Raiders lose ground in the division

Week 5 certainly was not kind to the Las Vegas Raiders. Not only did the Raiders fall to the Bears 20-9, but the Chargers got a big win against the Browns to take the early division lead.

It wasn’t all bad news for Las Vegas as Denver and Kansas City lost and it is still early, however, the Silver and Black had arguably the worst showing of the four teams so they certainly have some work to do moving forward.

Denver Broncos 19 Pittsburgh Steelers 27

Key Stats:

• Teddy Bridgewater, QB: 24/38, 288 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
• Javonte Williams, RB: 11 total touches, 86 total yards, 7.6 ypr
• Courtland Sutton, WR: 7 catches, 120 yards, 1 TD
• Tim Patrick, WR: 7 catches, 89 yards
• Alexander Johnson, LB: 8 total tackles, 1 PBU
• Von Miller, EDGE: 2 total tackles, 0 sacks, 0 QB hits

Pittsburgh absolutely dominated the first three-quarters of this game. They held a 24-6 lead heading into the final frame and had no problem moving the ball on Denver’s defense through the air or on the ground. Rookie Najee Harris had the best game of his young career with 23 carries for 122 yards and a touchdown, while Ben Roethlisberger turned back the clock and went 15-25 for 253 passing yards and two touchdowns.

Roethlisberger also connected on a couple of 50-yard bombs to wide receivers Chase Claypool and Dionte Johnson, as those two combined for seven catches, 202 yards and two touchdowns. Claypool accounted for five, 130 and one, while Johnson had two, 72 and a score of his own. The Steelers’ offensive line also did their part in the passing game as Big Ben was only sacked once and hit twice, and Von Miller had a very quiet game.

To the Broncos’ credit, they fought back, and Teddy Bridgewater rallied the troops to a 13-point fourth quarter that brought the game within one possession. However, the comeback fell short with Bridgewater’s interception on fourth and goal from the three-yard line.

Denver will host Las Vegas next as both teams head into the contest on a two-game slide after starting the season 3-0.

Los Angeles Chargers 47 Cleveland Browns 42

Key Stats:

• Justin Herbert, QB: 26/43, 398 passing yards, 4 passing TDs, 4 carries, 29 yards, 1 rushing TD
• Austin Ekeler, RB: 22 total touches, 119 total yards, 3 total TDs
• Mike Williams, WR: 8 catches, 165 yards, 2 TDs
• Keenan Allen, WR: 6 catches, 75 yards
• Derwin James, DB: 17 total tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit
• Joey Bosa, EDGE: 4 total tackles, 1 solo, 0 sacks, 0 QB hits

In what was a wild back and forth high scoring affair that saw 41 total points in the fourth quarter, the Chargers outlasted the Browns.

Justin Herbert is seemingly getting better and better as he put together a career day, accounting for over 400 total yards and five touchdowns. The primary benefactor of Herbert’s play was wide receiver Mike Williams, who is putting together one hell of a contract year with 31 catches for 471 yards and six touchdowns so far this season.

The Chargers had quite a bit of success on the ground too as they rushed for 112 yards and 4.9 yards per carry with three rushing touchdowns as a team. That’s especially impressive considering they were playing from behind for most of the game.

However, it was a different story for Los Angeles’ defense, as you probably could have imagined. The Browns rushed for 230 yards on 35 carries (6.6 ypc) and three touchdowns, while Baker Mayfield tossed for just over 300 yards and two touchdowns. Also, Mayfield was only touched two times, one sack and one quarterback hit.

The division leaders face-off against the Ravens at home next week, which could be a playoff preview since Baltimore leads the AFC North.

Kansas City Chiefs 20 Buffalo Bills 38

Key stats:

• Patrick Mahomes, QB: 33/54, 272 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs, 8 carries, 61 yards
• Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB: 8 total touches, 24 total yards
• Tyreek Hill, WR: 8 total touches, 78 total yards
• Travis Kelce, TE: 6 catches, 57 yards, 1 TD
• Nick Bolton, LB: 6 solo tackles, 2 TFLs
• Tyrann Mathieu, DB: 4 total tackles

In what was a bit of a stunner, Buffalo absolutely dominated Kansas City. The Chiefs did score a touchdown early in the second quarter to take a 10-7, but the Bills responded on their next drive with a touchdown of their own and never looked back.

Buffalo’s defense seemed to give Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City’s offense a lot of trouble as this was their lowest point total of the season and only the second time they’ve been held under 30. Mahomes was under pressure for the majority of the game, getting sacked twice and hit eight other times. The Chiefs’ running game also suffered a big loss as running back Clyde Edwards-Helarie went down with what looks like a serious injury.

Defensively, not even a weather delay and the rain could help Kansas City out. Josh Allen threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns, with big contributions from tight end Dawson Knox – 3 catches, 117 yards, 1 TD – and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders – 3 catches, 54 yards, 2 TDs. The Chiefs were clearly missing defensive lineman Chris Jones as they failed to sack Allen and only hit him once during the game.

The 2-3 AFC West cellar dwellers head to Washington to take on the Football Team next week.

In other Raiders’ links:

• TDL instant reaction: Marcus and I recapped yesterday’s game and gave our initial thoughts. I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t exactly an uplifting episode…
• 5 lessons from Bears loss: check out some of Williamson’s takeaways from the game.
• Raiders say emails no distraction: apparently, the news that came out about Gruden on Friday had no impact on yesterday’s lackluster performance.
• Gruden says emails had no racial intentions: speaking of the ongoing story, the coach was asked about it during his post-game press conference and reiterated that his inappropriate remarks about DeMaurice Smith had nothing to do with his ethnicity.
• Mullen, Arnette on IR: Amik Roberston and Keisean Nixon will battle it out for playing time for at least the next couple of weeks.