When the Denver Broncos converted on third down, Max Crosby’s obvious frustration was common for the Silver and Black.
When the Las Vegas Raiders’ energetic defensive end — who, by the way, rarely leaves the field — throws his arms up when the entire defense becomes tired because it can walk off the field on third down, it has a noticeable trickle-down effect. More and more we see the same gestures and body language from other defenders.
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For Crosby, though — the Raiders guard has played 100 percent of the defensive snaps over the past three games — the frustration is justified. He didn’t come off the field and didn’t get much practice with the ball against Denver. As Las Vegas prepares to take on the Philadelphia Eagles, Crosby is again dealing with what head coach Pete Carroll calls knee soreness.
“Yeah, we’re going to keep it quiet. He still has a lingering concern about knee soreness, so it doesn’t hurt,” Carroll said during his media availability Wednesday. “It hurts and as we all know when he plays he works as hard as he can in every aspect. So, he wants to stay here for a day and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
As good as Crosby is, he can’t do it alone.
In last Sunday’s Week 14 loss in Las Vegas, the old-school Denver Broncos converted seven of 12 third down attempts. That helped AFC West-leading Denver have the ball for 39 minutes and 03 seconds, while Las Vegas had the ball for just 20 minutes and 57 seconds. The Raiders’ defense was electrocuted by the Los Angeles Chargers the week before, with the Bolts converting 12 of 17 first downs on third downs, nearly double the Silver and Black’s 22 first downs to Las Vegas’ 12. (For reference, Denver has 27 first downs and Las Vegas has 16).
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Offensively, in the last two games, the Raiders have gone 3-for-9 on third downs against the Broncos and 2-for-8 against the Chargers.
One has to go back to Weeks 11 and 12 to find the Silver and Black’s respectable performance on third down.
Against the high-octane Dallas Cowboys offense in Week 11, the Raiders limited Big D to 3-for-12 on third downs. The following week, Las Vegas tied the Cleveland Browns 4-0-17 on their third possession. So it was a real Jekyll and Hyde two-game conversion for a Patrick Graham defense that kept Las Vegas near the bottom of the league standings.
From a numerical perspective
Las Vegas Raiders convert on third down trade
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offense: 158 attempts, 56 successes, 35.4% shooting rate, 26th in the league
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defense: 171 shots, 80 successes, 46.8% shooting rate, 30th in the league
While the Raiders don’t have a quick fix for their third-down woes on defense or offense, there are some basic things the team can do to improve.
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Defensively, Las Vegas must find a way to stop tackles. Against the Broncos, Pro Football Reference listed the Raiders with five missed tackles. Rookie cornerback Darien Porter had two points, and linebackers Elandon Robert and Jamal Adams and safety Isaiah Pola-Maowhere each had one point.
That five-and-a-half was a significant improvement from Las Vegas’ game against Los Angeles two weeks ago.
Pro Football Reference gave the Raiders a whopping 16 turnovers, led by linebacker Devin White and safety Lonnie Johnson Jr. with three each. Defensive end Tyree Wilson and Crosby finished with two points.
Textbook tackling has not been a feature of the Raiders over the past two seasons, and the team currently has 106 tacklers, ranking 29th among 32 teams. In 2024, the Raiders missed 134 tackles, ranking 30th.
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In Graham’s four seasons as defensive coach, the team missed the fewest tackles in his first year in 2022, when it had 69 tackles, which ranked 15th.
On offense, interim offensive coordinator Greg Olson must craft a game plan that puts the team in a third, controllable situation. Shooting, even third-and-eight is more akin to third-and-long. Whether it’s Geno Smith (who didn’t practice this week with a shoulder ailment) or quarterback Kenny Pickett, it was crucial for the Eagles’ pass rush to get out of the pocket while keeping their sights downfield, and Chargers signal-caller Justin Herbert dropped the ball seven times last Monday night.
The same goes for rookie running back Ashton Jeanty’s ground game and tight end Brock Bowers’ play through the air. Giving Jeanty enough tote is key when moving Bowles through the formation. The same goes for rushing the ball and then attacking routes over the middle and deep — which includes getting Tee out of the backfield as a receiver.
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That’s easier said than done for the Raiders, as they will struggle against a Vic Fangio-Eagles defense that ranks ninth in points allowed (271 total) but 22nd in passing yards (4,441). Philadelphia is vulnerable to a productive running game, though, ranking 26th in yards allowed (1,716) and 21st in rushing touchdowns (14). However, Las Vegas’ offense ranks last in points scored (196 total points), rushing yards (945) and rushing touchdowns (four).
Notable Quotes
“There’s nothing we can do. We just have to be in the right mindset mentally and we’ve got to handle business as we always do and when you get into a situation like this – if it’s a negative situation, we’ve got to handle it and do our job to the best of our ability. They’ve got to do the same thing.”
—Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll when asked during the team’s trip to Philadelphia if there were ways to prepare for the weather.
“Yeah, just keep working. I mean, sometimes he’s playing more, sometimes he’s playing less. He’s been working on special teams, at receiver, getting better every week. Last week, he had a great week in practice. I saw him work really hard, so it’s no surprise that he had a good game.”
— Las Vegas Raiders rookie running back Ashton Jeanty on rookie wide receiver Jake Bache’s first-year improvement.