It was fallback-to-earth time for the Raiders. Coming off a big win in Dallas, the Raiders returned home to face the 5-6 Washington Football Team. And when the dust settled, both teams were 6-6, Washington continued a four-game losing streak, and the Raiders lost their fourth game of their last five.
It was game for the defenses. The Raiders couldn’t get their offense off the ground until late and didn’t put points on the board until seconds before the half. The lack of offense allowed Washington to hang around and win it 17-15 on a late field goal.
Ballers
WR Hunter Renfrow
One part of the offense that was working was their shifty slot receiver. He converted the first third down for the Raiders when he caught a pass in the left flat on third and one, broke a tackle and took it for nine yards.
Yes, third-and-Renfrow was in full effect as he converted their next third down as well, making a three-yard catch on third-and-two. He had catches for nine and ten yards on that drive as well.
In the third quarter, the Raiders went on a drive that started with a 15-yard grab by Renfrow and ended with a short field goal to pull it to a one-point game at 7-6.
After Washington scored a TD to extend their lead to 14-6, Renfrow was guarded by a linebacker and got him turned around to make a masterful catch around him for 28 yards. A few plays later, he forced a pass interference in the end zone to put the Raiders in first-and-goal from the one. They would score their only touchdown of the game off that penalty.
The following drive, Renfrow had the longest catch of the drive, getting wide open for a 16-yard gain. It put the Raiders in scoring range and they took a 15-14 lead on the ensuing field goal.
Renfrow finished with a career-high nine catches and his 102 yards were the third-most of his career.
DE Maxx Crosby
He got close on a few occasions to getting a sack in this game, but it didn’t happen. Even still, he made a significant impact. On the first drive, he got pressure in Taylor Heinicke’s face to help disrupt a screen play that was stopped for no gain. On the second drive, he made a run stop, two plays later had another pressure to force an incompletion and two plays after that, made. the tackle on third down short of the sticks to force a punt.
Washington’s final drive of the first half, Crosby made a tackle for loss on an end-around. Two plays later, there were in third and ten and he laid a hit on Heinicke as he threw. The pass fell incomplete and would have ended their drive, but for Crosby landing too hard on Heinicke and being flagged for roughing the passer. The drive still didn’t lead to a score.
The next time Washington’s offense took the field was the third quarter. And on third down, there was Crosby getting to Heinicke who somehow was able to slip out of the sack and escape the pocket. But his pass was too high and Washington punted anyway.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Raiders scored to make it a two-point game, down 14-12. Washington needed to get a score of their own, but on third-and-four, Crosby got pressure and hit Heinicke’s arm as he threw, causing the pass to flutter and be up for grabs where it was intercepted. The turnover set up the Raiders with great field position and they added a field goal to take their first lead of the game.
Crosby led a defense that held Washington to just 17 points, but it wasn’t enough.
CB Nate Hobbs
When Crosby his Heinicke’s arm, the ball looked for a moment to be intercepted by Casey Hayward. But Hayward bobbled and dropped it. Luckily Hobbs was right there to catch it on the rebound for a huge turnover.
That was the second time Hobbs had a shot at an interception off of Hayward. Early in the third quarter Hayward broke up a pass and tipped it in the air and Hobbs very nearly picked that one as well. He was quite frustrated he didn’t haul it in, but the drive ended on the next play anyway.
Hobbs had ended Washington’s previous drive as well, teaming up with Denzel Perryman to make a tackle for loss and two plays later making the tackle short of the first down marker. He finished third on the team with nine tackles along with a pass breakup and the interception.
LB Denzel Perryman
As usual, Perryman led the Raiders in tackles. He led them in combined tackles (12) and solo tackles (9). This despite getting injured in the game and missing 20 snaps of the team’s 67 defensive snaps (70%).
His absence was quite noticeable, making his importance to this Raiders defense even more obvious. For instance, their second touchdown drive occurred with him either out of the game or struggling to fight through his injury.
Prior to his injury, he was a force. Washington’s second drive lasted five plays. In the final two plays, Perryman made a run stuff and made the stop on a catch short of the sticks. The next drive he had a run stuff to bring up third and long and they didn’t convert. He had two more run stuffs on the next drive, the second for a loss.
RB Josh Jacobs
Jacobs scored the Raiders’ only touchdown. In first and goal from the one, he ran into a trio of Washington defenders at the line, bounced off tackle and broke out left to trot into the end zone.
The drive after that, he found a hole on the right side then hurdled a defender to pick up the first down. That put the Raiders in scoring range and they went ahead on a short field goal.
On each other their scoring drives, Jacobs had a nice play. He made a 10-yard catch on their first scoring drive and a nine-yard catch followed by a five-yard run on their second scoring drive. He finished with 90 yards (52 rushing) on 21 touches (13 carries) and the touchdown.
K Daniel Carlson
Kicked three field goals, including a 52-yarder and the 37-yard go-ahead field goal late.
Honorable Mention
S Johnathan Abram — twice blew up screens by shedding a block. The second time he was flagged with an incredibly bad low block penalty that was neither low nor a block. He also had a pass breakup.
Busters
QB Derek Carr
Talk about slow starts. Carr had just 90 yards passing at the half. And much of those yards came with run after the catch on passes behind the line of scrimmage. The first two drives didn’t feature a completion past the line of scrimmage and didn’t last long.
The third drive featured Carr missing a wide-open DeSean Jackson on a cross that would likely have gone for a touchdown. Carr checked it down to Josh Jacobs instead. Then a few plays later he changed the play at the line on third and five to throw a screen to Jacobs out right and Washington was all over it to stop it for a loss.
With the final drive of the first half, things got moving with a completion to Bryan Edwards for 15 yards. Two plays later, Carr was under pressure and threw a bad pass, again behind the line, to Jacobs and it was stopped for a loss. Throwing it at his feet would’ve been better. Carr would get it back on a 17-yard scramble. But the drive would stall and the Raiders would run out of time, settling for a long field goal.
The first possession of the third quarter ended without Carr completing a pass. The second drive featured a big 34-yard hookup to Foster Moreau but would go no farther, with the drive ending with Carr rushing his throw to Hunter Renfrow before he had come out of his break on third and short, leading to another field goal.
After that Carr put together a touchdown drive featuring a masterful throw to Renfrow around a defender and a 14-yard completion to DeSean Jackson. It was a PI on Renfrow’s defender that would set up the TD.
The next drive featured a couple long completions as well to Zay Jones (14 yards) and Renfrow (16 yards) before stalling with Carr unable to connect with Jones deep. Settling for a field goal on that drive allowed Washington to drive for what would be the game-winning field goal.
Carr and the offense had 31 seconds and a timeout to get into scoring range on the next drive, but could manage just 19 yards which weren’t even enough to get in range of a Hail Mary play. Carr’s pass fell incomplete and even if it were caught it would’ve been short of the end zone. That’s how you lose while winning the turnover battle and the defense allowing just 17 points.
FS Tre’von Moehrig
Despite it all, the Raiders came very close to winning this game. Washington as down 15-14, on their final drive. They lined up at the Vegas 40-yard-line and Moehrig made a perfect break on Heinicke’s pass, stepping in front of the defender, got both hands on the ball with open field in front of him to the end zone and…it went right through his hands.
That play had pick-six written all over it, but even if he’d intercepted it and fell down, there was less than a minute on the clock and the game would’ve been over. Instead, Washington picked up nine more yards on the next two plays to get in range of a 48-yard field goal to win it.
The one that got away is bad enough, but Moehrig had a bad day all around. On the first drive, he gave up a 13-yard catch on third and ten and a wide-open touchdown to end it. He had even given up a ten-yard catch earlier in that same game-winning drive. Woof.
CB Brandon Facyson
The first play of the game was a 22-yard run by Washington RB Antonio Gibson and Facyson was blocked on the play.
Twice he was flagged for holding. Once wiping out a big stop by by Perryman and Hobbs in the second quarter and again on a drive in the third quarter. Later in that same drive, he would give up the catch for Washington’s second touchdown.
RG Alex Leatherwood, LT Kolton Miller, RT Brandon Parker, LG John Simpson, C Andre James
No one on the line was great in this game. The second possession ended when Leatherwood gave up a pressure on Carr that led to an incompletion and was STILL flagged for holding. Had the penalty been accepted he would’ve taken sole possession of the most penalties in the NFL (14), but it was declined because it was third down so he’s just tied for the most.
On the next drive, Kolton Miller missed his block which contributed to the crushing that Kenyan Drake took which broke his ankle and ended his season.
The next drive started with Brandon Parker giving up a sack. John Simpson was flagged for holding on the play, but with the sack, the penalty was declined. A few plays later on the drive, Simpson gave up a hit on Carr that helped lead to his bad throw to Jacobs that was stopped for a loss.
The first possession of the third quarter ended with Parker giving up his second sack of the game.
And on the Raiders final scoring drive, Andre James was tossed like a rag doll twice leading to run stops for minimal gain.
WR Bryan Edwards
The first pass past the line of scrimmage in this game went to Edwards. It was the first play of their second possession and it would have been an 18-yard gain, but Edwards dropped it. The Raiders went three-and-out.
The next drive, on third and five, Carr threw out right for Jacobs and he was swarmed for a loss. The only chance Jacobs had of getting any positive yards was if Edwards made his block. He did not. Gotta make those plays.
LB KJ Wright
Wright saw his most extensive playing time in relief of Denzel Perryman. And it was obvious he was out of his depth. He was often seen confused and trying to direct traffic right up to the snap of the ball.
But Wright’s issues began well before Perryman’s injury. He was blocked on the first play of the game which was a run for 22 yards. That drive opened the game with a touchdown.
Wright gave up a 10-yard catch to open Washington’s second touchdown drive as well. Later in the drive, he was out of position to allow a seven-yard scramble on third and six that set Washington up in first and goal. They scored two plays later.
He would give up first down runs on Washington’s final two drives as well, the latter ending in the game-winning score.
DE Clelin Ferrell
With Carl Nassib injured, it was an opportunity for Ferrell to show he deserved more snaps. That’s not how it went down. In the first play of Washington’s second drive, Ferrell didn’t keep containment on the right side, allowing a 16-yard run.
Also getting his first playing time with Nassib out was third-round rookie Malcolm Koonce. In just seven snaps, Koonce put up a sack. Something Ferrell hasn’t done this season in 182 snaps.
On that sack, Ferrell was nearby and afterward grabbed Taylor Heinicke’s foot and tossed it in the air as he got up. Not only was it a pointless move by Ferrell, but he’s also lucky it didn’t lead to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. It would have wiped out the ten-yard loss on Koonce’s sack and may have led to a Washington score at the end of the half.
S Roderic Teamer
Teamer played 17 snaps, all on special teams. You heard his name twice in the game. First, it was getting blocked into Hunter Renfrow trying to field a punt, causing it to be muffed and fortunately, it bounced out of bounds at the nine.
The other time was on a punt return in the third quarter in which he was flagged for holding. After the penalty, the Raiders’ drive once again started at their own nine-yard line.
