Silver And Black Pride
Ashton Jeanty getting smothered in the end zone for the safety after a penalty and special teams gaffe. That sequence of unfortunate events perfectly encompasses not only how bad the Las Vegas Raiders were in a 33-16 Monday Night loss to the visiting Dallas Cowboys, but how atrocious of a football team they are.
It was incomPETEnce all around — offense, defense, and special teams. And the Silver & Black’s 2-8 overall record is a testament to that.
That fourth-quarter sequence began with wide receiver Tre Tucker fielding a punt but going backwards for a negative three-yard return that set up the Raiders at their own two-yard line. The next play was a false start and with the ball moved back to the one-yard line, Las Vegas quarterback Geno Smith took the snap, turned to hand the ball off to Jeanty, and the Raiders’ sixth-overall pick was met immediately by the Cowboys’ second-round pick Donovan Ezeiruaku and a slew of other defenders for the safety.
That swarm of Cowboys defenders engulfing a Raider was a common sight on Monday night as Dallas’ owned the line of scrimmage with a big and mean defensive line that saw the addition of Quinnen Williams via trade. The former New York Jets defensive tackle powered the Cowboys’ pass rush with 1.5 sacks. Williams, alongside Kenny Clark, helped anchor a run defense that grabbed the Raiders by the throat and squeezed, limiting Las Vegas to a meager 27 yards on 12 carries. Jeanty was corralled for just seven yards on six carries (1.2 yards per carry average) with a long run of 11 yards. Dallas laid waste to Las Vegas ailing offensive line that saw Will Putnam at center and usual pivot Jordan Meredith moved to right guard. Dylan Parham was at left guard while Stone Forsythe and DJ Glaze were at left and right tackle, respectively.
All this despite coming into the game with the 31st-ranked overall defensive unit.
Strangely enough, Dallas proved that near-dead-last-ranking was warranted as its defense was susceptible to the play action passing game Las Vegas deployed. Despite making a mockery of the Raiders run game with stout defense, the Cowboys bit on play action and Las Vegas made plays behind it for chunk gains which included three-straight passes for 19, 17, and 20 yards on the Silver & Black’s third offensive drive of the evening.
But with the defense able to stall the Raiders in the red zone, the Cowboys offense had their way with Las Vegas’ zone-heavy defense. There were five-straight scoring drives — one field goal, four touchdowns — where quarterback Dak Prescott operated with impunity and Dallas was simply having fun out there.
Overall, minus a strip-sack, Prescott was a smooth operator going 25 of 33 for 268 yards and four touchdowns. For comparison’s sake, Smith ended 27 of 42 for 238 yards with a touchdown and an interception (for a league-tying high of 13) while absorbing four sacks.
Let’s hit the quick slants as fast...
