Week 15 winners and losers: Running game regresses in primetime

There aren’t many winners after a snooze fest

It’s hard to say a 2-12 team has hit a new low, but the Las Vegas Raiders’ Week 15 performance on Monday Night Football against the Atlanta Falcons feels like the Raiders have found a new rock bottom.

The offense looked uninspired for just about the entire contest and the team was flat, lacking energy which could be felt throughout Allegiant stadium. As a result, there aren’t many winners in this week’s winners and losers column.

LOSER: The Trenches

This game was a tale of two different rushing attacks as the Falcons had 37 carries for 168 yards (4.5 ypc) while the Raiders logged 22 rushes and 65 yards (3.0 ypc). Diving deeper, Bijan Robinson rushed 22 times for a season-high 125 yards while Las Vegas’ backs combined for 17 attempts and 37 yards.

The reason for that is Las Vegas got demolished in the trenches.

Only one defensive lineman—Zach Carter who played just 21 total snaps—recorded an above-average run defense grade from Pro Football Focus. Adam Butler (49.3), K’Lavon Chaisson (38.7), John Jenkins (37.0) and Jonah Laulu (33.1) were the biggest culprits by taking at least 40 snaps each and recording sub-50 marks against the run.

On the other side of the ball, Kolton Miller earned an elite 90.0 run-blocking grade, but every other lineman was just slightly above or below average in the ground game and that was highlighted by a safety where it seemed like the entire line got caved in. Jackson Powers-Johnson had the lowest mark of them all, coming in at 46.9.

LOSER: Special Teams

While Las Vegas technically only had one punt blocked, the special teams allowed another punt to get tipped and both errors gave the Falcons’ offense short fields to begin the drive. That led to 10 points and the field goal unit allowed a PAT to get blocked, costing the team another point in what ended up being a one-score game.

The Silver and Black’s kickoff team gave up a long return and Atlanta had four punts that were downed inside the 10-yard line, three via fair catches by Ameer Abdullah. So, on top of giving up points, the special teams sacrificed field position several times to hold the team back.

WINNER: Kolton Miller

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images

As mentioned above, Miller was the only offensive lineman who showed up in the running game. The mark above is the highest of his career and the second-best among offensive tackles for the week. The blind-side protector also had a good showing in pass protection, surrendering just one pressure on 46 opportunities, per PFF.

For the record, PFF attributed all three of Desmond Ridder’s sacks to the quarterback.

LOSER: Jack Jones

Kirk Cousins hadn’t thrown a touchdown pass in four weeks heading into the game but that streak ended when Jones bit on a double-move against Drake London for a wide-open 30-yard score. The cornerback was targeted four times and gave up four receptions for 51 yards and a perfect 158.3 passer rating on the evening.

That puts Jones up to eight touchdowns allowed this season, the second-most among cornerbacks, per PFF. What’s frustrating is his over-aggressiveness continues to be an issue and opposing teams are taking advantage of it while he struggles to make an adjustment.

LOSER: Alexander Mattison

Mattison returned to action for the first time since Week 11 and Monday night couldn’t have gone much worse for him. His first carry came on 3rd and 23 where the Raiders were just looking to play the field position game until he fumbled and turned the ball over.

That was also one of the veteran’s longest rushes of the game as he finished with seven carries for 21 yards, six for 14 outside of the touch where he coughed the ball up.

WINNER: Divine Deablo

It’s been a tough season for Deablo overall, but he had a solid outing in Week 15 with six total tackles, a TFL and a pass defended. The linebacker also tied for the team lead with four defensive stops and only gave up five yards in coverage, via PFF. That was good enough for him to earn just his second above-average grade (74.4) since Week 6 this season.