Another week, another win for the Antonio Pierce era. This week 10 slay and bomb article is going to highlight how great the Raiders played on Sunday Night Football against the Jets.
The culture has completely shifted. Gone are the days of boring playcalling, players lacking emotion, and a hopeless feeling of the inevitability of defeat. Antonio Pierce has this team rolling since the end of the Josh McDaniels era.
Older Raider fans might compare this to when Al Davis fired Mike Shanahan and hired Art Shell in his place. Shannahan in a similar fashion to McDaniels had great success elsewhere (Denver) as an offensive coordinator with a Hall of Fame quarterback (John Elway) in the 80s before failing as head coach of the Raiders due to amongst a multitude of factors, including being way too rigid. History has a funny way of repeating itself.
The Raiders came out and had the most gritty win of their season in a defensive slugfest. Both teams struggled to score touchdowns and the defenses shined through, which could not have been a surprise to anybody watching.
Opposing quarterbacks have struggled all season against the Jets defense. Justin Herbert, Patrick Mahomes, and Jalen Hurts all have failed to have any sort of production against arguably the best defense in football. The Raiders defense has also surprisingly turned a corner this season and has been the biggest reason why they’ve won most of their games. Now the Raiders sit at 5-5 and in 2nd place in the AFC West.
Let’s get into this week 10 slay and bomb article and highlight the good and the bad from the Raiders win.
Slay
Robert Spillane
Head coach Antonio Pierce referred to Robert Spillane as the man he wants to build the defense around which surprised a lot of people when Maxx Crosby is right there on the defensive line. But Spillane is currently leading the team in tackles and is one of the biggest playmakers on this defense this season.
Spillane came into this game under the new revelation that he had broken his left hand in Detroit. Instead of going on Injured Reserve, he got surgery on it after the game and hasn’t missed any time since then.
Spillane got a massive interception of Jets quarterback Zach Wilson that helped the Raiders win on Sunday. On top of that, he finished with 4 tackles and a sack on the evening.
Spillane has been a consistent contributor since coming over from the Steelers. If there is one thing that the Steelers know how to do, it’s coach up and develop good linebackers. Raider Nation is grateful for the addition of Spillane to this defense. Hopefully he sticks around for years to come. The Raiders haven’t had a good consistent inside linebacker arguably since either Greg Bikert or Kirk Morrison.
Josh Jacobs
Raiders RB Josh Jacobs (8) and Jets CB Sauce Gardner (1) – Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Bo Jackson sent a message to Raiders star running back Josh Jacobs pregame. “Man, when you run a… over, you pick ’em up and you say, all right, I’m (gonna) come back 40 seconds later, I tried to have that mentality today.”
Jacobs certainly did follow Jackson’s advice on Sunday. He ran for 116 yards, the first time he has eclipsed 100 yards this season. Since Josh McDaniels has been fired, Jacobs has seemed to be exercising some demons.
It was mentioned during the broadcast that Jacobs is finally having some sort of input on what running plays he would like in the game plan, rather than having it dictated to him. On top of that, he said that under the current regime, he feels like for the first time he is respected as a player and has a chance of being a Raider next season.
Jacobs has started to look like Josh Jacobs from the 2022 season, the man who led the entire league in rushing. As Antonio Pierce stated, he’s the heartbeat of the team and when the offense flows through him, the Raiders win.
Bo Hardegree
Raiders Offensive Coordinator Bo Hardegree – Ethan Miller/Getty Images
The interim offensive coordinator deserves to get his flowers for the game he called on Sunday Night Football. The Raiders were going up against pretty extraordinary odds when you take everything into account.
Hardegee is only calling plays for the second game in his career. He just got elevated to his new position a week ago, and he has a rookie quarterback. Meanwhile, he’s calling plays against a buzzsaw of a defense that has clamped down some of the best offenses in the league, and the best quarterbacks in the league.
The game plan that the offense had to put together was executed very well. O’Connell did throw an interception. But the rookie played better than other big-time quarterbacks have against the same Jets defense. The Jets defense has locked down Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, and Justin Herbert amongst others this season.
“AOC” managed to connect with rookie tight end Michael Mayer on Mayer’s first career touchdown, which ended up being the game-winning touchdown. It was an absolutely amazing play that saw O’Connell move out of pressure to his right and throw it on the run where Mayer jumped up and “mossed” the defensive back for a touchdown in the back of the endzone.
“AOC” managed to finish with 153 yards 1 touchdown 1 interception. Josh Jacobs popped off for his best game of the season. Davante Adams had 6 catches for 83 yards, turning in a great contribution to the win as well.
One of the highlights of the game was a 4th down conversion where the Raiders faked like they were running the infamous “Brotherly Shove” QB sneak play that the Eagles have made famous where several offensive players help push the quarterback forward for a first down. Instead, they handed it off out of the same formation to wide receiver/returner DeAndre Carter who got a substantial gain for a first down.
Hardegree deserves to get congratulations for calling a good game on Sunday. Hopefully, he can keep it up the next week in Miami.
Bomb
Offensive Line
Aidan O’Connell and Josh Jacobs might’ve had great performances on Sunday, but it was heavily in spite of the offensive line. The offensive line was heavily bending all night to the will of the Jets defensive line.
The Raiders offensive line was banged up coming into this line and facing a tough assignment. The Raiders were missing left tackle Kolton Miller and facing one of the best pass rushes in the league behind the might of the Williams brothers.
I wouldn’t qualify it as a complete bomb performance, all things considered. The offensive line could have done a lot worse, only giving up 2 sacks. But the Raiders struggles on offense could also be attested to getting dominated at the line of scrimmage.
Zamir White
It’s unfortunately obvious at this point that the Raiders need a better backup running back. The entire NFL utilizes multiple running back sets. It keeps the starters fresh and enables a lot more flexibility from offenses. The Raiders are the only team unable to do this because none of their backup options are good enough.
Zamir White doesn’t get a lot of carries, but when he has come in, he hasn’t done particularly well. His only carry on Sunday resulted in 5 yards and a fumble. The Raiders offense needs better production. On the season, he has only 17 carries for 46 yards and 6 catches for 38 yards.
Looking at his recent games he’s registered the following stats: 4 carries for -2 yards, 0 carries, 2 carries for 2 yards, and 2 carries for 2 yards. The Raiders need a lot more from this guy if they want to preserve Josh Jacobs’ health.
They’re going to need all hands on deck next Sunday. The Raiders will travel to South Beach over in Miami, Florida to take on the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins have arguably the most explosive offense in the league with the 2 fastest wide receivers in the league, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. It’s also a morning game on the East Coast, something the Raiders have always struggled with.
