If you’re expecting a the season is over, fire everyone and trade the draft picks for a player to be named, you’ve come to the wrong place. In the last three games against the Kansas City Chiefs, the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills, the Las Vegas Raiders’ offense has put up an average of 24.66 points. Defensively, they have allowed an average of 36 points. While many will point to needing more offense, the real problem lies in protecting the quarterback, opening holes for the running back and defending the line of scrimmage.
Four plays that cost them the game
Obviously, the backhanded flip for a touchdown from Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen to Keon Coleman, where he shook every man on the defensive line at least twice before all defenders abandoned their responsibilities. Was a thing of beauty where as a fan of the sport you just have to acknowledge that Allen is a bad bad man.
The play-action pass to James Cook in the flat, where every defender keyed on the misdirection from the Bills offensive line and completely vacated one sideline of the field. This allowed him a free pass all the way down to the three-yard line. Where the Bills would score on a three-yard run after pushing the entire defense into the end zone.
Kirk Cousins’ interception, thrown into the robber look. On a play where he clearly expected the linebacker to trail Brock Bowers in man coverage. When the defender squatted in his zone, the pass meant for Michael Mayer was thrown right to him.
The last one was a pass at the goal line to Cody White, which was too low and ultimately resulted in the Raiders having to kick a field goal instead of getting a touchdown. Losing out on four extra points which stands out in a three-point loss.
Coaching matters but execution matters more
Against the Bills, once again, the game plan was nearly flawless on both sides. Bend but don’t break was the approach taken by Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Leonard. His defense forced the Bills into four field goals and 4/11 on third-down conversions. The only real legitimate gripe that leapt out was the inexperience and on-the-job learning of the young defensive backfield. Experience is only acquired one way, they have to go through it to get to it.
On the defensive line, you saw the Raiders play Allen and Cook about as well as anyone in the league has done all season. The defensive line fenced off the pocket and kept Allen inside of it. He ran the ball five times for 1 yard, was sacked twice, was under constant pressure and threw off his back foot a lot. In 22 rushes, the reigning rushing leader, Cook, was held under 100 yards on the ground. As a team they collected 103 total rushing yards.
Offensively, the mixing and matching of the running backs was beneficial and the running game started to show signs of life for the Raiders. Once again, Mike Washington Jr. proved he should be the number one back from now until Ashton Jeanty is 100%. He ran the ball nine times for 43 yards, featuring runs of 14 and 18 yards.
Tre Tucker has proven that not only can he catch the football diving to the ground, but he can also run past defenders if you throw it far enough. His diving catch for a 44-yd touchdown on the Cousins’ best pure throw of the season was marvelous. Michael Mayer had his best game of the season, catching seven of nine targets for 95 yards and an average of 13.6 yards per catch. Nearly every catch he made was a third-down conversion. He was the garbage man out there, cleaning up the field.
Final thoughts
The Raiders are going to beat the teams that they should, and find ways to come up just short of beating teams with better superstars. As a team, the Raiders are playing damn good ball, but when they run up against the league’s best, who just find ways to do the unimaginable, they just haven’t quite figured out ways to stop it yet. Left guard is more of a position to be experimenting with, not the right guard. Kolton Miller had a better game, but Caleb Rogers had some struggles on the right side, as well as some successes.
This ended up being another winnable game for the Raiders that they just couldn’t figure out how to win. Playing good teams tough and being in it until the end sounds cool and all, but moral victories don’t count.