Las Vegas Raiders: winners and losers against the Los Angeles Chargers

Well, that was bound to happen for a while, but it sure sucks – for lack of a better term – that the Las Vegas Raiders’ first loss of the season came against a division rival, as the Los Angeles Chargers have. beat the Raiders 28-14 on Monday Night Football.

Starting the game slow eventually came back to bite Las Vegas, however, they had a strong second half and there were a lot of individuals who had strong performances along the way. So while there is a lot of criticism to be made, there are also a lot of positive notes to talk about.

WINNER: Hunter Renfrow

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Speaking of positive, let’s start with the biggest star of the night for the Silver and Blacks, Hunter Renfrow.

Offensively, Renfrow has done what we all expect him to do. He was the safety cover for Derek Carr, catching six of eight targets for 45 yards, one touchdown, two first downs and a 127.6 passer rating when targeted, per Focus on professional football.

That brings the receiver’s touchdown tally to two for the season, already tying his tally from last season and putting him on a pace of around eight for the year, which would be a career best and double the four. he had as a recruit.

As for the first downs, the Clemson product is up to 12 on the campaign and he’s a top 25 among wide receivers as he’s currently tied with a few notable names like DeAndre Hopkins and Robert Woods.

But it wasn’t just what Renfrow did on offense that made his night so special. On a punt return where the Raiders were missing a vice / corner, he admitted they only had 10 players on the field and moved from his returner position to come in and drop a stick hitting the Chargers shooter / receiver to break a pass and foil their false attempt.

I hate to use such a generic and trivial term, but it’s these types of games that make Renfrow a “gamer”. He’s not a defensive back but he came and made a play like that and at the end of the day he’s just a guy the team can count on, whatever the situation.

Hell the Raiders might need him to play a defensive back next week with all these injuries and honestly I don’t think there’s any reason to think he wouldn’t do the job. For what it’s worth, the wideout was the team’s second-highest-ranked defender on Monday night, per PFF. Granted, this is a small sample size of one piece.

LOSER: Jon Gruden

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How easy is it to take it out on the head coach after a loss? Sure, but it’s his main responsibility to win and Monday night was an excruciating outing for Jon Gruden.

He started the game by calling two running plays that scored three yards and put Las Vegas in a third and long while facing a seven-point deficit early on. On the surface, this strategy is not terrible, but adding the context of the situation changes the assessment of this decision.

Running back Josh Jacobs got hit and even decided to dress during the game. So Gruden started the game by giving the ball to a guy who was not even healthy. Plus, the Raiders have a patchwork offensive line that has struggled to block all season. With the combination of an injured running back and linemen who didn’t play well, it begs the question of what does Gruden think was going to happen?

Now, if the Silver and Black offense struggled with the opening, it wouldn’t be so bad. However, of the team’s seven first-half workouts, four were three and strikeouts, one went for four games and a downward fourth conversion failed, another was a six-game workout that s ‘is always finished with a punt, then the last two play before the end of the half.

What’s scary about it is that it included scripted or predetermined pieces that the coach said would have worked.

On top of that, it seemed to me that defensive-minded Chargers head coach Brandon Staley had edged out Gruden. Staley continued to bring in blitzes to isolate and give his passer one-ons against the Raiders offensive linemen, especially Joey Bosa and Alex Leatherwood, and Gruden didn’t seem to have an answer.

Los Angeles recorded 22 total pressures of 57 opportunities – Bosa had seven of 47 – a rate of around 38.6% as a team, which is the best of the season for them so far. By comparison, the Bolts have recorded team pressure rates of 25.5%, 19.4 and 31.6, respectively, in their three previous clashes.

Between a few questionable play calls at the start and an inability to help his struggling offensive line, it was a difficult performance in prime time for Gruden.

WINNER: Amik Robertson

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As mentioned above, Las Vegas had a terrible chance for a defensive back injury this week. Starting cornerback Trayvon Mullen left the game early with a foot injury and his replacement Damon Arnette also fell and did not return with a groin injury.

This meant the team had to dive deep into the depth board and play the only other healthy and dressed corner, Amik Robertson, alongside Casey Hayward and Nate Hobbs. Playing a fourth-string defensive back against an attack that includes wide receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams isn’t exactly ideal, but given the situation, Robertson has thrived.

The 2020 fourth-round pick often drew Williams into the cover and at 5’8 “he was giving up nearly a foot in height to the 6’4” receiver. However, the latter still managed to catch only one catch on two targets for 11 yards, and the two passes thrown in his path didn’t even come with Robertson in cover.

Allen and Williams combined for 12 targets with eight receptions for 47 yards, no touchdowns and just two first downs. It was not only the first time in the entire season that these two separations came within 50 yards individually, but also collectively, in which the second-year corner kick played a big part.

What makes Robertson’s night most impressive is that he probably trained with the Boy Scout team more than the starters all week. According to Mullen and Arnette’s health, Robertson should expect to get more reps with the first team in the future, and he may have taken the latter’s place on the depth board.

LOSER: Raiders offensive line

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I thought about picking a few offensive linemen to highlight, but the truth is it was a bad night collectively up front for Silver and Black.

Carr has been sacked four times against the Chargers, bringing the total to 12 in four games this season and it’s tied for fifth in the league. Of the six offensive linemen who had playing time, Kolton Miller was the one with an above-average PFF pass blocking rating, and as previously mentioned, the Bolts had the best pressure rating of the season.

To his credit, Miller had an impressive game in passing protection. He scored 82.4 in this area, the sixth offensive tackle in qualifying, and allowed only one press.

However, Miller’s slightly above-average 61.1 race blocking rating still left something to be desired, but sadly she still led the team. Jermaine Eluemunor, John Simpson, and Jordan Simmons all graduated in the 1950s, while Alex Leatherwood and Andre James graduated in the 1940s.

That’s why the Raiders averaged just 2.7 yards per carry against a team that allows the third-highest number of miles at 5.3. Then again, that’s not far from Las Vegas’ season average of 3.3 rushing yards per attempt, which ranks second-to-last in the NFL, so I guess the lack of field success should have been expected.

There is no getting around the problem, it will be difficult for the Raiders offense to be successful throughout the 17 game season if the offensive line does not improve. Whether it’s a trade, a free agent signing, or a reworking of the deep trench board, I expect changes to come.

WINNER: Tre’von Moehrig

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Tre’von Moehrig was relatively calm to start his NFL career, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing in terms of security. However, it made some noise Monday night, and in a good way.

Moehrig was screened twice and allowed just one reception for four yards and a 56.3 passer rating. He also recorded his first pass break as a professional, which came in a huge moment on the third down at the start of the fourth quarter to give the team the ball and a chance to tie the game. It’s those types of clutch games that the team spent a second-round pick on him for, and why he was considered a first-round talent.

The rookie also set some personal bests with five solo tackles and a respectable defense rating of 66.4 PFF points. Monday night was also the second game in a row he hadn’t missed a tackle, which was a bit of a problem for him in the first two weeks of the season.

Over the past two weeks, Moehrig has achieved an overall PFF score of 82.1 which not only leads all rookie safeties by nearly 30 points during that span, but also ranks second among safeties in his. together.

The TCU product is starting to become more comfortable in the NFL and flourishing before our eyes.

LOSER: Nick Kwiatkoski

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The season has already been difficult for Nick Kwiatkoski. He struggled with a few injuries and lost his starting spot to Denzel Perryman, who the organization only acquired at the very end of training camp. In fact, Kwiatkoski’s role was diminished so much that he recorded just 14 defensive shots on Monday night.

Now you might be asking yourself “how can he be a loser if he barely gambled?” “

Well, in those 14 games he’s managed to miss two tackles and get a 29.2 point defense rating which is supposed to be his calling card. This is the main reason Perryman took his place, as the former has only missed three tackles all season and holds a 65.7 race rating.

I said the same thing about Damon Arnette after the Pittsburgh game a few weeks ago. When you are a player with limited reps you have to make sure that the few reps you get to count otherwise you can’t expect anything to change and this is the exact situation that Kwiatkoski finds himself in. right now.

Nick Morrow and Javin White are both set to return from the injured reserve soon, which means the Raiders linebacker room is going to get even more crowded. If the six-year veteran doesn’t change his game soon, he could easily be looking for a new home in the near future.