Silver And Black Pride
While the Las Vegas Raiders lost their seventh consecutive game and 11th in their last 12 attempts during the Week 14 bout against the Denver Broncos, the Raiders should be focused on the future at this point in the season. So, despite the 2-11 club struggling to be competitive against a division rival, there is some room for optimism since Las Vegas’ rookies finally got extensive playing time on Sunday.
That leads to a slightly different tone for this week’s winners and losers.
Coming into this weekend, Bech hadn’t received more than 25 pass snaps in one game this season and had only logged 20 or more twice. But the coaching staff finally took the rookie’s training wheels off by having him on the field for 34 pass snaps, per Pro Football Focus, and he managed to lead the team with six catches for 50 yards.
To make matters even better, the second-round pick hauled in all six of his catchable targets, including one that was contested via a big hit from Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga. Also, 10 of Bech’s 16 receptions on the year have gone for a first down. He’s trending toward being one of the Raiders’ few bright spots this season, especially if he can continue this momentum and finish strong over the final four weeks.
Denver ran for 152 yards and nearly five yards per carry as a team, and seemingly got whatever they wanted when it came to pounding the rock up the middle of Las Vegas’ defense. That doesn’t bode well for the Silver and Black’s starting defensive tackles, as Jonah Laulu recorded the second-lowest PFF run defense grade (34.4) on the team, and Booker rounded out the unit with an ugly 30.1 mark.
Sunday was a not-so-subtle reminder that this defense clearly needs to bring in some interior defensive line help during the offseason.
Much like Bech, the Raiders finally let Rogers loose and the results speak for themselves. He was the team’s second-highest graded offensive lineman—trailing Dylan Parham by just 1.4 points, per PFF—and finished 16th among the league’s guards (pre-Monday Night Football) with a 74.7 mark for the week. Additionally, he pitched a shutout with zero pressures allowed on 38 opportunities, according to PFF.
Not bad for a guy who, apparently, wasn’t good enough to even dress just a few weeks ago.
To be fair, not much is expected from Forsythe. However, he’s surrendered 19 pressures (seven sacks) over the last four weeks, including five pressures (two sacks) against the Broncos. That’s on top of earning a sub-60 PFF run blocking grade in each of the last four games and a 53.8 mark in Week 14. If Kolton Miller isn’t healthy or is shut down for the rest of the year, it’s time to see what Charles Grant can do.
There was certainly some room for improvement in...
