The Las Vegas Raiders received their first taste of adversity last week against the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, they hope to rectify that mistake.
On Sunday, the Raiders hope that they can get back to their winning ways when they return to the road to face the New England Patriots.
Venue: Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, MA
Date: Sunday, October 11
Time: 10:00 AM PST
How To Watch: CBS
Radio: 92.3FM, 1460AM
Heading into Week Five, both teams now find themselves in a war of attrition. The Raiders and Patriots have position groups ravaged by injuries, and they will have to take it upon themselves to navigate their way through them. Whoever can find their way to identifying and attacking a weakness first will likely be the team that comes away with the victory.
No deuces?
Heading into the contest, the Raiders learned that they may have to do it without one of their top offensive weapons.
Running back Ashton Jeanty appeared on the injury report with an ankle injury starting Thursday and, while he has participated in practice over the last couple of days, he is still questionable. On Saturday, the Raiders added to the concern by elevating Roman Hemby from the practice squad. While this could be for precautionary purposes, the Raiders being without Jeanty means Mike Washington could be in line for an extended run out of the backfield.
“It’s that time of year,” said Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak. “Guys are getting banged up and, if he can’t go, then you got to get the next man up.”
Next man up
Going off of that point, Jeanty is not the only injury of concern for the Raiders.
The receiver corps for the Raiders is also in peril, with Jalen Nailor out, Jack Bech still on injured reserve and Dont’e Thornton Jr. not ready to be activated from injured reserve. It leaves precious few weapons for Kirk Cousins to throw to, which could mean some concentration of targets towards the likes of Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer. However, this also presents an opportunity for the likes of Malik Benson and Cody White, both of whom have shined in spots and would relish the chance at an extended role moving forward.
“They’ve been challenged all year and that’s not different this week,” said Kubiak on if Benson and White need to do anything to up their games under the current circumstances.
Force the issue
While the Raiders are dealing with injury issues to their skill players, this may present a good opportunity to see what the depth players can do.
The Patriots come into the matchup with four cornerbacks confirmed out, including starters Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis. As such, the Raiders find themselves in the unique position to having some exploitable matchups they could target. Such will be the work of Cousins and Kubiak to figure out how they can best attack a defense that is clearly not 100 percent.
“Everything we do starts in practice, and as we practice, we build confidence with guys and, when opportunities come about, you take advantage of those opportunities,” said offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko.
Wilted Maye flowers
Meanwhile, the Patriots have not had the smoothest start as they hope to return to the Super Bowl, and the inconsistency of Drake Maye has had something to do with it.
While Maye is coming off his best game of the season against the Buffalo Bills, he still leads the NFL with seven interceptions thrown. He currently had a pick in every game this season, as well as two game with multiple interceptions. For a Raiders defense that leads the league with nine takeaways, the opportunity is there to force Maye into mistakes and get the offense into advantageous situations.
“He’s a good player who has played a lot of good ball,” said Raiders linebacker Nakobe Dean on Maye.
“He made the Super Bowl last year but, as far as not letting him use his legs to attack us, we got to make sure in the front, we have great rush lanes. It starts with the back end not letting them throw it nowhere, but then, in the front end, they got to eat.”
Back on the horse
After a week where Patrick Mahomes and Kenneth Walker were able to attack the Raiders defense in spots, this game proves to be an interesting test for defensive coordinator Rob Leonard.
Leonard has emphasized a meticulous approach on the defensive side of the ball so far, but Kansas City was the first team to provide a stern test of those principles. Now armed with an understanding of situational aggression, Leonard and the Raiders can get the opportunity to see just what lessons they took away from the Chiefs.
“It starts with us,” said Leonard on remaining consistent as a defensive unit. “You can’t ask your players to do anything you’re not doing yourself, so I can’t be losing my mind and ask them to stay calm.”