An inside look at Sunday’s Jets-Raiders NFL Week 10 matchup in Las Vegas, Nev.
Raiders WR Davante Adams vs. Jets CBs Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed
The Jets tried to acquire Adams before the trade deadline, but the Raiders did not want to trade him. He has had a down year because he has not been targeted much. Adams has 51 catches for 573 yards and three touchdowns this season, but just game with more than 100 yards receiving.
The Raiders new coaches surely want to get him more involved, but that will be a tough task this week against Gardner and Reed, who are having terrific seasons. PFF has Reed rated as the No. 1 cornerback in football and Gardner is seventh. The duo shut down the Chargers receivers last week and held them 107 passing yards a week after the Giants had minus-9 passing yards.
Adams presents the next challenge for the Jets secondary.
“He makes all his routes look the same,” Gardner said about Adams. “It’s pretty self-explanatory. He’s got great hands, there’s a lot of great things he does, I’m not gonna sit here and write out a list. But he’s one of, if not the best, receiver in the league, so he presents a huge challenge.”
These are two teams fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive. It is hard to see either offense doing much in this game. Each team reaches the end zone once, and Greg Zuerlein makes a fourth-quarter field goal to win the game.
Jets 10, Raiders 7
Mad Maxx: The Jets are coming off a game in which Joey Bosa and Khail Mack beat up on their offensive line for the Chargers. Now, they face another elite edge rusher. Maxx Crosby is coming off a monster game against the Giants when he had three sacks. He has 9.5 sacks this year, and he never seems to come off the field, playing 98 percent of the Raiders’ defensive snaps. The Jets will have their sixth different starting offensive line combination this week and fifth in five games, adding to the concern over what Crosby could do to this offense.
“He’s like the Energizer Bunny,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said of Crosby. “He just keeps on going and going and going. Old-school commercial for you young bucks. He is a freak in that regard. He does not stop, and I think that’s why he’s so special. He gets a lot of reps at a very high level. He’s got tremendous instinct and feel, and plays with violence. He is absolutely relentless. You can tell he absolutely loves the game of football, loves his teammates and he lays it all on the field every single time, every chance he gets.”
Lazard lament: The Jets signed wide receiver Allen Lazard to a four-year, $44 million contract in March thinking he could reunite with Aaron Rodgers and recreate what they had in Green Bay. With Rodgers out with a torn Achilles, Lazard has struggled. He does not have a game with more than three catches, and he had three penalties and a drop last week against the Chargers.
“He’s had some ups and downs, and he knows that,” Saleh said. “He and I had a great talk. I love his mindset, I love the way he approaches every day, I love the way he approaches his work week. Are things going the way he wants? On occasion, yeah, I know he wants more, and he wants more for himself, but the good thing about Allen, he works as hard as anybody. I know he’s going to get through this.”
Rushing the rookie: When the Raiders fired coach Josh McDaniels two weeks ago and installed Antonio Pierce as their interim coach, one of the first changes he made was benching quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in favor of rookie Aidan O’Connell, a fourth-round pick out of Purdue. O’Connell started against the Giants last week and performed OK. He completed 16 of 25 passing for 209 yards in the 30-6 victory over Big Blue.
The Jets defensive line has put a ton of pressure on opposing quarterbacks this season. Bryce Huff has 38 pressures and Quinnen Williams has 33. It could be a long day for the rookie.
Run it back: The Jets rushed for 234 yards against the Broncos last month, but since then their totals have dipped to 89 against the Eagles, 58 against the Giants and 64 last week against the Chargers. If the offense is going to get going, they need to get Breece Hall rolling again.
The Raiders are ranked 31st against the run this season, allowing an average of 138.7 yards per game. Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said the Jets need to stick with the run this week.
“I think push on it a little bit more and let the guys feel it out and then convert one of those third downs, so we can continue to do it,” Hackett said. “I think like anything, whether it’s the pass game or the run game, you need to get guys in a rhythm.”