New FSM Essential Game Recap: Raiders vs Falcons - Week 12

New FSM Essential Game Recap: Raiders vs. Falcons – Week 12

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Las Vegas Raiders (6-5)  |  Atlanta Falcons (4-7)

 

 

The Las Vegas Raiders traveled to Atlanta to take on the Falcons. The Silver and Black hoped to avoid the”Dirty Birds” southern hospitality by leaving “the A” with a win.

 

But the start of the game for the Raiders was just like food at The Waffle House after a night of partying at Club 112. It was sloppy and wasn’t as good as you would have hoped, but since you needed to eat, you dealt with it. Las Vegas had two turnovers in the first half; both were Derek Carr fumbles and seven penalties for 86 yards.

The Raiders also lost their starting cornerbacks during the first half due to injuries. Anything that could go wrong did go wrong for the Raiders. It was nothing like Raider Nation saw last week against the Chiefs.

The numbers were not pretty for the Raiders on offense in the first half. Carr threw for 129 yards but had no touchdowns and the two first-half fumbles. Running back Josh Jacobs ran for six yards on just four carries, and the leading receiver for Las Vegas was rookie Henry Ruggs III with 37 yards on two receptions. The Raiders’ defense played well but were on the field too much, over 17 minutes, and were put in bad situations with all the turnovers by the offense. The defense gave up 171 total yards, but they did have a Jonathan Abram interception and a sack.

The Raiders were not out of this game by any stretch of the imagination. Most of the miscues were self-inflicted and could be cleaned up at halftime by Jon Gruden and his coaching staff. A questionable roughing the kicker call, where a Falcons’ lineman blocked Raiders’ reserve safety, Dallin Leavitt, into kicker Younghoe Koo allowed the Falcons drive to continue, which resulted in a touchdown.

 

But Atlanta has blown second-half leads for the better part of two seasons and the Raiders had them right where they wanted them, maybe.

 

The second half didn’t start any better for the Raiders‘ offense as they went three-and-out on the first drive. On the other hand, the Raiders‘ defense continued to play one of their best games of the season, which also translated to special teams. But on their second possession, Carr threw a pick-6 to give the Falcons a 23-3 lead.

The Raiders’ offensive line was not playing their best game, and Carr was pressured pretty heavily all game long. The running game was non-existent, and they were forced to become one-dimensional, which allowed Atlanta to tee-off on Carr and the Raiders’ passing game. They were able to kick a field goal on their second drive to cut the lead to 23-6.

The penalties continued for the Raiders in the second half with pass interference and roughing the passer calls, which allowed the Falcons to increase their lead to 30-6. The Raiders had a new season-high in penalties with 9 for 126 yards with 2:28 in the third quarter. Raiders’ Cornerback Trayvon Mullen had an opportunity for a possible pick-6, but he dropped the pass, and the Falcons scored on the next play.

To add insult to injury on the first play after the Falcons’ touchdown, Jacobs broke off a nice run but fumbled and went down with a leg injury, his ankle specifically. He writhed on the ground in pain and was seen trying to walk it off on the sideline, but the Falcons were in prime possession to end the game for all purposes. The final score ended up being 43-6.

 

Everything that Raiders fans had hoped wouldn’t happen, did. An east coast road trip coming off an emotional loss on prime-time TV which gave the team a lot of positive press clippings right before playing the worst team in the NFL, also on the east coast, in the Jets.

 

The Raiders leave Atlanta looking to regroup and get back on the winning track next week in New York. Raider Nation will be just like their head coach, Jon Gruden, restless, pissed off, and wanting the Silver and Black to end their two-game losing streak and get back in the playoff hunt. To do that, a few things have to happen. They have to clean up the penalties. You can’t have 10+ penalties and 5 turnovers in the game and expect to win.

On the day Derek Carr finished 22-34/215/INT and three fumbles lost. It was Carr’s worst game of the year and is one that he would love to forget. Jacobs had 7 carries for 27 yards and a fumble lost, with Hunter Renfrow adding seven catches for 73 yards. The Falcons, who were without all-everything wide receiver Julio Jones, were lead by Matt Ryan, who threw for 185 yards on 22-39 passing, two touchdowns, and an interception.

This is the game that you watch once as a team, burn the tape, and move on to the winless Jets.

 

You can watch next week’s game against the New York Jets with kick-off scheduled for 10:00 AM PT on CBS.

 

Raiders vs Falcons          Raiders vs Falcons          Raiders vs Falcons          Raiders vs Falcons          Raiders vs Falcons          Raiders vs Falcons          Raiders vs Falcons          Raiders vs Falcons          Raiders vs Falcons          Raiders vs Falcons          Raiders vs Falcons                                  

Joe Arrigo – Franchise Sports Media

Twitter: @JoeArrigo

 

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Raiders vs. Falcons