Silver And Black Pride
Heading into the Week 5 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts, the Las Vegas Raiders were one of the top red zone defenses in the league. According to TeamRankings, the Raiders allowed touchdowns on about 38.5 percent of red zone possessions, which ranked fourth-best in the league. However, after letting the Colts go six-for-six, Las Vegas has fallen into a tie for 13th as the figure jumps up to just under 58 percent.
So, what happened in Indianapolis? How did the defense’s strength get turned into a weakness? Let’s flip on the tape and find out.
This first clip is pretty simple. The Raiders are in man coverage, where safety Jeremy Chinn draws rookie tight end Tyler Warren on an out route. Chinn is protecting the middle of the field/inside initially, but he gets caught flat-footed and can’t drive on the out route. Notice how he takes several steps to break toward the sideline. That’s a result of not being in a good stance or athletic position with his knees bent.
Now, it’s unlikely that Chinn prevents the completion here, but he could have at least been in a position to stop the touchdown. In my opinion, this is the case of a guy just not being ready to play.
This next clip is frustrating because Las Vegas is in man coverage again, and linebacker Devin White does a good job of covering the wheel route from running back Jonathan Taylor initially. However, White never tries to make a play on the ball, despite being in a position to do so, and keeps his hands on Taylor throughout the entire route. As a result, good coverage turns into a pass interfernce call and the Colts get the ball on the two-yard line.
Three plays later, Indianapolis comes out in 13 personnel, where one of the three tight ends is actually an extra offensive lineman. However, Las Vegas doesn’t match personnel properly, leaving four defensive backs on the field, including rookie cornerback Darien Porter.
So, when Crosby gets caught trying to beat the extra offensive lineman with an outside swim move and then blocked into the second level, on top of White getting kicked inside by the combo blocks from the two true tight ends, Porter is left to take on the pulling guard, seven-time Pro Bowler Quenton Nelson. Obviously, that matchup favors the offense, and it doesn’t help that safety Isaiah Pola-Mao doesn’t scrape over the top of the tight end. Instead, Pola-Mao gets blocked and doesn’t make contact with Taylor until the goal line.
There’s no shortage of issues on this play, but it would help if the Raiders had an extra linebacker on the field instead of Porter. Granted, that could be a symptom of the Germaine Pratt situation, but Jamal Adams, Tommy Eichenberg and Cody Lindenberg were all active for the game. Any of those three would have been better options in this situation.
Here, the Colts run the same play (power) out of 13 personnel again, just...
