Week 2 was a rough one for the Las Vegas Raiders as the team blew a chance to take control of the AFC West, losing 20-9 against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football. That leaves little room for optimism for this week’s winners and losers.
LOSER: Geno Smith
Heading into this week, Smith was 3-6 in nine starts on Monday nights and had only thrown over 200 yards twice, per StatMuse. So, the loss against the Chargers makes him 3-7 and just two for 10 in 200-yard or better performances. Also, he’s now thrown almost as many interceptions (eight) as touchdowns (nine), and was Pro Football Focus’ second-lowest graded (40.0) quarterback for the week.
It goes without saying, but the Raiders are going to need much better play from their signal caller moving forward.
LOSER: Dylan Parham
Las Vegas’ interior offensive line continues to struggle, and Parham was a big part of the problem against the Chargers. He gave up six pressures (one sack) and earned below-average PFF grades in both phases of the game with a 45.2 mark in pass protection and 50.8 as a run blocker. On top of that, the fourth-year pro was flagged for holding twice, bringing his penalty count up to three in two games.
WINNER: DJ Glaze
On the other end of the spectrum, Glaze had a bounce-back performance in pass protection. He only gave up two pressures on 48 opportunities, and both were just quarterback hurries to earn a 78.5 PFF pass blocking grade. That’s a step in the right direction, and while the second-year pro still has some work to do in the run game, his mark in that department did improve by about six points from last week to creep closer to a baseline level of play.
LOSER: Isaiah Pola-Mao
The Raiders’ defense was far from the team’s biggest problem, but Pola-Mao’s performance certainly didn’t help matters. It looks like the Chargers were trying to pick on him in coverage, as the safety tied for the most targets (five) on the team, allowing the most completions (four) and second-most yards (54), per PFF. Pola-Mao also gave up a touchdown, a near-perfect passer rating (149.6) and had two of the defense’s six missed tackles to culminate an ugly performance.
LOSER: Pass Rush
Las Vegas’ other defensive issue on Monday night was a lack of pass rush. Justin Herbert was pressured just eight times and on 25.0 percent of his dropbacks. For context, those figures are tied for the fourth- and sixth-fewest, respectively, among quarterbacks for the week, according to PFF.
Building on that, Jonah Laulu had the defense’s only sacks, but both were coverage sacks, and Thomas Booker IV led the team with just three pressures. Booker, Laulu (two) and Malcolm Koonce (two) were the only defenders to record more than one pressure, as even Maxx Crosby had a tough time getting to Herbert.
WINNER: Jamal Adams
Through two games, Adams has been the Raiders’ highest PFF graded defender twice, earning a 77.2 mark this time. He was credited with three tackles and no misses, while allowing just one yard on his lone target to come up with a defensive stop. The problem is that he only played 19 snaps against the Chargers and 25 versus the Patriots, but he should be in line for more playing time at this rate.
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