A year ago, cornerback Isaiah Johnson was wondering when he would be healthy enough to play again, let alone be placed in a role to decide the outcome of a game. Yet, there he was Sunday, with the Los Angeles Chargers marching down the field inexorably toward a game-winning touchdown and starter Trayvon Mullen sidelined
Raiders hold on for 31-26 victory over Chargers
-Where was Henry Ruggs? He was MIA.
-Brandon Parker did better than the low expectations we had for him
-Corey Littleton. Oh my. Raiders are getting very little for the investment in him
-Kudos to Isiah Johnson. Chargers went right after him and he “held the line.”
The QB has to actually throw the ball to Ruggs before we can call him MIA.
He has to actually be open before the QB will throw it to him. If he’s struggling to get open or is being double-teamed, then Gruden needs to figure out how to scheme him open. He’s too big of a weapon to be a non-factor every game. Plus, we don’t want him to mentally check out because he’s never targeted.
Spot on with all takes. Ruggs simply might not be at full strength and he is being used primarily as a decoy right now. How about Parker? Impressive, especially for how horrid he has been for most of his pro career. There might be a glimmer of hope after all. Littleton is being paid huge coin, while providing very little in return. He’s this year’s Tahir Whitehead, at twice the cost.
The reason the clock didn’t stop when Williams went out of bounds near the 4 yard line was because he wasn’t making any forward progress as he was forced out of bounds. Had the official thrown a flag, it would have been a blown call in favor of the Chargers. The Raiders did escape with a win against a very talented but flawed division opponent.
Correction: had the official stopped the clock, it would have been a blown call in favor of the Chargers. Oops
The defense allows way too many conversions on third and long. It looks way too easy for the offenses.
The end of the first half was atrocious. I am not as mad about wanting to run a play or two in that situation, but Carr is not the best at securing the football. He needs to get better at that (hopefully, it won’t take him 7 years to learn that new skill).
Agholor is becoming a nice asset. Amazing how a player changes when they are played in a position best suited for their skillset.
I agree with Michelle the 3rd and long conversions are problematic. It just looks so easy. It’s not like they are getting torched in the secondary downfield on those plays but more allowing guys to catch short passes and easily get YAC yards to convert. It’s totally ridiculous.
Anyway great win. I had confidence the Raiders would not allow the final score although it was a bit closer than I would have liked. Defence still has a long way to go before they ever hope to be a playoff team or better yet win a playoff game. Ruggs is a complete non factor and it’s starting to concern me. He was invisible for whatever reason and has been most games this year. Maybe he is dinged up?
We stop them on 3rd and 16 and the game is over. But no, we allow a 20 yard pickup on a short throw underneath and we’re too deep or slow to make the stop. Same thing happened against Tampa on 3rd and 13. Not sure what sort of coverage is getting called in these situations, but it ain’t working. Very frustrating. We can’t hope to beat any above average teams until we fix that and are able to get off the field.