Las Vegas kicker nails both field goal attempts, punter booms lone boot
As far as the Las Vegas Raiders offense goes, so does Daniel Carlson. Ditto for AJ Cole II.
Much of the dynamic duo’s workload is dependent on how effective the offense is and at 2-8 overall, it’s pretty clear effectiveness isn’t synonymous with the the Silver & Black when it comes to making end zone visits or even field goals.
As place kicker and punter, respectively, Carlson’s and Cole’s participation rate relies heavily on how well interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner’s offense moves the ball and avoids fourth down.
Take this past Sunday’s 34-19 loss to the Miami Dolphins, for example.
Carlson was called up twice to boot field goals through the uprights and nailed them. Both were of the shorter variety — the first a 27-yard kick, the other a 22-yard chip shot — highlighting Las Vegas’ inability to finish drives with an end zone visit. Overall, though, Carlson is a middle of the pack amongst his contemporaries across the league — more on that Where They Stand section.
K Daniel Carlson makes a 22-yard field goal, capping off a 16-play, 66-yard #Raiders scoring drive. Carlson is now 2-for-2 (100.0%) on the day.
He notches his 57th career game with multiple field goals since entering the league in 2018, tied for the fourth most in the NFL.
— Raiders PR (@RAIDERS_PR) November 17, 2024
Cole Mine
The Raiders punter officially only had one lone boot on the books against Miami: A third-quarter 54-yard blast that went from Las Vegas’ 40-yard line to Miami’s three-yard line.
Cole did have another punt attempt much earlier in the game — in the first quarter — but that blast (a touchback) was wiped out due to a running into the kicker penalty by veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell, which gave Las Vegas the first down on 4th-and-4.
Cole remains one of the top punters in the league but, much like Carlson, he’s in the middle of the NFL pack in terms of attempts.
Where They Stand
Carlson sits at 16th overall in terms of field goal attempts with 20. The Houston Texans’ Ka’imi Fairbairn and Pittsburgh Steelers’ Chris Boswell top the field amongst kickers with 31 and 30 attempts, respectively.
In terms of makes, Carlson is 13th with 18. Boswell paces the league with 29 makes with Fairbairn second with 26. Carlson’s 90-percent field goal percentage puts him 12th overall in the league. The Detroit Lions Jake Bates hasn’t missed this season and is 15-for-15 on the year.
Flip to Cole and he’s in the middle of the pack in terms of punts and yardage. He’s 16th in the league with 37 punts. The Cleveland Browns’ Corey Bojorquez leads the league with 55 boots. Cole is 14th in yardage at 1,975. Bojorquez tops that category with a total of 2,828.
So while we joke Cole gets plenty of attempts to compile statistical superiority, he’s actually in the middle, not near the top in both attempts and yards.
Where he does lead the league is in terms of yards per punt at an average of 53.4. The Jacksonville Jaguars’ Logan Cooke follows him with a 51.6 average. In terms of net yard average (subtracting touchbacks and return yardage from the overall average), Cole is 3rd with a 44.6 net average. Cooke is lead dog with a 46.4 net yard average.
Week 11 punter rankings: it’s neck and neck for AJ Cole and Logan Cooke, punting on teams that have otherwise nothing left to play for pic.twitter.com/PxCyfRIEc1
— Puntalytics (@ThePuntRunts) November 18, 2024
Up Next: The Raiders host the Denver Broncos this Sunday for the second go-around between AFC West foes. In 12 career games against the Broncos, Carlson is 24 of 27 on field goals and 28 of 29 on extra points. In Las Vegas’ 34-18 Week 5 loss to Denver, Carlson went 1-for-1 on both field goals and extra points. Cole, meanwhile, has 11 career games against the Broncos with a total of 39 punts for 1,896 yards (49.89 yards per boot average). Of those punts, 17 have been downed inside Denver’s 20-yard line and three have been touchbacks. In the Week 5 loss, Cole punted five times for 267 yards (53.4 average) with two of his kicks pinning the Broncos deep.
Extra Points: Linebackers Tommy Eichenberg and Amari Burney paced the Raiders special teams unit with 20 snaps (87 percent of the groups entire count). Fellow linebacker Amari Gainer followed closely with 18 snaps. Wide receiver DJ Turner, safety Christopher Smith II, and linebacker Kana’i Mauga each had 14 snaps while defensive end Charles Snowden contributed 13 snaps (he also played 46 snaps on defense). Turner’s presence as a no nonsense gunner on coverage units is invaluable as he has the speed and tenacity to force fair catches or make stops right at the catch point.
