Week 10: Bridgewater vs. Carr Round 1 RAIDERS vs. Minnesota Vikings Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

MIN 30 OAK 14

Fighting to get back into that playoff picture and they couldn't do it. To make matter worse after Terrance Newman's 2nd INT over Derek Carr, Adrian Peterson runs wild for the knockout blow for an 80 yard TD run. We'd figure that this would be an ugly game and the Vikings handed the Raiders a decisive loss for the 1st time since Week 1 against the Bengals. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

MIN 20 OAK 14

Not much action at all, but two stalled drives by the offense. The Raider defense is hanging around there, keeping Peterson and Bridgewater in check, but the Vikings hung in there with their stout defense, able to get to Carr. This 4th quarter is just critical right now to get a stop and give Carr and the O a chance to drive down field and gain the lead.

Q2:

MIN 20 OAK 14

Just when Carr willed the team back to take the lead, just a critical error on special teams to allow Cordarrelle Patterson for a kickoff return for a TD. That's on Sebass; he should've kicked it out of the end zone, despite the wind. Oh well, at least Blair Walsh missed the field goal at the end to give the Vikings more leverage. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

MIN 10 OAK 0

It's a methodical domination by the Vikings controlling the time of possession. This is the problem with Rodney Hudson out. His absence leaves the Raiders' O-line and the offense as a whole in disarray. This offense are getting quick 3 and outs; they're not getting anything going. And the defense is leaving a lot Vikings tight ends wide open, bringing back problems that were noticeable in weeks 1-3 with the failure to cover tight ends. Just an awful, awful start right now.

RAIDERS-Vikings Halftime Post

MIN 20 OAK 14

Welcome in to the halftime post of the Derek Carr and the Raiders' matchup vs. Teddy Bridgewater and the Minnesota Vikings where the Vikings have 20-14 lead at the half.

(+)

Clive Walford, 2 receptions, 18 yards, 1 TD. In three of the last four games, Clive Walford has caught a TD pass from Derek Carr. Walford, week by week, is showing that he's going to be Carr's security blanket as long as he gets more reps. He made a beautiful TD catch today, managing to keep his toes outside the chalk.

Andre Holmes, 1 reception, 34 yards, 1 TD. Man, this guy can't catch short passes, but he's able to catch long balls from Carr. Holmes frustrates us Raider fans, but man that was a nice route he ran to get himself wide open for a 34 yard TD. I think Holmes should just be there exclusively for deep balls given his height and jumping ability.


(-)

Penalties. The Raiders commit 8 penalties for 82 yards. There were a lot of questionable calls out there, but they have to clean those up and play a little smarter in the 2nd half.

Special teams. Busted coverage in that Cordarrelle Patterson TD. Like I said, that falls on Janikowski as he should've just booted it out of the end zone. Those kind of kicks where the returner has to stop and regather ball just throws off coverage and Patterson took full advantage of that and burned the special teams coverage of the Raiders.

Bottom Line

Despite a slow start, the Raiders managed to climb back into this game. Carr, for the most part, is doing a fine job without starting center, Rodney Hudson. The defense is hanging around there against Peterson and Bridgewater. The Raiders get the ball to start, let's see what happens.

Lakers Losses Continue Piling Up vs. Mavs

Another game, another loss. No surprises there. Jordan Clarkson was the Lakers' top performer this game with 21 points and 4 rebounds on 9-18 shooting, but the team could not tack on a win yet again as they fall to the Mavs 82-90. Kobe Bryant added 19 points on 7-15 shooting in his return from a two game absence and Lou Williams lead all scorers off the bench with 10 points, but finished with an atrocious 3-11 shooting.

Final Score: @ Dallas 82-90 [L]
Full article: *TBP*

Highlights:

*TBP*


Next Game: vs. Detroit (11/15)

Lakers Fall Short vs. Magic

I just looked at Nikola Vucevic's buzzer beater over Roy Hibbert to understand how the Lakers lost this one in Orlando. Roy Hibbert was the Lakers' top performer this game with 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 assist, but the Lakers couldn't hold on for OT and possibly get a win as they fall to the Magic 99-101 thanks to Nikola Vucevic's game winner at the buzzer. D'Angelo Russell finally got it going finishing with 14 points and Julius Randle added 12 points to round out the starters. Rookie Larry Nance, Jr. quietly had his best game in his rookie season, scoring 13 points on a perfect 6-6 shooting off the bench. To the usual scorers off the bench, Lou Williams added 13 points despite shooting 2-8 from the field and Nick Young added 10 points.

Final Score: @ Orlando 99-101 [L]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20151111/LALORL/gameinfo.html?ls=iref:nba:scoreboard

Highlights:

*TBP*

Next Game: @ Dallas (11/13)

Bumpy Road Trip: Lakers Fall to Knicks Sunday; Heat Tuesday

Usually, I'd just quick recap these games, but I'm going to do something a little different if I were to miss on quick recapping Laker games that are not nationally televised. I originally was scheduled to post the game vs. the Knicks after the Raiders-Steelers game, but I didn't and that's on my part and missed out yesterday because I had college work to turn in before midnight. But I looked at the highlights of both the Knicks and Heat games today and I'll just give out quick little thoughts.

@ Knicks

So, the Lakers got their first win against another lowly team in the Brooklyn Nets Friday night and they looked to tack on another against the Knicks in the Big Apple. Surprisingly, the Knicks have done pretty decent to start off the season and rookie, Kristaps Porzingis has prove Knicks fans wrong ever since they booed the pick in the 2015 NBA draft. Of course, the major headline here is Kobe Bryant in what could be his final visit to Madison Square Garden. The Garden crowd was just anxious every time Kobe had the ball because they wanted to see him shoot. They don't care if he hits his shots or misses, they were just anxious when the ball was in his hands. For the most part, it was a dog fight in the 1st and early part of the 2nd quarter, then the Lakers gained control late in the 2nd and the majority of the 3rd. So, things were going pretty good for the Lakers, until the 4th quarter hit. The Knicks rallied in the end and the Lakers were missing shots to cut the deficit against the Knicks and it was already too little too late as they fell to the Knicks 95-99. Nonetheless, Kobe Bryant finished up with 18 points and of course, shot 6-19 from the field, which is an awful percentage on the stats sheet.

@ Heat

Here, in the game against the Heat last night, Byron Scott allowed Kobe to rest because they play the Magic today in back-to-back sets and unlike the Knicks game, the Heat thoroughly had control for three quarters. The 2nd quarter was the only entertaining quarter, but other than that, the Heat put the game on ice in the 2nd half. Chris Bosh had a career day for the Heat against the Lakers with 30 points and 11 rebounds and Hassan Whiteside had 19 points and 15 rebounds. Not one Laker reached double figure in the rebounding stat line for this game as they lost to the Heat 88-101.

Takeaways

Some patterns to takeaway from these two games, D'Angelo Russell has struggled since dropping 16 points against Brooklyn on Friday night: 6 points on 3-7 shooting against the Knicks and 4 points on 2-6 shooting against the Heat. I'm not going to say, he's a point blank "bust," but he's going through the process of growing pains as a rookie and that is a repercussion us Laker fans have to deal with. We wanted this guy over Okafor, this is the price we're going to pay and we have to be patient in Russell's developing process. One positive I can say about both these game is that Metta World Peace looked good these games. He was still able to lock down Carmelo Anthony is defensive situations vs. the Knicks and I'll admit, he shot better in these two games than he has in his entire first stint with the Lakers. MWP is still awesome though. But in conclusion, 1-5 is not a pleasant start for Laker standards. We know this team is lost in limbo between the past, present, and future, and Byron Scott, well, let's not mention Byron Scott. I know I endorsed the hire last season, but I'm eating my words. The Lakers get the Magic today and I'll try to quick recap that as soon as the game is over. I'll see you guys later.

Antonio Brown's Career Day Burns Raiders

Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders' matchup vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers in what is a matchup of epic proportions with playoff implications on the line. It was a fight to the finish, but in the end the Raiders fell just short as they fall to the Steelers in Pittsburgh 35-38.

Add this game to the list of "what-ifs" if the Raiders failed to qualify for the playoffs this season. This is another heartbreaking defeat this season. But I won't deny that this game was a valiant effort by the Raiders in a very hostile environment in Pittsburgh, but moral victories don't count. I don't know what else to say other than this game hurts.

(+)

Michael Crabtree, 7 receptions, 108 yards, 2 TDs. Like I said in the halftime report, as the season winds down, maybe it's time to give Crabtree a contract extension. Cooper saved face by tacking on 88 receiving yards and a TD, but he dropped some sure-handed catches, the rest of the receivers dropped some balls this game, but Crabtree stepped it up and followed up his spectacular performance last week against the Jets. He grabbed a TD to give the Raiders the first strike and grabbed another TD to tie it all up late in the 4th quarter. Reggie McKenzie needs to hear us now and offer a long term contract to stay.

Derek Carr, 24 of 44 passes, 301 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT. I'll be honest, in the first half, Derek Carr wasn't getting anything going for him. He made a couple of overthrows and lead his receivers way out of bounds when he was making some throws off the bootleg. But he still made some TDs to Crabtree, Cooper, and Walford to keep this team within striking distance. But what was striking about adding Carr is that he lead the Raiders to a game tying drive. If you look at that last drive, Latavius Murray was out, Rodney Hudson was out, Carr threw a pick the drive prior to the last drive of the game for the Raiders, but he still managed to will the team and tie the game up. This was especially on the road as well. Tremendous poise by Carr despite all the situations that happened this game.

(-)

Secondary. In case we haven't heard the news, the secondary is still atrocious with the exception of Charles Woodson. Let's look at Antonio Brown's numbers: 17 receptions, 284 yards. That is a career high for Brown. The guy is just uncoverable and there was absolutely nothing the secondary can do about it. The Raiders need a shutdown corner and a ball hawk safety because D.J. Hayden, David Amerson, Larry Asante, Taylor Mays, Antonio Brown burned all of them big time this game.

Run defense. The Steelers were without Le'Veon Bell, this is going to be easy picking for the run defense to bruise up DeAngelo Williams, right? The Steelers did to the Raiders' run defense what the Raiders did to the Jets' run defense. DeAngelo Williams had 27 carries for 170 yards and just rammed this defense down. Then again, he has an amazing wide receiver in Antonio Brown so that likely opens up the run game.

Turnovers. If there's one knack on Latavius Murray, he doesn't hold on to the ball or lets the ball bounce off his chest for a potential circus INT. Murray had two fumbles, one that almost was scooped for a TD had Mike Mitchell stayed in bounds. Taiwan Jones also had trouble handling the ball. Most may argue that Derek Carr's INT was costly, but Taiwan Jones' fumble off the kickoff was more of the back breaking turnover because that helped set up the Steelers to gain a two possession lead. Turnovers hurt this game, especially when the defense can't get a breather from trying to stop Antonio Brown.

Conclusion

Chicago, Denver, and now Pittsburgh. The Raiders' only legit loss was against the incumbent, undefeated Cincinnati Bengals in the first game of the season. The three losses against Chicago, Denver, and Pittsburgh will play a huge role down the stretch. With the Jets winning today and the Steelers toppling the Raiders here, the Raiders are tentatively out of the wild card picture. Overall, this game was an adrenaline rush the whole way, but like I said the Raiders competed their butts off, but the effort fell short. There's no time to mope now, the Raiders can rebound at home next week against a surprising Minnesota Vikings team. These next three games vs. Minnesota, @ Detroit, @ Tennessee will be critical and then the Raiders have a divisional matchup with the Chiefs before their rematch with the Broncos in Denver. But for now, focus on Minnesota because they've been red hot lately and the run defense is going to be tested against Adrian Peterson. This is the matchup we, the Raider Nation have been waiting for and also what the Vikings fans have been waiting for: Teddy Bridgewater vs. Derek Carr for quarterback supremacy among the 2014 draft class. It should be an exciting game. I'll see you guys next week vs. the Vikings.

Week 9: AFC Rivalry Renewed RAIDERS @ Pittsburgh Steelers Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

OAK 35 PIT 38

What a competitive game, but too many mistakes just cost the Raiders at the end. Antonio Brown burned this secondary big time. That catch and run by Brown was huge and gave the Steelers excellent field position to set up a game winning field goal. This game lived up to the hype as a game of epic proportions with playoff implications on the line. This game won't go up there with the "Immaculate Reception" or anything, but the Steelers once again break the hearts of us Raiders fans in Pittsburgh. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

OAK 21 PIT 21

The Steelers are not feeling the lost of Le'Veon Bell because DeAngelo Williams is just taking it to the Raiders run defense. The Raiders managed to tie it up this quarter, but they've lost some key pieces to that offense. Latavius Murray went back to locker room with concussion, Clive Walford got shaken up from a hit. These are definite blows to the Raider offense and it could affect the outcome of the 4th quarter.

Q2:

OAK 14 PIT 21

Ah, the Raiders didn't even try to tack on any points with 29 seconds left in the 2nd quarter. But right now, somebody please cover Antonio Brown? Just awful coverage on him and that helped set up 2 rushing TDs by DeAngelo Williams. So far, momentum has favored the Steelers. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

OAK 7 PIT 3

Impressive 1st drive by the offense to take the crowd out of it. However, since then, the offense has been kept in check by this underrated Steelers defense. And that's where credit is due. Right now, the Steelers are showing why they've been perennial contenders against this Raiders team and while the offense has not clicked since Carr's TD pass to Michael Crabtree, Ben Roethlisberger and Steelers offense started to click on the current drive at the end of this quarter.