After having conceded 35 second half points in their loss to the Buffalo Bills last week, the Oakland Raiders were in no mood to let the same thing happen in their home opener. Despite losing several starters to injury, they scored 24 straight points to come from 17-7 down and upset the New York Jets 34-24.
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The Raiders won the battle in both trenches and capitalized on several big plays to move to 2-1 on the season and solidify themselves as a realistic contender for the AFC West title. While it was their running game that did most of the damage in the first half, the momentum swung their way when they recorded five sacks in the second half.
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It was a setback for the Jets, who may have considered this the easiest on their current three-week road trip. They must now head to Baltimore for a nationally televised matchup on Sunday night, before the AFC East showdown in New England in Week 5.
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There were good and bad performances on either side of the ball from both teams. Let’s focus on some examples.
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New York – Three Peformances of Note
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1) Cro-ing Pains
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The reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Week, Antonio Cromartie (-6.1), couldn’t have had a more extreme change of fortunes. This week, he was called for four penalties and gave up six catches, although all of them were for less than 10 yards. While he may have been unlucky with some of those flags, he only had himself to blame when he fumbled a kickoff back to the Raiders and set up their second touchdown in less than a minute, early in the fourth quarter. To make matters worse, he suffered a rib injury shortly afterwards and may now be sidelined.
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2) Line Woes Continue
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With Nick Mangold out injured, as expected, the Jets were hoping that undrafted free agent Colin Baxter (-4.1) and starting right tackle Wayne Hunter (-4.0) would both perform better than last week. Actually, they both did, but only just. Neither was effective in the running game and both had their problems in pass protection, especially in the second half. With Mangold set to return within the next few weeks, the Jets can take comfort in the fact that the level of play at the center position will improve, but Hunter needs to step up his game if the 2011 Jets’ line will come close to emulating the one we ranked No. 1 in the NFL from 2008-2010.
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3) Ferguson Does His Part
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As the Jets’ pass protection crumbled in the second half, D’Brickashaw Ferguson (+4.5) did a good job of keeping his head while all around him were losing theirs. On 53 dropbacks, he gave up one sack on a play where both guards were badly beaten and Mark Sanchez was flushed into his man, but otherwise didn’t give up any pressures until Sanchez’s last pass of the game in the final minute. Ferguson also threw a key block to free LaDainian Tomlinson for a big 74-yard gain on a screen pass and graded positively as a run blocker. With the rest of the line grading out negatively, it will be interesting to see whether he can keep this up until Mangold’s return.
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Oakland – Three Performances of Note
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1) Kelly Leads From The Front
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Going in, the Raider DTs were expected to hold an advantage over the Mangold-less Jets interior. On the Jets’ first series, Tommy Kelly (+5.7) set the tone for the whole afternoon by exploding into Baxter and standing him up at the line of scrimmage. His strength was too much for the Jets all day as he picked up a sack and two pressures and was a constant force against the run, helping to hold the Jets to exactly 100 yards.
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2) Doubting Routt
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Stanford Routt (-3.2) suffered with the same issues as Cromartie, with the officials calling everything tight in pass coverage. His aggressive man coverage drew three penalties and he gave up four catches on five targets, though he did break up a pass. Raiders fans will expect more from the NFL’s third-highest paid cornerback behind Darrelle Revis and Nnamdi Asomugha. As is to be expected from Raider corners, Routt is currently among the league leaders in penalties with five.
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3) Samson Shows His Strength
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As the Raiders rushed for 234 yards, Samson Satele (+4.6) anchored the running game with a strong performance. He won the battle upfront with the formidable Sione Pouha and punctuated his performance with a highlight-reel block on Jim Leonhard to help set up Denarius Moore’s touchdown run. Satele was also solid in pass protection, not allowing any pressures and recorded the best overall grade we have ever given him. After and up-and-down 2010 that left fans questioning whether he'd be brought back, Satele has settled in.
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Game Notes
● The Raiders became the first team since 1995 to win a game without converting a single third-down.
● 210 of Sanchez’s career high 369 passing yards came after the catch.
● With all the injuries in the Raiders’ secondary, Joe Porter and Chimdi Chekwa each had a career high in terms of snap count.
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PFF Game Ball:
Darren McFadden, RB, Oakland Raiders
Darren McFadden was the game breaker in this one. The Raiders got strong performances from players on both lines but McFadden’s break away speed was the difference.
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