It’s been nearly a week since the Raiders faced off against the Houston Texans. Apologies for the delay, but this week was spent making the change over to the new home of my work. And since I haven’t missed a B&B in 12 years, I wasn’t going to start now.
I understand for the Raiders fans that it would be a lot more palatable to be discussing the Raiders’ last game had they pulled out the win. They were unable to finish out their long road trip with a win, but they put up a good fight and held the lead through much of the game, so there are some positives that are worth discussing along with the negatives. Let’s get to it.
Ballers: QB Derek Carr
From Top Buster last week to Top Baller this week. That’s just how things go sometimes. You have to put the previous game behind you and start with a clean slate. Whether that performance was good or bad. Because all that matters this week is what you do in those 60 minutes. That’s no rollover.
It took a couple possessions before Carr could get going in this one. He started out 0-4 on the first two possessions. He got his first completion on the third possession, and his second completion went for a 65-yard touchdown on a big play by Hunter Renfrow.
The Texans would answer with their own touchdown drive to tie it up. Then early in the second quarter, Carr started to pick up steam. He found Zay Jones on third and six for 15 yards to put the Raiders in first and goal at the 6-yard-line. Two plays later, he ran the play fake left, rolled to the right and found Darren Waller for the touchdown to retake the lead at 14-7.
The Texans would score field goals at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half to pull to 14-13. Carr would answer with his best pass of the game. It came on third and five and the connected with Tyrell Williams for a perfectly placed over-the-shoulder catch that went for 23 yards. This put them in Houston territory. Two plays later, on third and five, Carr escaped pressure in the pocket to find Williams again, this time wide open for a 46-yard score. Thus the Raiders took a 21-13 lead in the fourth quarter.
That lead would be cut to 21-20 on the first play of the fourth quarter. The Raiders would add a field goal, but the Texans added a touchdown for a 27-24 lead. Carr would connect one more time with Williams for 22 yards, but two other failed attempts between the two would stall the drive outside of field goal range. The final play Carr went for Williams with Gareon Conley covering, and Conley defended it. From there, they would hope the defense could get them the ball back one more time. They could not.
Carr would finish an efficient 18 of 30 for 285 yards and 3 touchdowns with no turnovers.
Baller: DE Maxx Crosby
With little to praise on this defense. Crosby is a breath of fresh air. He was more than just a lone bright spot, he was brilliant.
With the score tied at 7-7 heading into the second quarter, Crosby got pressure on Desean Watson to force an incompletion, and the possession stalled a play later. The next possession, he helped turn that pressure into a sack, when he crashed the pocket to ensure Watson couldn’t get away from Benson Mayowa to end the drive.
The next Texans drive moved into field goal range at the 16. At which point, Crosby made a tackle for loss to help keep the damage at a field goal. The Texans would get the ball back one more time before the half, and it was Crosby who made the tackle to send the two teams to the locker room with the Raiders holding a 14-10 lead.
Just as he finished the first half, he began the second. He made the tackle on Watson on a scramble for three yards. A big catch on the drive would lead to a field goal.
After the Raiders extended their lead back to 21-13, Crosby did his part to try and keep it. He had a tackle for a loss of three and later in the drive made the tackle in the backfield and forced the fumble. Unfortunately, the Texans would recover and finish off the drive with a touchdown.
He had one of those ridiculous roughing the passer flags thrown on him on the final drive despite clearly pulling up and not even taking Watson to the turf. Crosby would finish third on the team with six combined tackles, all solo with two tackles for loss, a QB hit, and a forced fumble. Hell of a game for the rookie.
Baller: WRs Hunter Renfrow, Tyrell Williams
It is about time the wide receivers on this team stepped up. First, it was Renfrow who broke out with a catch over the middle on a slant, broke a tackle while splitting two defenders, and took off 65 yards for the Raiders’ first touchdown of the game.
Come the third quarter, it was Williams’s turn for a big play. In Williams’s case, it was a couple big plays; first a perfect over-the-shoulder grab for 23 yards on third and 5, then a wide-open 46-yard touchdown catch. Williams would add a 22-yard catch late in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, a drop by Williams and a play in which Conley defended the pass would keep the Raiders out of scoring range.
Renfrow led the team in receptions with four passes on four targets for 88 yards and a touchdown. Williams led the team in receiving yards with 3 catches on six targets for 91 yards and a touchdown.
Ballers: OT Kolton Miller, Trent Brown
Kept Carr clean and comfortable much of the day. Each gave up a tackle for loss, but they’re allowed a single mistake. Otherwise, they were on point. That was with JJ Watt to deal with.
Honorable Mention
Josh Jacobs – Had a 23-yard run on the Raiders’ second scoring drive. Finished with 66 yards on 15 carries (4.4 yards per carry).
Benson Mayowa – Had another sack, bringing his season total to 5.5. He also had a pressure that helped Arden Key get his first sack of the season.
Andre James – Came in for the injured Rodney Hudson and played well. They may end up needing that to continue, so it was important to see from the rookie.
Nevin Lawson – Gabe up just two catches for 11 yards in 23 snaps. He also had a tackle for no gain on special teams.
Jon Gruden – He gets a shoutout for the touchdown play to Waller. It was a perfectly executed play-action fake left but with just two guys going right. That was Darren Waller and Derek Carr on the bootleg. It fooled the Texans just enough to let Waller get the edge for the score. Just a beautiful play.
Continue to the Busters
Busters: LB Nicholas Morrow
Morrow had a rough game in Green Bay, but then again, so did most of the Raiders defensive backfield. He had arguably his worst game in Houston, routinely getting beaten and giving up devastating catches.
His first catch surrendered was a 12-yard touchdown that tied up the game at 7-7.
With the Raiders up 21-13 late in the third quarter, then the Texans went on a long drive. It began with Morrow giving up an 8-yard catch. Then he gave up a 15-yard catch on 2nd and 18. In third and three from the Oakland 42, he gave up a 7-yard catch to put the Texans in scoring range. They eventually scored a touchdown to pull the score to 21-20.
With the Raiders clinging to a 24-20 lead midway through the fourth quarter, the Texans went on another long drive. It included Morrow late to fill his gap assignment to give up a five-yard run. Then two plays later, on third and 7, he missed the tackle on a ten-yard run.
On the next play, he gave up a 9-yard run. Two plays later, he was flagged for illegal contact to put the Texans in first and goal from the nine. They scored a touchdown on the next play to take a 27-24 lead.
A failed drive by the Raiders offense gave the ball back to the Texans with 3:56 remaining. A stop by the defense would give the Raiders one more shot to tie up or win the game. They couldn’t do it. The Texans would get three first downs. The second was Morrow missing another tackle to give up a 20-yard run.
One more first down, and they kneeled out the clock to take the win. Probably not a coincidence that the Raiders brought back Brandon Marshall this week.
Buster: TE Darren Waller
Before this game, Waller was the Raiders’ No. 1 receiver every week. He has been this team’s bread and butter. But this was not his game. The Texans focused on stopping him and had great success in doing so.
The second play of the game, Carr threw for Waller, who was in blanket coverage. The next play, he missed his block to give up a tackle for loss on Trevor Davis end-around. The first possession ended a play later.
The next possession was a similar story. He was locked up on the second play, and on third and three, he dropped it, and the Raiders went three-and-out.
The Raiders would score on their third drive on the huge catch and run by Hunter Renfrow, but two plays before that, Waller blew his block to get Carr’s pass batted down. The possession after that again ended with Carr unable to connect with Waller, though it appeared to be an overthrow by Carr.
Waller had his touchdown catch on the next drive, though the credit for that play goes mostly to Gruden. On the drive, Carr threw for Waller, and there was Gaeron Conley to knock it down.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Raiders were threatening, then Waller missed his block to give up a big hit on Josh Jacobs in the backfield for a loss. On the next play, Carr went for Waller again, but he was well covered, and it fell incomplete. The Raiders settled for a field goal. Waller finished with just two catches on either target for 11 yards and a touchdown.
Buster: DE Clelin Ferrell
Defenders of Ferrell will tell you he doesn’t have great numbers because he is not allowed to rush the passer much. Fair enough. But his poor showings have been more than just whether he can get sacks. He’s getting just about nothing, and that includes run support.
His stats in this game consisted of one tackle, and a pass batted at the line. Otherwise, he was again dominated at the line.
On the Texans first scoring drive, he was blocked on a 5-yard run and called for offsides on the next play. On their third scoring drive, he was blocked to allow a 9-yard scramble on fourth and one. Their final go-ahead scoring drive Ferrell gave up a 9-yard run and a 10-yard scramble. The other two scoring drive, he was simply a complete non-factor. Much like the rest of the season so far.
Buster: Paul Guenther, Karl Joseph, Lamarcus Joyner
Another game in which the opposing offense looked like they could pretty much take what they wanted whenever they wanted it. Their performance in Green Bay led to Gareon Conley being traded to the Houston Texans, where they faced him in this game. He was clearly the problem with the Raiders defense, right? Well, maybe not.
Late in the first quarter, the Texans went on their first long drive. The biggest play was Morrow giving up a 23-yard catch with Joseph adding 15 yards to the end of it on a facemask for a 38-yard gain to set the Texans up in the red zone. Ouch.
Guenther was running zone defense most of this game, and the Texans loved it. Desean Watson was exploiting the soft spots in the zone all day, frequently making it appear as if the Raiders were using a linebacker to guard DeAndre Hopkins, arguably the best receiver in football. Gruden defended that idea better than Guenther’s defense defended anything in the game.
The final drive of the first half saw Hopkins make a 21-yard catch against the zone in which the defenders ended up being Tahir Whitehead and Karl Joseph. You can’t really blame Whitehead for not being able to defend Hopkins. Joseph needs to get there, and he didn’t. The next play, Joyner gave up an 8-yard catch, and the next play Joseph missed the tackle on a short catch, and Joyner was dragged a few yards to give up a 9-yard gain. That would eventually lead to a short field goal.
The big play of the first drive of the second half was Joyner giving up a 46-yard catch. That led to another field goal to put the score at 14-13.
The next drive, Joseph gave up a 13-yard catch, then a 6-yard catch on third and six, and an 8-yard catch. Joyner allowed a 4-yard scramble on third and one and gave up the touchdown catch from four yards out.
With 6:26 left in the game, the Texans took their first lead at 27-24. When the Raiders couldn’t answer with a score, they took a chance their defense could give them another one. If they could hold them to one, maybe two first downs, they would have had another shot. Joseph gave up the third and final first down on a 9-yard catch on 2nd and 7.
Oh, and the castoff Conley was D-ing up Raiders receivers all day, with two passes defended, including the one that ended the Raiders’ final drive. He may not have worked in Guenther’s defense (he is not alone in that), but it looks like the former top pick has found new life in Houston.
