Silver And Black Pride
While the Las Vegas Raiders’ defense had its worst performance as a whole in Week 3, giving up 41 points to the Washington Commanders, defensive tackle Jonah Laulu was one of the unit’s few bright spots in Washington.
According to Pro Football Focus, Laulu was the Raiders’ second-highest graded defender with a mark of 72.0. A big reason for that is he tied for the second-most ‘defensive stops’ (three) on the team, which also ranked tied for fifth among interior defenders across the league for the week. Additionally, the second-year pro recorded a couple of pressures as a pass-rusher.
So, the outlook for Las Vegas might be down right now, but let’s take a look at how one young player managed to provide a small silver lining.
Laulu had a handful of disruptive plays on Sunday, and the clip above is a good example.
The Commanders are running a read option out of the inverted wishbone, where the two fullbacks lead block for the quarterback while the running back and offensive line execute a counter run. Meanwhile, it looks like the Raiders are having Laulu and Malcolm Koonce run a stunt since the defensive tackle’s first step is wide or lateral while the end looks to loop inside.
That becomes significant because the center releases flat down the line of scrimmage to block Koonce and leave Laulu unblocked as the read man on the option. However, Laulu does a great job of getting off the ball and attacking the center, taking the read man away from the quarterback to influence the handoff. Simultaneously, he pushes the center into the backfield and ends up picking the pulling tackle.
As a result, linebacker Elandon Roberts can come downhill unblocked and meet the running back in the backfield for a tackle for loss. Also, Laulu escapes the center’s block to get involved in the play, and Maxx Crosby does a great job of winning inside to create a pile and more disruption in the backfield.
This time, Las Vegas is backed up on the goal line and faces a simple halfback dive. With the 3-technique defensive tackle, Leki Fotu, getting pushed back into the end zone by the double team from the left guard and tackle, this should be a touchdown since the running back is looking to hit that gap.
However, Laulu wins at the point of attack against the tight end/extra offensive lineman, standing up the lineman and gaining control of the block. He also does a good job of maintaining a wide base and squeezing inside to put himself between the ball carrier and the goal line, factoring into the tackle to prevent the score.
Also, shoutout to Thomas Booker IV and Germaine Pratt for defeating their blocks as well to come up with the stops.
Here’s the best example of Laulu being dominant at the point of attack.
He’s on the weak side of the formation as the Commanders run duo. That puts him on the backside of the...
