Dobbins, Dumb Decisions, Down Raiders

- Michael Mueller, Senior Editor

Well…that sucked.

The Las Vegas Raiders dropped their first game of the season 22-10 to the Los Angeles Chargers in what can only be described as a three hour offensive dumpster fire.

The game started out well enough, with the Raiders defense completely shutting down the Chargers at every turn, but then the first dumb decision of the day was made. Facing a 4th and 1 at their own 41, the Raiders went for it by sending Zamir White up the middle of the line where he got stuffed. White is the Raiders’ speed back, and Alexander Mattison is the complimentary power back. Why they went for a power run with their speed back on a play that clearly lends itself to a power rush, I have no idea.

The defense was able to stand tall and force the Chargers to kick a field goal. They answered nicely with a 7 play, 67 yard drive that ended with a 31 yard catch and scramble by Mattison for the Raiders’ only touchdown of the game.

The teams traded punts for a while until the second bonehead play of the day happened. Gardner Minshew went to throw to his checkdown option (the only thing he appears comfortable doing) and the ball came awkwardly out of his hand. Former Raider Khalil Mack was able to scoop up the ball and return it all the way to the Raiders 12 yard line. The defense showed up again and held the Chargers to another field goal. Going into half time, the score was 7-6.

The second half is where things fell apart for the Raiders. Last year, Antonio Pierce really set himself apart by the second half adjustments he was able to make for his team. This time, he wasn’t so good. Despite only holding Chargers RB J.K. Dobbins to four yards in the first half, he was able to break off a 46 yard run to put the Chargers inside the Raiders 10 yard line. Once more, the defense held Los Angeles to a field goal, and the Raiders were down 9-7.

On the next drive, the Raiders seemed to finally have some momentum going until Zamir White fumbled the ball. Then, after getting the ball back, the Raiders were able to get some more positive yardage and get themselves in field goal range. A 49 yarder should be no problem for Daniel Carlson, who has accuracy and plenty of kick power, but he pushed this one wide right and the Raiders squander another opportunity for points.

The defense couldn’t keep the Chargers out of the end zone forever, as the very next drive saw Dobbins take the ball into the end zone and Los Angeles extended their lead to 16-10. For those keeping track at home, every Chargers score came about as a result of a mistake by the Raiders.

The Raiders were able to keep the game close when their next drive got them into the red zone for the first time all game. However, they couldn't punch the ball in and settled for a field goal, making the game 16-10.

The Chargers put the game away a few drives later when Dobbins gashed the Raiders on another long run, this one for 25 yards, and they capped the drive with a 10 yard TD pass from Justin Herbert to Ladd McConkey.

Any attempt at a comeback was thwarted when Minshew again took way too long to make a decision and his checkdown throw was tipped by Khalil Mack and intercepted.

The reasons why the Raiders lost were plentiful, but they can be boiled down to a few things.

After the first quarter, Maxx Crosby was totally shut down. In fact, when he went up against rookie LT Joe Alt for 8 one-on-one snaps, he had zero sacks and only one QB pressure. The rest of the line, including free agent signing Christian Wilkins, got very little pressure on Herbert.
A largely ineffective run game forced the Raiders into a lot of second and third and long situations. This is problematic as Antonio Pierce has made it very clear that this is going to be a run-heavy offense.
Gardner Minshew’s inability to read the field and make bonehead plays is going to curse this team for however long Antonio Pierce lets him remain as the quarterback. Here’s hoping Aiden O’Connell will be the Raiders starting QB by the time their first home game happens in week 3.

On the positive end of things, there were some bright spots for the Raiders.

Brock Bowers balled out in his first professional game. He had six catches for 58 yards and looks like he’ll be a total matchup nightmare for defenses.
The defense, specifically the pass defense, played shutdown ball all game. Justin Herbert (the seventh highest paid QB in the league) only threw for 144 yards on 26 attempts.
Tre Tucker had a 28 yard punt return that showed how dangerous he can be. With his speed and ability to cut on a dime, he has the potential to be the best returner in the league since Devin Hester. AND he can actually catch the ball!
Zamir White owns 12 horses. I don’t know what to do with that information, but it makes me happy.

Next week, the Raiders (0-1) will go on the road to take on a dangerous and angry Baltimore Ravens (0-1) team. The Chargers (1-0) will go on the road to take on the woefully inept Carolina Panthers (0-1).