Raiders Round-up week 6: This One Was Personal

There are things in life that you take personally, even though realistically you know you shouldn’t. Like when someone cuts in front of you on line at the store, or when a co-worker takes the last Dunks, or when your boy Mahk forgets to pahk the cah in the yahd and you gotta bang a uey in the middle of the street. Next thing you know, a statie pulls you ovah and writes you up cause your stickah is expired and now you gotta cancel your trip to the Cape this weekend! 

 

Ok, now that we’ve thoroughly made fun of the Boston accent, let's make fun of the Patriots. It’s been almost 22 years since the tuck rule, but most Raiders fans are salty about it. Whenever New England plays the Raiders, there’s a little extra energy in the air. A bit of a personal vendetta that will never be settled. This week’s matchup was no different. 

 

The Raiders came into the game on a short week following last Monday’s victory over the packers. The Patriots were coming off of their worst two game stretch in the history of the franchise, but that didn’t calm the uneasy feeling most Raiders fans probably had entering the game. 

 

That feeling was somewhat put to rest on the opening drive, as the Raiders manufactured a 16 play drive and ate up more than half of the first quarter. Unfortunately, as has been one of the weaknesses of this team all year, we failed once again to put the ball in the end zone, and settled for a field goal.

 

Following a three-and-out from New England, the Raiders got the ball back and quickly worked their way down the field, but a wicked hit (ok, last one) on Davonte Adams popped the ball free and the Patriots came up with the interception. 

 

Another three-and-out gave the Raiders the chance once again to extend their lead, and they capitalized on it. An eight play, 59 yard drive was capped off by ex-Patriot Jimmy Garoppolo throwing a touchdown to ex-Patriot Jakobi Meyers. This play was called by ex-Patriot Josh McDaniels, and he handed a 10 point lead over to his defensive coordinator, ex-Patriot Patrick Graham. Feeling a little personal yet? 

 

It is important to note that after one quarter, the Patriots had a total of -3 yards. This is important for three reasons: 

 

1) It highlights the Patriots horrible offense.

2) It shows how valuable it is to know how your opponent gameplans.

3) It allows us to laugh at the Patriots.

 

The second quarter saw the teams exchange field goals and the Raiders got their fourth interception in two weeks, this time by Tre’von Moehrig. Las Vegas led the Patriots 13-3 going into the half. 

 

As loyal readers of these articles know, The Raiders achilles’ heel is halftime adjustments. New England took their first drive of the second half to the house, as Eziekel Elliot plowed in for a two yard touchdown. With that touchdown, the Raiders have given up 36 points in the third quarter this year. That comes out to 5 ⅔ points per game. Conversely, the Raiders kicked a field goal, bringing their total 3rd quarter points for the season to…6. In case you’re not a math major, that averages out to one point per game in the third quarter. Yikes. 

 

If that’s not bad enough, The Raiders also lost Jimmy Garoppolo to a back injury. The severity is yet to be determined, but Jimmy G had to go to a hospital for tests, which is never a good sign. 

 

The Raiders turned to veteran back-up Brian Hoyer to finish the game. One guess as to where Hoyer played before coming to Las Vegas. If you guessed Miami, you aren’t paying attention to the article. The ex-Patriot did a serviceable job, going 6/10 for 102 yards, including a dime to Tre Tucker for 48 yards. Hoyer didn’t throw any touchdowns, but more importantly, he didn’t throw any interceptions. 

 

The Raiders extended their lead to 19-10 after an early fourth quarter field goal by Daniel Carlson. However, horrible flashbacks of Pats-Raiders games of the past came roaring in as the Patriots scored a touchdown with 3:33 left to play, and suddenly this was a two point game. 

 

The Raider’s offense failed to ice the game, taking just 1:10 off the clock and giving New England the opportunity to take a long drive down the field and win the game. However, the Raiders defensive line stepped up like it has all year, and Defensive Player of the Year candidate Maxx Crosby took Mac Jones down in the end zone for a safety. DT Bilal Nichols also got credit for the sack, and realistically was the catalyst for that play, but we’re trying to get Crosby a DPOY award, so we will choose to highlight him. 

 

Following that, the Patriots did something I’ve never seen in 29 years of watching football regularly: They attempted an onside punt. After taking a safety, the team must punt the ball away to the opposing team. However, onside recovery rules apparently extend to these circumstances as well. The last ditch effort for the Patriots came up short (though credit is due for the creative attempt), and the Las Vegas Raiders defeated the New England Patriots 21-17. Suck it, Belichick! 

 

This brings the Raiders to a 3-3 mark on the season. Next week they travel to Chicago to take on the woeful 1-5 Bears.