Silver And Black Pride
The hush that came over then NRG Stadium crowd Sunday afternoon was telling.
The initial volume decrease arrived when Geno Smith dropped a dime in Ashton Jeanty’s bread basket and the running back shook of a defender enroute to a 60-yard touchdown catch and run in the third quarter. The next muting happened when Jeanty burst through for a 51-yard touchdown run a quarter later.
And you could tell both the host Houston Texans and their faithful were sweating bullets against the lowly Las Vegas Raiders after those two explosive plays. And that silence was indicative of a near-Raiders’ reprieve.
However, in the end, Smith’s first-quarter interception — that was housed by Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. for the pick six — was the difference as the Silver & Black fell short 23-21 to loss its ninth-consecutive game of the 2025 campaign.
“On that play, I just got to throw it away,” Smith said after the game. “They had a better call than us at that time. I think we kind of worn out the roll pass. Those guys, they played cover two on third-and-short. We’ve got to have an out to get to a run or something like that. We can’t run that play. He kind of kept running, and the corner made a good play. I’ve got to throw it away and live to play another down.”
The target on said turnover: Jeanty.
The Raiders rookie running back went off to the tune of 128 yards and a score on 24 carries (5.3 yards yards per carry average) including that 60-yard bomb of a reception for another score. It was a performance that featured Jeanty getting smothered, keeping his feet moving, and eventual breakaway plays — something that felt like they were on the verge the past few weeks.
The offensive outburst was a fry cry from the Raiders team that got blanked last week. Ultra productive tight end Brock Bowers got the end zone trips going in the second quarter with an excellent route and catch for a seven-yard score in the second quarter. Then came Jeanty’s touchdowns in the third and fourth stanzas.
Smith was given time to survey the landscape to find targets — although he held onto the ball too long at times taking three sacks — and the ragamuffin Raiders offense (ranked last in the league in points scored) took it to the NFL’s top-ranked Texans defense.
Defensively, Las Vegas played equally inspired and made life tough for Houston’s middling offense limiting the group to a trio of field goals. The Raiders did wilt in the fourth quarter allowing a touchdown to tight end Dalton Schultz on a 10-play, 88-yard drive and a game-sealing 24-yard pass from quarterback CJ Stroud to wideout Nico Collins on 3rd-and-8 after the two-minute warning.
Let’s hit the quick slants as fast as Jeanty made his way to the end zone on his two explosive plays:
—A week after only mustering 75 total yards, the Raiders offense...
