Week 2 winners and losers: Bowers breaks out in Baltimore

Rookie tight end and the offense caught fire in fourth quarter to lead comeback

Facing a 10-point deficit with a little more than 12 minutes to play in the fourth quarter as heavy underdogs on the road, it looked like the Las Vegas Raiders were dead in the water in their Week 2 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens. A loss would have dropped the Raiders to 0-2 and made it feel like the season would never get off the ground.

However, Las Vegas dug deep and scored the final 13 points of the game to pull off an improbable upset. Leading the way was quarterback Gardner Minshew as Minshew connected with rookie tight end Brock Bowers and star wide receiver Davante Adams several times during the fourth-quarter comeback.

That gives us plenty of winners to go over for this week’s winners and losers column.

WINNER: Brock Bowers

The Georgia product had a good outing in the season opener, but this past Sunday’s game felt like his breakout performance in the NFL. Bowers caught all nine targets thrown his way to finish just shy of a 100-yard performance (98 yards) and had several clutch first downs to aid the comeback effort.

While he didn’t reach the endzone, a 27-yard catch on 3rd and eight late in the third quarter put the Raiders on the one-yard line and set up the team’s first touchdown of the contest.

Bowers has 125 yards so far this season which is the most from a tight end through their first two games in franchise history, according to the Raiders’ X/Twitter account.

LOSER: Kolton Miller

It’s been a tough start to the season for Miller as he’s given up five sacks in two games with three coming on Sunday, per Pro Football Focus. To his credit, he is coming off shoulder surgery and missed the majority of the team’s offseason program to help explain his early struggles.

However, at the end of the day, the team isn’t getting what it needs from its best offensive lineman and Miller needs to do a better job of keeping the quarterback upright. Also, he posted a sub-par 58.7 PFF grade as a run-blocker which must improve for the Raiders’ rushing attack to get going.

WINNER: Gardner Minshew

Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images

Backed against the wall with some people clamoring for Aidan O’Connell to start next week, Minshew managed to catch fire and lead the comeback. He finished with 30 completions on 38 attempts (78.9 percent) for 276 yards and a touchdown, and the majority of that production came in crunch time when the team needed it most.

A week after getting criticized for being too conservative, the free-agent addition started pushing the ball down the field as his ADOT increased by 1.6 yards from the season opener (6.3), and he tossed two “big-time throws”, per PFF. Hopefully, that’s a sign of what’s to come and he can keep the momentum going.

LOSER: Andre James

Similar to Miller, Las Vegas needs James to step up if the offense is going to have any success running the ball. He’s been sub-par in that department during Weeks 1 and 2, posting an ugly 40.2 PFF run-blocking grade on Sunday, which is the worst mark among centers by 10 points (pre-Monday Night Football).

While the Raiders have plenty of question marks up front, James is supposed to be a stabilizing presence within the position group seeing as he’s one of two offensive linemen who has plenty of starting experience and isn’t switching positions. However, you wouldn’t know that based on his play so far.

WINNER: Davante Adams

As mentioned above, a big factor in the Silver and Black’s comeback was Adams getting more involved in the offense. He finished with nine grabs for 110 yards and a touchdown with five catches, 88 yards and the score coming in the second half. He also managed to draw two pass-interference penalties, make an impressive sideline grab and haul in three of four contested targets.

In other words, the Raiders’ best offensive player stepped up and came up clutch when it mattered most and the team needed him.

LOSER: Marcus Epps

It’s been two weeks and Marcus Epps’ missed tackles are becoming a major problem. PFF has him down for six on the season which is tied for the most in the league and this past Sunday was really bad as he led the team with four. Especially as a safety, that can’t happen.

If the six-year veteran doesn’t turn it around soon, his playing time will take a hit and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Antonio Pierce make a change as early as next week. Pierce has already dipped into the depth chart at other positions, and the safety spot could be next.

WINNER: Maxx Crosby

Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

At this point, it should come as no surprise that Crosby did his thing as he took advantage of a weak right side of the Ravens’ offensive line this weekend. Crosby accounted for half of the Raiders’ pressures (four), per PFF, and picked up two sacks to bring his total up to three in two games this season.

As a run defender in Baltimore, Madd Maxx earned an 81.7 grade (best among EDGEs with at least 10 run-defense snaps), recorded three defensive stops (tied for third) and had a -0.3-yard average depth of tackle.

That’s a dominant effort in both phases of the game.

WINNER: Antonio Pierce

I was hard on Pierce last week, so I have to give him credit for this win. Ever since taking over as head coach, AP has talked about building a tough and gritty squad, and the resilience the team played with to get this win showed that the players are taking the coach’s message to heart.

This was a big game in terms of the culture that Pierce is working to create in the building.