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Raiders 2023 Season Busters
While the Raiders may have ended the season with a good feeling overall, they ended it with a meaningless game. Being unable to reach .500 and knocked out of the playoffs before the end of the season obviously means a few things went wrong.
We covered the top performances in the Ballers. Now let’s get to the bad news with our Busters.
Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 18 win over Broncos
For the fourth straight season, the Raiders complete the sweep of the Broncos. That’s right, the Las Vegas Raiders have never lost to the Broncos.
Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 14 loss to Vikings
A barn burner it was not. This game made the wrong kind of history. It was the first game in Raiders history that was scoreless in the fourth quarter. In fact, the first score didn’t happen until 1:57 left in the game. That was a Vikings field goal and it proved to be the game winner.
Both teams had moved into scoring range earlier in the game, but the Vikings missed a field goal attempt and the Raiders fumbled it away inside the 20.
The result was a 0-0 tie for the first 58 minutes and a final of 3-0.
Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 10 win over Jets
The way this one played out was pretty much exactly as everyone expected. In the lead up to the game, I basically kept thinking to myself ‘first to 16 wins’. That’s because ain’t nobody was gonna be scoring more than one touchdown and if either team did, that would be the deciding factor.
That team was the Raiders, who beat the Jets 16-12.
Even if you remove his late game clutch interception, Spillane might still have been the best player in this contest. And that’s saying a lot.
Spillane was on a mission. At least four times in this game, plays he made were the deciding factor in stopping a Jets’ drive.
Come the second quarter, the Jets had scored on their first three possessions to go up 9-3. Thanks to Spillane, they wouldn’t score again until the fourth quarter.
Their next three possessions ended with Spillane making the play. A run stuff for no gain on third and two, a sack on second and two, and forcing a hold on third and 21 then making the stop on third and 22.
Then with the Jets within four at 16-12 and driving late in the fourth quarter, he stepped in front of the Zach Wilson pass for his third interception of the season. This one with a cast on his right hand. Unbelievable.
It was a back-and-forth game with the Raiders failing to take the lead once in the first three quarters. That ended on the first play of the fourth quarter when Aidan O’Connell escaped pressure and put a ball up high where only Mayer could get it and Mayer leapt in the air, plucking it from over the top of the defender to the go-ahead score.
It was Mayer’s first touchdown as a pro and it was a beauty. And in a game like this, it proved to be enough to get the W.
This game started poorly for the Raiders, with a 41-yard catch and run that put them in scoring range. It would go no further thanks to Crosby. He flew in for what should be credited as a sack. And when I say that, I think a rule change is in order, which states that if you have the player wrapped up and he is flagged for intentional grounding, that should be a sack. For the purposes of the game, it was the same. The Jets lost ten yards and a down and couldn’t make it back up, settling for a field goal.
It was big plays on each drive that put the Jets in scoring range. Their third one came off of an interception and moved them into first and goal at the three. A touchdown here may have been devastating in a game this close. So, Crosby wrecked it. He forced a holding penalty that backed them up to the 13. Then was in on the run stop on second and goal and the Jets would settle for a third field goal.
Jenkins had a run stuff on the Jets’ first drive. Tillery upended the second drive when he forced a holding penalty. Butler ended the third drive on third and goal when he batted the ball down at the line.
The next possession, Jenkins had another run stuff for no gain. Then the drive after that, he got one of his big mitts on a pass to bat it at the line. Come the third quarter, Butler had a tackle for loss on a three-and-out.
The first drive of the fourth quarter ended with Tillery getting all the way out to the left boundary to help Divine Deablo lead Zach Wilson out of bounds to end the drive. And on the Spillane interception, it was Tillery who got around his man to get pressure in Wilson’s face and force the throw.
His two fumbles in the game really had me thinking whether he deserved to be on this list. In the end I decided that because his hard running was such a key factor in the Raiders scoring 16 points in the first place, he deserved more credit than blame.
His first fumble came on the tail end of a 40-yard burst and it bounced out of bounds. The run put the Raiders at the 13-yard-line. The next play he ran for five yards to the eight. Two plays later, they scored the touchdown.
In the early going, yards were tough to come by for Jacobs against a stout Jets defensive front. Even so, his running was a major factor in several scoring drives. Their second scoring drive came near the end of the second quarter and featured runs of six yards and eight yards — both of which the Raiders made the first down on the next play.
The third scoring drive saw Jacobs convert a third and two and a fourth and one along with the longest play of the drive that went for 12 yards on a catch in the left flat. That drive tied the game at 9-9.
Just prior to his lost fumble late in the fourth, Jacobs showed he is still a strong runner late in games, when broke several tackles and carried defenders the final five yards of a seven-yard first down run. He also had a nine-yard run and converted on third and one on that drive.
Jacobs finished with 116 yards rushing — his first time going over 100 yards this season — and added two catches for 11 yards.
The Jets have the man once known at ‘Greg the Leg’ and ‘Legatron’. And the Raiders have the best in the game today in Carlson. Both kickers were doing work in this one, with Carlson splitting them from 40, 41, and 54 yards.
WR DeAndre Carter — Had a 32-yard kick return to the Jets 45 that helped lead to the game-tying field goal. Later had a 15-yard run on fourth and one.
Raiders DE Tyree Wilson records sack against top left tackle in Week 9
It certainly has been a tough rookie season for Tyree Wilson. Not only was he dealing with a foot injury all offseason, but the team has gone through a coaching change at the mid-point of the season. It also doesn’t help that he was forced into the lineup after the release of Chandler Jones early in the season.
But there have been some signs of growth from Wilson over the last few weeks. He recorded his first sack of his career against the Bears and got another this week against the Giants. His sack against Andrew Thomas was highly impressive, beating him around the EDGE.
Wilson still struggled overall in the game, but his sacks and recent play have been encouraging nonetheless. Here is what Pro Football Focus had to say about the rookie EDGE rusher after nine games this year:
Wilson’s highlight this week was racing past All-Pro Andrew Thomas for his second career sack. He finished Week 9 with that play as his only pressure on 19 pass-rush snaps.
His work in the run game was a mixed bag, as he made three run stops but also lost control of his gap a few times. Nevertheless, while the production is inconsistent, this was Wilson’s most active game, a small win during a mostly tough rookie year.
The Raiders are hoping that Wilson can show more over the final eight games of the season. But there is no doubt that his play has improved over the last month. His development will be one of the key storylines to watch over the next two months for the Raiders.
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Raiders DE Tyree Wilson named biggest disappointment from 2023 NFL Draft
Maxx Crosby continues to be an absolute force for the Las Vegas Raiders. You can make a strong case that he’s been the best pass rusher in the league this season. But the Raiders have to find someone to help him on the other side.
The Raiders were hopeful that Chandler Jones would be able to do that. But the team released him a few weeks ago after a brief stint away from the team. That meant more snaps for Tyree Wilson, the No. 7 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Unfortunately, he’s not been able to help out Crosby either this season.
In a recent article by ESPN’s NFL Draft Experts, they took a look at all of the first-round rookies from the 2023 draft class. Not surprisingly, they were critical of the play of Wilson, who has yet to record a sack this season.
According to Matt Miller, Wilson has underperformed more than any other first-round pick from the class:
The pass-rusher was drafted to take pressure off Maxx Crosby, and that need has only heightened since the Raiders released Chandler Jones. Wilson has zero sacks and a 4.3% pass rush win rate through four games. He needs to get on the field more and start making an impact that lives up to the No. 7 overall pick that the Raiders used on him.
Wilson dealt with a foot injury for most of the offseason and was unable to participate in much of training camp. He only played a handful of snaps in the preseason, so it’s not unreasonable to think that he could still be shaking off the rust.
But the truth is that the Raiders need Wilson now. They need him to play better and to start contributing. And so far, they haven’t gotten much of anything from their top pick.
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Tyree Wilson has been the NFL’s worst first round rookie thru 3 weeks
Taking a player at seven overall doesn’t necessarily mean he is going to be the seventh best player in the draft. And it isn’t a great disappointment if his talent level doesn’t line up perfectly with his draft position. But you do hope he isn’t literally the worst player taken on day one of the draft.
So far this season, that has been the case according to Pro Football Focus.
Tyree Wilson comes in with a grade of 36.2 after three games this season, which is the lowest grade of any first round rookie according to PFF.
Wilson had another quiet day, playing just 11 snaps against Pittsburgh and making little impact. Given his draft status, the starting edge role opposite Maxx Crosby should be his, but he isn’t producing enough to justify something greater than occasional snaps.
It’s hard to say whether Wilson’s 11 snaps last week were more a product of his disappointing first two games or missing two practices last week with an illness. Pretty bad when you don’t know whether he was kept off the field for being sick or just plain bad.
But if you think his grade was negatively effected by this past week, you’d be wrong. He was given a grade of 54.2 in those 11 snaps, which means he was considerably worse in the previous weeks which led to his low overall grade.
With Chandler Jones out for personal reasons, Tyree Wilson was supposed to step up. Yes, he was thrust into that role a bit earlier than the team had hoped, but that’s just to say they probably were fine with not getting his best. Not that they expected to get less than nothing from him and have to look elsewhere to replace Jones.
That elsewhere has been a combination of third year De Malcolm Koonce along with practice squad call up Isaac Rochell and DT Jerry Tillery sliding outside on occasion.
Nothing has really worked. But that’s why you draft a player at seventh overall. For them to be the answer. And when they’re not, you are kinda screwed.
Raiders DE Tyree Wilson plays only 11 snaps in Week 3
It’s been quite the struggle early on for Tyree Wilson. The No. 7 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft missed most of the offseason due to a foot injury and his lack of practice reps are starting to show up on the field.
In a recent article by Pro Football Focus, they wrote about every first-round pick from the 2023 NFL Draft after Week 3. That included Wilson, who has yet to record a single pressure in three games. Here is what they had to say about the EDGE rusher from Texas Tech through three games:
Wilson had another quiet day, playing just 11 snaps against Pittsburgh and making little impact. Given his draft status, the starting edge role opposite Maxx Crosby should be his, but he isn’t producing enough to justify something greater than occasional snaps.
Wilson did not practice much last week as he was dealing with an illness. That is likely why his snaps were limited in Week 3 as the Raiders probably didn’t want to overwork him without a lot of practice snaps.
However, Wilson needs to show the coaching staff that he deserves more snaps. Because right now, it’s hard to justify keeping him on the field if he can’t produce any type of pressure.
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Raiders DE Tyree Wilson is officially Questionable with an illness vs Steelers
Friday saw Tyree Wilson a limited participant in practice. That was a step in the right direction for the rookie edge rusher who missed Wednesday and Thursday with an undisclosed illness. The team has officially listed him as Questionable for Sunday’s home opener against the Steelers.
DE Tyree Wilson (illness) officially Questionable for #Raiders vs #Steelers pic.twitter.com/D5hDkLr7Ye
— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) September 22, 2023
It wouldn’t be a the worst thing if Wilson were to be shut down for Sunday’s game. Even at full strength over the first two games this season, he has a 0% win rate. If he is not 100%, that would not help things in that area.
Wilson was playing as much as he was because Chandler Jones has been out with personal issues. With Jones placed on the Non-Football Illness list, the top option to start at DE across from Maxx Crosby is Malcolm Koonce with practice squad DE Isaac Rochell again called up to rotate in.
The only player on the Steelers injury report is WR Gunner Olszewski who is Out with a concussion.
Tyree Wilson misses practice again with illness
For the second straight day, Tyree Wilson was not on the practice field for the Raiders. He was missing with an undisclosed illness.
Tyree Wilson misses second straight practice with an illness. #Raiders #Steelers pic.twitter.com/hm1y2iffyP
— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) September 21, 2023
Returning to practice from illness was fellow rookie Christopher Smith II. Meanwhile several others were upgraded from limited to full, including LB Divine Deablo, S Marcus Epps, and WR Jakobi Meyers. And Davante Adams was removed from the injury report altogether.
For the Steelers, they got back six of the eight players who missed practice on Wednesday. The only remaining players not practicing were WR Gunner Olszewski and DT Larry Ogunjobi.
