The Las Vegas Raiders went connected the roadworthy arsenic an underdog for the second-straight week and came distant with a victory.
This clip it was a 35-27 triumph implicit the Saints successful New Orleans.
Here is simply a person look astatine what we learned astir the squad from the game:
Putting it into perspective
The rebuild is intelligibly up of docket arsenic the Raiders person already equaled their 2025 triumph total.
This was the astir awesome triumph yet arsenic they showed different broadside to the team. After a wire-to-wire triumph implicit a atrocious Dolphins squad and a back-and-forth matter against a Chargers squad that looks similar it whitethorn beryllium awful, the Raiders showed they could rally from a double-digit shortage against a squad that was really playing well.
That benignant of resilience is going to service them precise well. Klint Kubiak said helium learned a batch astir his team’s resoluteness connected Sunday and they tin gully connected that acquisition erstwhile they find themselves successful occupation successful the future.
Star of the game
Tight extremity Brock Bowers is simply a cheat code.
He returned from a meniscus process little than 3 weeks agone to drawback 10 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown, contempt besides being covered by the Saints’ apical country successful Kool-Aid McKinstry.
But helium astir apt shouldn’t adjacent beryllium labeled arsenic a choky extremity anymore, successful either accumulation oregon alignment.
This was his 4th vocation crippled with astatine slightest 10 catches, 100 yards and a score. All different choky ends person combined to bash it 4 times implicit that aforesaid span.
Bowers besides doesn’t truly enactment up arsenic a choky end. He ran conscionable 8 of his 33 routes connected Sunday from an in-line choky extremity alignment.
Bowers started retired wide connected 9 of them and successful the backfield for one. He ran 15 routes from the slot.
Last year, helium ran 44 percent of his routes from in-line and 16 percent from retired wide.
Now he’s fundamentally playing the Jaxson Smith-Njigba relation for Klint Kubiak.
The statement doesn’t matter, however, until it’s clip to negociate a caller contract. The highest-paid choky ends marque conscionable little than $20 cardinal per season. Receivers marque doubly that.
Play of the game
Any of the turnovers would beryllium casual choices present arsenic the Raiders did a large occupation forcing 4 straight to triumph the game. Kirk Cousins besides made a superb back-shoulder heavy propulsion to Bowers connected a cardinal third-down play erstwhile the Raiders isolated him connected McKinstry with 4 receivers to the close and Bowers unsocial wide left.
That play was fantastic.
But Malcolm Koonce made 1 of the astir important, yet unheralded plays of the time connected a third-and-1 with astir 3:00 remaining and the Raiders protecting a 35-27 lead.
He was capable to shed backup near tackle Asim Richards by ripping him down and warring to the backfield to tackle Alvin Kamara for a loss.
It acceptable up a fourth-down play, connected which the Raiders forced a turnover. But the Saints would person had a caller acceptable of downs successful the reddish zone.
Koonce has been generating pressures and adjacent had a portion sack connected Sunday, but that benignant of effort successful the tally crippled makes him truthful overmuch much valuable.
Drive of the game
The Raiders had a mates agelong drives again connected Sunday, putting unneurotic field-goal marches of 12 and 11 plays, but it was a speedy possession that saved the day.
After the Saints went up 27-16, the Raiders needed an reply and they got it.
Ashton Jeanty gained 7 yards connected 2 runs and past Bowers picked up 20 yards connected the aforementioned propulsion down the near sideline. If the Raiders don’t prime up that archetypal down, they are punting backmost to the Saints and could person been successful large trouble.
Instead, Bowers someway caught the apical fractional of the shot arsenic helium went to the turf to support the thrust alive. Tre Tucker picked up 8 yards and past Mike Washington Jr. popped retired of a heap and went 36 yards for his archetypal vocation touchdown.
It proved to beryllium a monolithic plaything successful the game.
Observations
■ Jeanty is erstwhile again uncovering acold excessively galore runs jammed up astatine the line.
While it was casual to constituent fingers astatine the violative enactment past year, it present appears to beryllium a operation of stacked boxes and perchance the lingering effects of a preseason ankle injury.
Jeanty has appeared to person enactment done connected his ankles connected the sideline each of the past 2 weeks. While Kubiak said this is the clip of twelvemonth everyone is sore and cipher is going to usage the wounded arsenic an excuse, Jeanty hasn’t looked precise explosive the past 2 games.
He has had 25.4 percent of his carries spell for nary summation oregon minus yards, third-highest successful the league among qualified backs.
Jeanty has, however, faced 8 oregon much defenders successful the container connected a whopping 38.1 percent of his carries.
The Raiders 3.23 yards per transportation is the lowest for immoderate 3-0 squad this decade.
Kubiak said Washington has earned much carries, which could besides let Jeanty much rest.
■ The Raiders’ underlying metrics connected discourtesy are not large overall, but they are ninth successful the league astatine 2.53 points per drive.
That’s contempt being 14th successful red-zone touchdown percent and 18th connected 3rd downs.
The Raiders are besides 17th successful EPA/play and 25th successful violative occurrence rate, 2 of the amended metrics for determining semipermanent success.
So however are they scoring? Short fields.
They pb the league successful takeaways, are 2nd successful nett punting and 2nd successful mean thrust commencement connected kickoff returns.
Sunday’s 4 forced turnovers evidently skewed the numbers a bit, but their mean starting tract presumption was extracurricular their ain 40-yard line.
That’s the complementary shot Kubiak preaches.
■ Rob Leonard’s defence hasn’t conscionable been opportunistic.
It has been downright tremendous, topping the league successful antiaircraft EPA/play and unreserved EPA/play.
There were a batch of questions astir precisely what Leonard’s defence would look like, but truthful acold the cardinal has been unpredictability.
It looked to wholly flummox Tyler Shough connected Sunday connected the precocious fourth-down play erstwhile the Raiders showed blitz, past dropped 2 antiaircraft tackles successful coverage.
He hesitated throwing hot, past got swallowed up by the unreserved erstwhile helium pulled the shot back.
Leonard has shown a ton of zone, playing antheral little than 20 percent of the time. Their astir utilized look is screen 3 zone, but helium has done a large occupation disguising looks and dialing up the close calls astatine the close time.
■ There volition beryllium a batch of speech this week astir however Travis Kelce has dominated the Raiders and should beryllium successful enactment for a immense crippled due to the fact that the Raiders person fixed up the third-most phantasy points per games to choky ends done 3 weeks.
What you whitethorn not perceive is the caveat.
The Raiders person really lone fixed up 50 yards per crippled to the presumption this year, close successful the mediate of the pack.
Those phantasy numbers are skewed due to the fact that of the 4 touchdowns past week and yes, the Raiders person to beryllium amended connected choky ends astatine the extremity line. But determination is discourse to the choky extremity numbers.
Looking ahead
The biggest crippled astatine Allegiant Stadium since the last crippled of the 2021 play erstwhile the Raiders clinched a playoff berth implicit the Chargers volition instrumentality spot connected Sunday.
Kansas City comes to municipality for a matchup of 3-0 teams with sole possession of archetypal spot successful the AFC West connected the line.
Contact Adam Hill astatine ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ connected X.
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