Loser: CB Nevin Lawson
Nevin Lawson has not been the greatest Raiders corner this season for the franchise. He has been up and down throughout the 2020 campaign and doesn’t have that many standout performances. The Broncos game was not a performance that would change anything about his evaluation of the season.
The Broncos picked on Lawson the whole game and threw him consistently on third downs. This led to a high amount of penalties for the defense, with Lawson constantly out of position and grabbing too much press coverage. When he didn’t grab, he gave up big catches allowing the Broncos offense to move the football.
It is highly doubtful the Raiders bring Lawson back on a contract for another season. Even as a depth piece, he hasn’t filled in correctly and has constantly been adding penalties with no turnovers. It is time for the Raiders to move on.
Loser: SS Johnathan Abram
Johnathan Abram has had his struggles of being up and down and has been more down lately. That continued on Sunday, where he almost let the game away himself. His struggles in coverage continue, and the Raiders have to evaluate if he can ever cover.
On the 92 yard touchdown, Abram was supposed to have the middle of the field in the Tampa 2 dime package. Instead, he left his area freelancing and left a big gaping hole in the back of the defense. With this mistake, Abram helped allow one of the longest touchdowns of the season and almost cost the Raiders the game.
The young safety has to clean this up if he wants to be a starter in this league. Abram can’t freelance in coverage, especially when he doesn’t have top-notch instincts to go with it. He has to stick to his responsibilities, or he might not be a starter in this league for long.
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