Tre Tucker gave the Las Vegas Raiders one last shot Sunday. His 44-yard touchdown came with 1:32 left, but the Raiders still needed an onside kick to mount a comeback. Bills wide receiver Khalil Shakir caught that kick in the air, sealing a 33-30 Buffalo Bills victory at the dead star.
The Raiders (3-3) have lost three consecutive games, and head coach Klint Kubiak was not celebrating.
"Credit to Buffalo, they played a great game," Kubiak said at his postgame news conference. "You know, as a team, we did not close the game, and there's plenty of improvement, but we're not satisfied with any moral victories."
Here is who left Sunday looking better and who has some explaining to do.
Winner: Wide Receiver, Tre Tucker
Somebody in the wide receiver room finally answered the bell. Tucker caught five passes for 97 yards and both Raiders receiving touchdowns. His 11-yard score tied the game at 23, and his diving 44-yard grab finished a 24-second drive.
"I think he's faster than I realize he is, and there's times where I just need to launch, and he'll go get it,"
Cousins said when asked about his connection with Tucker. Sometimes Cousins simply needs to just let it fly.
Winner: Tight End Michael Mayer and the pass protection
Buffalo built its coverage around taking Brock Bowers away. Bowers went without a catch until the second half.
"Yeah, just playing with certain leverages and doubling him and putting two people on him and having eyeballs on him," Cousins said after the game.
Mayer made Buffalo pay for that attention with seven catches for a career-high 95 yards. The line deserves its flowers, too. After last week's protection problems, Cousins was not sacked and threw for 313 yards. Caleb Rogers also started ahead of Jackson Powers-Johnson at right guard.
Winner: Mike Washington Jr.
Watching from the couch, the difference between the two running backs was hard to miss. Washington hit the hole with purpose, carrying nine times for 43 yards. Ashton Jeanty managed 22 yards on 10 carries, though he scored his first rushing touchdown.
"Yeah, he gave us a spark," Kubiak said when asked about Washington. "He did some good stuff. He's been practicing well and had some good runs for us."
Washington has earned more carries. Nine attempts do not settle a depth chart, but his burst was difficult to ignore.
Loser: The red-zone offense and avoidable mistakes
Three trips inside the Buffalo 20 ended in Kicker Matt Gay field goals. The Raiders lost by three points. A 15-play drive reached first-and-goal at the 2 and ended with a 23-yard kick. Las Vegas finished 2-for-5 in the red zone.
"We're two for five in the red zone, and that's unacceptable," Kubiak said at his postgame news conference. "And that starts with me."
Center Tyler Linderbaum also committed a fourth-and-1 false start.
"It's happened three times, and it's killing us," Kubiak said when asked about the repeated pre-snap errors. "Absolutely killing us. And I have not fixed it. So shame on me."
Loser: The third quarter, again
Tied 13-13 at halftime, the Raiders opened with three incompletions and a punt. Buffalo Bills linebacker Dorian Williams soon intercepted a checkdown for running back Mike Washington. Buffalo used the short field, and on third-and-8 superstar quarterback Josh Allen escaped the rush and flipped a 12-yard touchdown to wide receiver Keon Coleman. The throw tied Allen with Jim Kelly for the Bills' career passing-touchdown record.
"I'm really upset with how we're starting the third quarter," Kubiak said when asked about the turning point. "You know, go three and out. That's disappointing." Las Vegas went scoreless that quarter.
Loser: The Raiders defense in crunch time
The Raiders got no takeaways against Buffalo, a sharp contrast from Hezekiah Masses' early opportunity at cornerback, and the Bills had nine giveaways in their previous three games. Buffalo scored 20 second-half points and answered the Raiders' fourth-quarter equalizer with a seven-play, 66-yard drive.
The Bills running back James Cook ran for 95 yards, caught a 26-yard pass to set up the go-ahead score and finished that drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. Earlier defensive breakdowns had brought coverage and pass-rush questions into this matchup, but this loss was just as much about failing to get the one stop the team needed.
When Kubiak was asked what these three losses have shown him about the Raiders, his answer was short. "Close games out," he said.
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Raiders winners and losers from 33-30 loss to Bills, led by Tre Tucker