Raiders have no defense for bad performance
The biggest question regarding the Las Vegas Raiders isn’t whether they’ll make the playoffs. It’s whether they’ll win another game.
The Indianapolis Colts all but took care of the postseason question Sunday, an unstoppable force against a movable object in a 44-27 win over the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium.
The Raiders are technically in the race, but after the way the Colts moved up and down the field and with the offense turning the ball over three times, it was no contest.
Indianapolis improved to 9- 4, with the Raiders falling to 7- 6 with the Los Angeles Chargers (on Thursday night), Miami and Denver still to play. Even in the event of the Raiders righting the ship and winning three straight, a lot of things would have to break right for their first playoff berth since 2016.
Included in the Colts’ orgy of offense were touchdown passes of 7 and 41 yards from Philip Rivers and touchdown runs of 62 and 3 yards from Johnathan Taylor. Rodrigo Blankenship added field goals of 20, 25 and 35 yards for Indianapolis. Taylor ran for 150 yards on 20 carries for the Colts. Rivers was 19 of 28 for 244 yards, gained 455 yards and were 8 of 11 on third down.
The Colts put the game away when Khari Willis intercepted a
deflected Derek Carr pass and ran it back for a 53yard touchdown with 5:22 to play.
Carr threw touchdown passes of 47 yards to Foster Moreau and 21 yards to Nelson Agholor, with Daniel Carlson kicking point-blank field goals of 25 and 23 yards on a day when the Raiders needed touchdowns just to keep up. Carr (31 of 45 for 316 yards) also ran for a too-little, too-late 5-yard touchdown to account for the final margin with 55 seconds remaining.
The Raiders had running back Josh Jacobs, tackle Trent Brown and safety Johnathan Abram back in the lineup, but it couldn’t stop the Indianapolis onslaught of offense. Abram left the game with a head injury in the fourth quarter.
Highs lows and all you need to know:
THE FINAL NAIL >> Running back Jalen Richard had a short pass from Carr bounce off his hands and directly into the hands of Willis, who took the ball back 53 yards for an Indianapolis touchdown and a 44-20 lead with 5:20 to play.
COMING UP SHORT AGAIN, PAYING FOR IT >> Down by 10 points, the Raiders got themselves as far as the Colts 10-yard line but stalled and settled for a Carlson field goal, this one from 25 yards.
On third-and-goal from the 10, Carr’s pass to Agholor netted only five yards. Raiders coach Jon Gruden opted to take the points rather than go for a touchdown even though the Colts up to that point were averaging 8.3 yards per snap.
The Colts made the Raiders pay, taking the ensuing kickoff and driving 75 yards in 10 plays with Taylor scoring from the 3-yard line to make it 3420 with 9:23 left to play.
A SECOND TURNOVER >> Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow, one of the more reliable Raiders, lost a fumble after a short pass from Carr and the Colts turned it in to Blankenship’s third field goal fo ra 37-20 lead with 6:50 to play. By that point, Abram had left the game after taking a blow to the head.
SPRINT TO THE GOAL LINE >> It rarely gets easier than the Colts’ first touchdown of the second half for a 2717 lead.
With the Colts at their own 38 and facing second-and- 9, Rivers simply handed the ball to Taylor, who sprinted threw a hole on the right side and basically ran untouchded 62 yards for the touchdown.
Although not classified as a speed back per se, Taylor outran Jonathan Abram, Erik Harris and Trayvon Mullen for the touchdown.
T he Raiders hadn’t given up a touchdown run longer than 14 yards all season.
TRUCK PLAY SUCCESS, BUT MINOR PAYOFF >> Carlson’s 25-yard field goal to open the second half got the Raiders within 20-17 with 9:41 left.
The big play in the drive came on a trick play, with Zay Jones taking a lateral from Carr and hitting Agholor for 29 yards to the 9-yard line.
But with first-and-goal at the 9 and the Raiders seemingly needing touchdowns to keep up, Jacobs gained two yards to the 7, Carr was chased from the pocket and threw the ball away on second down, then had a pass to Agholor broken up in the end zone by Rock Ya-Sin.
TACKING ON THREE >> Blankenship’s 20- yard field goal at the halftime gun gave the Colts a 20-14 lead, with Indianapolis coming up one yard and one second shy of adding another touchdown.
The 78- yard, 13- play drive came courtesy of a third- and-15 defensive holding call on Trayvon Mullen, a 5-yard flag that resulted in an automatic first down. It was the initial first down of the Colts drive.
Indianapolis gambled with a pair of running plays late in the drive, with Hines running 11 yards to the 1 before Mullen and Erik Harris brought him down. Colts coach Frank Reich, with one second left, decided to take the three points rather than the touchdown.
The Colts finished with 298 yards and 18 first downs in the half, and were 6-for-8 on third down conversions. The Raiders got virtually no pressure on Rivers, who was 15 of 23 for 210 yards and two touchdowns.
ONE-HANDED MAGIC >> With the Raiders poised to retake the lead, Carr looked to Waller in the end zone hoping for a 21-17 lead.
Carr, however, threw the ball a fraction late and Indianapolis nickelback Kenny Moore made a leaping one-handed interception in the end zone as the Raiders came up empty with 3:30 left in the half.
Moments earlier, Carr and Waller had connected on a 29-yard play, with another 15 yards tacked on for a horse collar tackle.