Silver And Black Pride
Week 14 features an AFC West contest between two teams that are headed in opposite directions, with the 2-10 Las Vegas Raiders in contention for the No. 1 overall pick and the 10-2 Denve r Broncos fighting for the one-seed in the AFC playoff picture. Given the Raiders’ standing, this week’s key matchups for Las Vegas will continue to focus on the team’s young players or the ones who have something to prove.
A tight end against a cornerback isn’t a typical one-on-one matchup, but Bowers isn’t a typical tight end. He’s been the Silver and Black’s top receiver over the last two years and currently leads the team with 49 catches, 573 yards and five touchdowns despite missing three games with a knee injury.
The second-year pro had a well-documented historic rookie season, shaking plenty of defensive backs to become a First-Team All-Pro. However, one player whom he struggled to break free from was Surtain.
While Bowers had eight catches for 97 yards and a touchdown in his first game against the Broncos last year, the majority of that production came in the first half as Denver made a halftime adjustment by putting the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year on him. In the second contest, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph wisely continued that strategy and limited the tight end to four catches and 38 yards on 10 targets.
According to Pro Football Focus, Bowers was targeted four times with Surtain guarding him last year and only caught one pass for nine yards, while the cornerback logged an interception and a pass breakup to account for two out of the three incompletions. Especially considering the Raiders aren’t exactly flush with talent out wide, expect Joseph to roll out a similar gameplan this Sunday.
Surtain was injured when these teams met about a month ago, so this will be Bowers’ first chance to get some retribution. That won’t come easy, though, seeing as the reigning DPOY is having another strong campaign. He currently ranks tied for 16th among qualifying cornerbacks (minimum 106 coverage snaps) with 14.8 coverage snaps per reception allowed and is tied for 10th with nine forced incompletions, per PFF.
Sticking with a battle in the passing game, while Las Vegas doesn’t have many proven weapons, Tucker has put together a career year this season. He’s already set personal bests in receiving yards (550) and touchdowns (five) and needs just four catches to complete the trifecta. But a lot of that production came when Bowers either wasn’t fully healthy or was sidelined.
If the third-year pro is going to establish himself as the Raiders’ No. 2 option moving forward, then he needs to show that he can be productive while sharing the field with a healthy Bowers. And Tucker should have plenty of opportunities if Surtain is on the tight end.
Moss’ numbers aren’t the prettiest, allowing the fifth-most receiving yards among corners (545) and four...
