Raiders Suffer Lopsided Loss In Atlanta, 43-6, In Error-Plagued Effort
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
It was early in the second half when the Atlanta Falcons were leading the Raiders, 16-3, when about a half-dozen Raiders fans were waiting on line to get inside the The Raider Image team store at Allegiant Stadium Sunday.
The good news is that the Raiders made a few bucks selling licensed logo gear to holiday shoppers.
The bad news is that the Falcons pulled away big-time in the second half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and easily defeated the error-plagued Las Vegas Raiders, 43-6.
The Falcons hardly looked like a 4-7 team. This is a team that could easily be 7-4 after blowing fourth quarter leads against Dallas, Chicago and Detroit this season.
The Raiders lost their second straight game and now are 6-5. Announced attendance was 9,124, including some Raiders fans who watch the Raiders on the road if those opponents’ stadiums are allowing fans because Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas does not have fans for Raiders and now UNLV football games.
Raiders coach Jon Gruden said, “Like to apologize to Raider Nation. Really compliment the Falcons. They played a hell of a football game; we did not. The turnovers, the penalties, inexcusable. It’s a reflection of me. We’re a lot better team than that, and I’ll answer any questions.”
We’re got to learn from our mistakes. Got a lot of players hurt today; that doesn’t help our cause. But the offices are closed tomorrow; offices are closed on Tuesday. There is a lot of distraction right now. We got to stay focused, get players healthy, see who’s available for practice on Wednesday, and we’ll regroup and hopefully play much better next week. — Gruden
A 43-6 loss sounds like a blowout, but the Raiders trailed Atlanta only 6-3 late in the first half when Las Vegas was called for a roughing the kicker penalty on a Falcons’ missed field goal attempt. It went downhill from there, as the Falcons added 10 points before the half and outscored the Raiders, 27-3, in the second half to polish off Las Vegas.
Gruden gave credit to Atlanta and said it’s time to get on the plane for a cross-country jet ride back to Las Vegas and the Henderson headquarters to regroup.
“Hopefully we’ll play better next week,” Gruden said. Gruden lost to his former Tampa Bay Bucs pal Raheem Morris, who has won four of six games as Atlanta’s interim coach. Both Gruden and Morris are former Buccaneers coaches.
The Raiders have had a roller-coaster season with wins over the Saints, Chiefs and Browns, but also losses to the Patriots and Falcons. The Raiders play the Jets in New Jersey next week.
“I’ll look at the film. We had players open. We had opportunities to make plays. I’m not going to sit here and say anything else,” Gruden said. “We had plenty of opportunities. They made more plays than we did and it snowballed on us today. When you turn the ball over five times and have 120 yards of penalties, you got no chance.”
At least Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium was gleaming Sunday.
Here are Week 12 highlights supplied by the NFL:
- The MINNESOTA VIKINGS overcame an 11-point deficit to defeat Carolina, 28-27, while the NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS overcame a 10-point deficit to defeat Arizona, 20-17, on Sunday.With three games remaining this week, there have been 35 games in which a team has overcome a deficit of at least 10 points to win this season, the most through Week 12 in NFL history.
- Kansas City quarterback PATRICK MAHOMES completed 37 of 49 attempts (75.5 percent) for 462 yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions for a 124.7 rating in the Chiefs’ 27-24 win over Tampa Bay.Mahomes is the first player with at least 30 completions and 300 passing yards in four consecutive games in league annals.
Mahomes has five career games with at least 400 passing yards and three touchdowns, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer DAN MARINO (six games) as the only players with at least five such games in their first four seasons in league annals.
Mahomes has 15 career games with at least 300 passing yards and three touchdowns, tied with Pro Football Hall of Famer DAN MARINO (15 games) for the second-most such games by a player in his first four seasons in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famer KURT WARNER (17 games) has more.
Kansas City wide receiver TYREEK HILL had a career-high 13 receptions for a career-best 269 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday.
Hill had 203 receiving yards in the first quarter and became the third player since 1980 with at least 200 receiving yards in a single quarter, joining QADRY ISMAIL (210 receiving yards in third quarter on December 12, 1999) and LEE EVANS (205 in first quarter on November 19, 2006).
Hill, who had 10 receptions for 215 yards and two touchdowns in Week 11 of the 2018 season, is the sixth player with two career games of 10 receptions, 200 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns in NFL history, joining Pro Football Hall of Famers DON HUTSON and JERRY RICE, as well as AMARI COOPER, CHAD JOHNSON and ART POWELL.
Tampa Bay quarterback TOM BRADY passed for 345 yards and three touchdowns in Week 12.
Brady, who has 3,300 passing yards this season, has 18 career seasons with at least 3,000 passing yards, tied with Pro Football Hall of Famer BRETT FAVRE (18 seasons) for the most in NFL history.
- Minnesota quarterback KIRK COUSINS passed for 307 yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions for a 115.7 rating on Sunday.Cousins has 16 career games with at least 300 passing yards, three touchdown passes and a rating of 115-or-higher, surpassing DREW BREES (15 games) and AARON RODGERS (15) for the most such games by a quarterback in his first nine seasons in NFL history.
Four Minnesota players – wide receivers CHAD BEEBE (seven receptions for 63 yards and one touchdown), JUSTIN JEFFERSON (seven receptions for 70 yards and two touchdowns) and BISI JOHNSON (seven receptions for 74 yards) along with tight end KYLE RUDOLPH (seven receptions for 68 yards) – each had at least seven receptions and 60 receiving yards on Sunday.
It marks the second time in NFL history that one team had four receivers each register at least seven receptions and 60 receiving yards in the same game, joining the 2012 NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (Week 16).
Carolina rookie safety JEREMY CHINN recorded two fumble-return touchdowns on Sunday. He is the third player in NFL history with multiple fumble-return touchdowns in a single game, joining AL NESSER (three on October 3, 1920) and FRED EVANS (two on November 28, 1948).
- Buffalo quarterback JOSH ALLEN recorded his 15th career game with both a passing touchdown and rushing touchdown in the Bills’ 27-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.Allen joins CAM NEWTON (20 games) as the only players with at least 15 games with both a passing and rushing touchdown in their first three seasons in NFL history.
Appearing in his 10th career game, Los Angeles Chargers rookie quarterback JUSTIN HERBERT passed for 316 yards and one touchdown in Week 12.
Herbert has six games with at least 300 passing yards this season, tied with ANDREW LUCK (six games in 2012) for the most such games by a rookie quarterback in NFL history.
Herbert has 3,015 passing yards this season and joins PATRICK MAHOMES (3,185 passing yards) as the only players in league annals with at least 3,000 passing yards in their first 10 career games.
- New Orleans quarterback TAYSOM HILL rushed for two touchdowns in the Saints’ 31-3 win at Denver.Hill, who had two rushing touchdowns in his first career start at quarterback in Week 11, is the second player with at least two rushing touchdowns in each of his first two career starts at quarterback in the Super Bowl era, joining ERIC HIPPLE (1981).
- Tennessee running back DERRICK HENRY rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns in the Titans’ 45-26 win at Indianapolis.Henry is the fourth player in NFL history with three games with at least 175 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in their first five seasons, joining Pro Football Hall of Famers JIM BROWN (five games) and LADAINIAN TOMLINSON (three), as well as ADRIAN PETERSON (three).
Henry has recorded at least 100 rushing yards in eight consecutive road games, tied with CHRIS JOHNSON (eight games from 2009-10) for the second-longest such streak in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famer BARRY SANDERS (10 games from 1996-97) has a longer streak.
- Jacksonville rookie running back JAMES ROBINSON totaled a career-high 159 scrimmage yards (128 rushing, 31 receiving) and a rushing touchdown on Sunday against Cleveland.Robinson has six games with at least 100 scrimmage yards this season, tied with PHILLIP LINDSAY (six games in 2018) for the second-most by an undrafted rookie in the common-draft era. Only CLARK GAINES (seven games in 1976) has more.
Robinson has 1,170 scrimmage yards this season, the third-most by an undrafted rookie in the common-draft era. Only DOMINIC RHODES (1,328 scrimmage yards in 2001) and PHILLIP LINDSAY (1,278 in 2018) have more.
