Silver And Black Pride
Another week, another way the Las Vegas Raiders find a way to lose a football game.
The Raiders’ offense finally broke through against the Chicago Bears, totaling 357 yards, including 240 on the ground, 24 points and just one punt. That should have been enough to put the Bears away; however, four turnovers left the door open for Chicago, and a blocked field goal attempt allowed the Monsters of the Midway to slam it shut on Las Vegas. That gives us a mixed bag in this week’s winners and losers.
The beginning of Jeanty’s career has been a struggle, as he hasn’t had much breathing room so far this season. But the holes were open on Sunday and the rookie took advantage by nearly doubling his rushing yards from the first three games with 21 carries for 138 yards (6.6 ypc) and a 64-yard touchdown run. He also found the end zone two more times as a receiver to turn in a three-score performance and his first multi-touchdown game.
What is even more encouraging is that the Boise State product showed more signs of the guy he was in college, breaking 11 tackles, according to Pro Football Focus, throughout the afternoon. Of course, Jeanty’s breakout performance was spoiled by the loss, but his play had Raider Nation taking a collective sigh of relief as it looked like he is starting to get comfortable in the league. Now, it’s just a matter of stacking these outings together.
You don’t have to look too far to find the primary reason why the Raiders lost on Sunday. Smith pretty much admitted that he was the problem during his postgame press conference, and it’s hard to win when the quarterback throws three interceptions.
What’s frustrating about his performance isn’t just that he’s now leading the NFL in interceptions with seven; he’s also making rookie mistakes as a 12-year veteran. Smith continues to stare down reads, force throws into coverage and be late with his timing. At $37.5 million a year, Las Vegas is paying a Matthew Stafford-level price tag for Jameis Winston-level production.
After the game, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams said that Crosby is the “probably best player [he’s] played against in [his] career,” (h/t Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz) and that’s hard to argue with. Crosby has had plenty of dominant performances over the last seven years, but this one might take the cake as the most dominant of his career.
Despite getting chipped and double-teamed throughout the contest, the veteran pass-rusher managed to have five pressures, per PFF. But what was even more impressive was that he found ways to impact the passing game even when he couldn’t win as a rusher, batting three passes at the line of scrimmage, one of which led to his first career interception.
On top of that, Crosby was a menace against the run, recording three tackles for loss to earn the highest PFF run...
