Highlights and Lowlights

Highlights

5-4
Brown's running
Brown's catching and toe-tapping
Williams' running
Bryant's run
Landry's first game winning drive
Boswell's first game winning field goal
Mitchell hitting folks
Heath

Lowlights

Ben's foot
Boswell's KO
Boswell's first miss
Brown's punt fumble
Cutback runs
Officiating
Bryant's drop
Jacoby Jones getting consistently swarmed
No sacks

 

Don't forget about Jesse James

 

His block on Martavis TD was interference but they didn't call it so good block. He did a great job getting open for that TD. Was cool to see him so excited. Great game from him.

 

The lack of pressure was a concern, but Carr has been resisting pressure all season (one of the main reasons the Raiders have the record they do).

I'd balance Mitchell's hits as a highlight with the lowlight of the fumble recovery debacle - if he'd left that ball for Dupree to get, then it would have been a TD. I'm probably dealing too much in hindsight there - obviously in the heat of the moment he's going to just grab the ball - but you do want guys to be a bit more aware of where they are on the field.

And Jesse James - definitely a highlight. He blocked well all day. The fact that I noticed him on the field far more than I normally do Spaeth says something.

Also, Nix - quietly getting the job done for another week, more than justifying his inclusion in the gameday squad.

 

He's not resisting pressure, his number 3 ranked Oline is resisting the pressure.....

 

Yeah I noticed how clean his pocket was all game. They actually have a very solid OL. If they draft a good RB they will be scary. Cooper is legit despite a couple misplays yesterday.

Ben has to try and survive behind a backup LT and C. How the **** did Wallace have TWO false start penalties? The center should know when the ball is snapped haha.

 

I think the lowlight on defense for me was we kept using the safety blitz even though we never got close to Carr. It cost us their last touchdown that tied it when we walked the safety up. There Oline played great and their backs picked up our blitz's.

However our linebackers were constantly being held, pushed down from behind with no calls.

 

The front 7 got no push at all. I was hoping that I would hear that the Raiders have a really good offensive line, which it kind of seems like they do, which is good.
I have to give it up to the Raiders. They seemed to know what plays to call for our personnel grouping quite often.
I only saw McCullers in for one play, and he was manhandling his man until it looks like he was chop blocked (again, going from memory). Would have liked to have seen him in the rotation more. Thankfully I don't remember seeing Cam Thomas at all.

 

There O-line is good but credit Car for making super fast decisions and getting the ball out quickly. He definitely knew where to go with the ball, has a nice fast release, was mostly very accurate all day, and seems to make decisions very well.

 

I think I'll puke if I see Cam Thomas on the field again. I never saw a more useless player and how he is even on the roster is amazing. I swear that when a team sees him they know their RB will have a good day.

 

The one play I remember seeing McCullers in was a run play from inside the 5(?)... the RB was getting wrapped up but was not down yet. I was think WTF does he not get in there and knock that sucker down? Instead he just sorta stood there looking around.

I'd list Special Teams as a PRO.... there were a couple issues with kicks but coverage seemed pretty decent. Punts were mostly good. Surprised noone called out Chick for his recovery.

CON - Mitchel stupidly picking up that fumble. There were 2 or 3 other teammates right there.... he KNEW he ran out of bounds and should have been more careful.

 

Agreed... in particular I was really unhappy about the totally ineffective blitz that left Timmons "covering" Crabtree in the endzone.... wtf???

 

No it makes perfect sense to use a linebacker to cover a faster wide receiver, #sarcasm. Some of our calls and coverages leave me very confused

 

Just think what the opposing QB must think. It's trick play design. They think to themselves, they can't possibly put a LB on a WR.

 

I would also add Williams block on Smith.. Totally blew him up

 

The seemingly smallish play that was a thing of beauty was the 2 pt conversion. So simple to run yet very deceptive and effective. Not sure it would work as well for a TD try since possibly the D gets wiser and more prepped for a 6 pt play vs a 2 pointer. Re-ran it several times to see why it worked so well especially with D Will in obvious motion to the right. Not sure what happened to Blast's thread about this being the game changer which while a good play didn't really make the difference at the very end - the FG would have won it just the same but by 2 pts instead of 3 (unless he was referring to Vegas pts).

 

Should have read: Bryant's dropS - he dropped two very catchable balls yesterday. And one the week prior that hit him square in the facemask. 3 in two weeks had me a bit concerned. Maybe that run took care of it for him, but I hope he cleans it up a bit before we lose games because of the drops.

Might also add Jacoby's look of indecisiveness. A KR is supposed to know where to go before he gets there, and he just didn't seem to have that edge. It was telling when DHB was raising his arm screaming at him to take the left side on that one kick.

On the bright side, definitely Williams' block on Smith - he absolutely blew him up.

 

Talk about putting pressure on Carr, it didn't help that Tuit wasn't getting any push. Think he knee is still hurting some.

 

I literally lost my mind on that. How many times are we going to see Timmons running 20 yards down the field with his back to the ball. Makes zero sense.....Shazier was supposed to be that guy,he was horrendous yesterday. I'm starting to worry about him. Butler better get back to the drawing board because all those blitzes that were working earlier this season have been diagnosed by the opposing teams and handled with ease. That blitz straight up the middle is ridiculously lame too.