. Doesn’t get it right, doesn’t get it right. And then he feels that perfect flick of the wrist and just curves right over. That’s how it is. You see that one pop where pads are popping and you feel that crowd and you’re like, ok let’s go.”

That 24-yarder wasn’t just the longest run of the season. It was TWICE that of their previous longest run of the season. And by halftime the Raiders had 95 yards on the ground, which already nearly doubled their previous yards per game average. It’s no accident it came on the heels of several successful plays on the outside.

“It keeps the defense on their toes and keeps them thinking,” Mattison said of getting the receivers involved in the run game. “They don’t know who’s getting the ball, they don’t know where the ball’s going. So for us to be able to keep them operating and thinking like that, it’s big.”

Come the third quarter, Mattison broke off another big run. This time for 16 yards. And the Raiders used that run to throw the curve ball and hand it to DJ Turner on a sweep. Turner got a nice block from Brock Bowers to get around the edge and another great block from Tre Tucker to finish it off with a touchdown.

Turner has no shortage of speed. But Turner knows even the quickest players need their teammates doing their jobs to turn good gains into paydirt.

“He told me before the game ‘once you get the ball I got you’, Turner said of Tucker. “So I just followed him and it happened.”

“It was awesome,’ Tucker said of the play. “It’s one of those things where I can’t really see what’s going on behind me. I’m just blocking and blocking and next thing I know I’m like I just hear the crowd go crazy. I’m like what happened and DJ’s in the end zone and I’m out of bounds blocking. Like they say that’s a touchdown block.”

With that touchdown run, the Raiders went up 20-10 and led the rest of the way. And by midway through the fourth quarter, they had already surpassed in this game alone, their entire rushing total over the first three games coming in.

Funny what can happen when you stop simply banging your head against the wall over and over.

5 Raiders who will attempt to fill shoes of Maxx Crosby and other missing starters vs Browns

Some players are simply not replaceable. Maxx Crosby and Davante Adams are two such players. But the Raiders are in the position right now where they have no choice but to try and replace their roles in the lineup because both stars are OUT for …

Some players are simply not replaceable. Maxx Crosby and Davante Adams are two such players. But the Raiders are in the position right now where they have no choice but to try and replace their roles in the lineup because both stars are OUT for Sunday’s game against the Browns.

Here are the players who will be asked to step up in the absence of the missing Raiders starters.

Replacing: Davante Adams (hamstring)

When the Raiders want to make a play downfield, they usually look to either Davante Adams or Tre Tucker. The two are very different kinds of receivers, but in their own ways are capable of being a deep threat for this team. Tucker does it with pure speed. Adams does it was route running and savvy.

It doesn’t matter how it happens, it just has to happen. Or at least the threat of it must be there. Tucker has been the third receiver on this team all season, behind Adams and Jakobi Meyers. Now Tucker will step up and start on the outside, attempting to fill the void left by Adams’s absence.

Stepping up to fill the shoes of Tucker in the slot will be DJ Turner.

Replacing: Michael Mayer (personal)

Mayer has been a co-starter this season along with rookie Brock Bowers. He’s also been the primary blocking tight end. Harrison Bryant has been the third tight end on this team this season, though he’s only played 14 snaps on offense. The former Browns tight end was a priority free agent signing this offseason, and initially was expected to be the team’s number two tight end. That was until they had Brock Bowers fall into their lap in the draft and the team made other plans.

Replacing: Thayer Munford (knee/ankle)

Munford was lost on the second snap of last Sunday’s game and didn’t return. Coming in for him was DJ Glaze. The third round rookie had impressed in camp and was considered a viable option to step in at right tackle right away. And just two games into the season, that’s what he was asked to do. He played well in his debut last Sunday. He will be asked to do it again.

Replacing: Maxx Crosby (ankle)

Replacing might not be the right word here. No one is replacing Crosby on this team. He is the heart, soul, and motor of this Raiders defense. We saw that last week when his ankle had him not quite himself and missing quite a few snaps. As a result, Andy Dalton had a field day and the Raiders gave up 36 points to the Panthers.

Wilson’s 34 snaps (46%) was second among edge rushers as they mixed it up with Janarius Robinson, Charles Snowden, and Amari Gainer all getting a fair amount of snaps as well. The only edge rusher who was in the game on each of the 13 snaps Crosby missed was Wilson. Expect him to lead the edge rushers in snaps in this game with a healthy rotation to keep everyone fresh. I would also expect to see practice squad DE K’Lavon Chaisson activated and in that rotation.

Replacing: Divine Deablo (oblique)

Masterson started last Sunday’s game in place of Deablo as well. So, expect that to continue. The Raiders have a lot of linebackers on this team, but it’s really a matter of quantity more than quality. Most are relegated to special teams. The only ones who saw snaps last week other than the starters were Amari Gainer (10 snaps) and Tommy Eichenberg (five snaps).

Eichenberg is considered a middle linebacker, but with Robert Spillane playing every snap, the rookie was asked to play outside linebacker for his five snaps in the game. And Gainer spent all ten of his snaps lined up at edge rusher.