A healthy Brock Bowers is a big problem.
The Jacksonville Jaguars saw exactly how much of a nightmare the Las Vegas Raiders tight end is this past Sunday as Bowers was the Silver & Black’s offense with a 12-catch, 127-yard, and three-touchdown afternoon in Week 9.
The 6-foot-4 and 235-pound 22-year-old is an absurd combination of tight end size with a wide receiver skillset that makes him a godsend for Raiders quarterback Geno Smith and a migraine for opposing defensive coordinators.
It’s no secret: Las Vegas’ most productive set on offense is 12 personnel — a formation of one running back, two tight ends, and two wide receivers on the field. With Bowers hobbled and missing snaps due to a knee injury, the Raiders offense looked vastly different. And with Bowers healthy — he showcased the acceleration and speed that made him the 13th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft this past Sunday — and Michael Mayer and Ian Thomas good to go — expect 12 to be a staple again.
“Yeah, that’s where we started the season too. We were thinking that we were going to lead to that, because we like Mike (Michael Mayer) on the field the same time Brock’s out there and all of the flexibility that gives us,” Raiders head coach Pete Carroll said. “I don’t think it could be more obvious how valuable Brock was to us yesterday and how he was in the first game too. And then we hit the stretch where he was trying to recover and get back out there. So yeah, that’s something that’s best for us to mess in and out of the 12 personnel. Yeah.”
Jacksonville head coach Liam Coen noted his Jaguars defense mixed coverages up — zone and man — and ran a four-man pass rush and blitzed too, but no matter what they did, even marginally disrupting Bowers was near impossible.
“He’s got a full route tree. So, when they’re in 12-personnel, they’re really an 11. When they’re in 11-personnel, they’re really in 10. And he gives you the ability. He can run option routes, like Cooper Kupp, he can run the seams like Tony Gonzalez, I mean, he’s just multipurpose,” Coen said of Bowers. “I’ve obviously competed and coached against him when he was at Georgia multiple times. There’s not many players at that position that you can say are as talented as him. Knew coming off the bye they were going to want to feature him in a lot of ways, but it didn’t much matter. He was making plays all over the place.”
Then again, Jacksonville now has the 27th-ranked passing defense in terms of yards allowed (1,994) and 29th in touchdowns given up (19).
So while Bowers does in fact make the Raiders offense go, the Denver Broncos know it. And you can bet defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and his crew are eager to prove Denver’s sixth-ranked pass defense — in term of yards allowed (1,681) — and second-ranked group — in terms of passing touchdowns yielded (eight) — isn’t fugazi. Joseph’s Broncos defense is ranked fourth in terms of points allowed (166) and third in yards yielded (2,519). And the run defense is eighth and ninth in yards (839) and touchdowns (six).
While Bowers has the ability to make any defender foolish — from defensive backs to linebackers — moving him across the formation and running a full gamut of routes is how the Raiders attack the Broncos. Bowers can beat both man and zone coverages with route running, size, and speed. And the absence of shutdown cornerback Patrick Surtain II is a major loss for Denver.
But Las Vegas offensive line, tight ends, wide receivers, and running backs need to be locked in to block for Smith to give him time to find Brock and other targets. Alongside with battering Denver with the run game powered by rookie running back Ashton Jeanty.
The Broncos will look to unleash pass rushers Nik Bonitto (team-leading eight sacks), Jonathon Cooper (seven), Zach Allen (five), and John Franklin-Myers (four). Bonitto hasn’t registered a sack in three games leading into this Thursday night clash and is champing at the bit to drop Smith and stymie the Raiders offense.
With Bonitto and Cooper being outside linebackers who rush out of Joseph’s 3-4 defensive alignment, blocking for both tight ends and tailbacks on blitz pickup will be vital. The group did a good job of that against the Jaguars and need to replicate and improve that in Week 10.
Quote of Note:
“It is really. It’s significantly different. We got to cover this game that we just played and get all that done, which is a Monday, and then there’s a Tuesday break and then Wednesday, the game plan starts. Well, this is a Monday, Wednesday is what this is. And then each day is just accelerated, so it’s equally the same for both teams. And it’s a challenge. Everybody’s got to work quickly. We got to be really efficient, and we need to get out of these other kinds of meetings as soon as we can to keep us going. But this is the Thursday challenge that you have, and it’s better when both teams come off a Sunday game to help even it up.”
—Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll on how different prep is for a Thursday night game
Thursday night’s matchup will be the 132nd meeting between the Raiders and Broncos. The Silver & Black lead the overall series 73-56-2 (72-55-2 in regular season play, 1-1 in postseason action). But it’s Denver that’s riding a two-game winning streak heading into this one. The Broncos beat the Raiders 34-18 and 29-19 in the 2024 matchups. Before that, Las Vegas held an eight-game win streak from 2020-2024. The longest victory streak in the series was Oakland’s 14 straight wins from 1965-71.
See More:
