Raiders Review: Offense Gets Rolling, Carr Starts Moving

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On offense, the Las Vegas Raiders finally started to click. Can they take this intensity deep into the season?

Although Josh Jacobs deserves the premier game ball for Sunday’s 144-yard, two-touchdown performance, many other players stepped up to make the 32-23 win over Denver a bit less stressful. Defensively, the Raiders came to play against an offense many expected to be one of the league’s best at the start of the year. Las Vegas allowed 299 total yards (214 passing, 85 rushing), but finally displayed the presence of multiple contributors in the individual stat categories.

Crosby Cashes In

Until Week Four, Maxx Crosby had been the only Raider with a recorded sack. After the game, Crosby finds himself as the only defensive lineman with a sack for the team, which still is not great, but certainly shows as a sign of improvement as Nate Hobbs was able to get to Russell Wilson on a corner blitz early in the game. While being the main focus of the Broncos’ offensive line, Crosby was still able to come down with his third and fourth sacks of the young 2022 season, tying him for fourth in the NFL. Now in his fourth year, Crosby continues to prove unstoppable and added four tackles for loss to his growing total.

Still Absent

Initially, it was expected that Crosby’s dominance would open the other side of the line for Chandler Jones, but the former Arizona Cardinal has continuously struggled to record much more than the occasional tackle. Continuing with the defense, cornerbacks Nate Hobbs and Amik Robertson both deserve their time to shine.

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Hobbs To The Rescue

Hobbs recorded the previously mentioned sack of Wilson, and recorded an additional tackle for loss. He would also tie Robertson and Divine Deablo for the team lead with fifty-three snaps played. Robertson, other than recovering and housing Melvin Gordon’s fumble played a phenomenal game. After being on the receiving end of an impressive Jerry Jeudy catch and “too small” celebration, Robertson came alive and swarmed Jeudy for the remainder of the game and eliminated any opportunity for the Broncos wide receiver to record a single yard after the catch.

Another Tae At The Office

Other than Jacobs, Davante Adams ran the Raiders’ offense, picking up one-hundred-one yards on nine catches, but finished the game without a touchdown for the first time all season. The Broncos schemed Derek Carr to throw deep, which took away potentially major gains, but Adams made sure to get his. There is certainly something to be said about how quietly Adams logged his hundred-yard game, but that mostly revolves around Jacobs loudly recording his one-hundred-forty-four.  Despite not surpassing two hundred passing yards, Carr deserves some credit for leading the team in yards per carry with seven rushes for forty yards (5.7 ypc). Carr recognized Denver’s commitment to taking away the deep pass and used this to his advantage by pulling the ball down and taking off.

Run, Derek, Run

Carr’s speed is frequently overlooked due to his typical hesitancy to run, but the former Fresno State quarterback did post a 4.69-second forty-yard dash at the combine in 2014. While some of his youthful agility may be behind him, he still shows flashes of its presence when he gets in open space. Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes receive praise for their ability to throw and run, and on Sunday, Carr showed that he has the ability to have his name mentioned among the pass-first-but-can-run-well-if-needed quarterback group. Getting off the schneid is a great feeling, but taking the momentum gathered into Arrowhead and coming out with a win on Monday night (with the bye week approaching) could turn the Raiders’ entire season around.