Commanders hammer Raiders
Here are some live updates from the Las Vegas Raiders road game at the Washington Commanders on Sunday:
First quarter
The Commanders were set up well as Deebo Samuel took the opening kickoff 69 yards to0 give Washington excellent field position to start the game. Washington ran the ball all over the Raiders, culminating with a 2-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Marcus Mariota.
The Raiders caught a break, getting the ensuing kickoff at their 40. Then, quarterback Geno Smith shook last week’s tough game by hitting wide receiver Jakobi Meyers all the way down at the Washington 15. on the first play of the drive . Meyers was wide open. Yet, the Raiders’ red-zone woes continued and they had to settle for a short Daniel Carlson field goal to cut the Commanders’ lead to 7-3 with 9:46 to go in the quarter.
Mariota broke off a huge run, but Raiders’ defensive tackle Thomas Booker were able to knock the ball out and Las Vegas cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly recovered the ball inside the Raiders’ 30-yard line. It was a great effort play by Booker, who has been a pleasant surprise since coming over from the Philadelphia Eagles in a trade for Jakorian Bennett.
The Commanders forced a three-and-out and cruised down the field. But the Raiders caught huge breaks when the Commanders dropped a touchdown and then missed an easy field-goal attempt.
Raiders’ tight end Michael Mayer took a scary hit and was assisted off the field.
Second quarter:
The Commanders went down the field and settled for a field goal to take a 10-3 lead with 9:56 to go in the second quarter. The Commanders are dominating this game, but they’ve made enough mistakes to keep the Raiders in it. Washington has been in Raiders; territory on all four drives but has just 10 points.
After another tough start, Raiders rookie running back Ashton Jeanty broke off a rugged 16-yard run to get inside Washington territory. He then had an 11-yard run and Smith hooked up with Tre Tucker a couple of times including a 11-yard touchdown pass to make it a 10-10 game with just over four minutes to go in the first half. The Raiders are back in it despite being outplayed.
It wasn’t tied for long as Washington’s Jeremy McNichols broke FOUR tackles and took off for a 60-yard touchdown to give the Commanders a 17-10 lead with 3:34 to go. Washington has 171 yards rushing on 16 carries. Brutal.
The Raiders, sensing urgency went for it on fourth down in their own territory, and Smith converted a first down. But they ended up punting.
The Commanders got the ball with under 30 seconds to go and with a couple of plays and a dumb penalty by Malcolm Koonce, it set up a 56-yard field goal by Washington to make it 20-10 at halftime. The Jayden Daniels-less Commanders are thumping the Raiders.
The Raiders iced Matt Gay on a 56-yard field goal by calling a time out, but his kick was no good. Yet, the time out gave him a second chance. Of course, he nailed the second attempt.
The Raiders gave up 174 yards rushing in the first half, the most since 2010.
Las Vegas gets the ball to start the third quarter:
Third quarter:
The Raiders punted on their first two series of the half after the offensive line was dominated again. Then, Washington’s Jaylin Lane took a punt 90 yards for a touchdown to give the Commanders a 27-10 lead. What a terrible game in all three phases for the Raiders.
The Commanders are doing whatever they want now. A 55-yard pass play from Mariota to Terry McLaurin sets up a short touchdown run. It’s now 34-10 Washington with just more than three minutes to go in the third quarter.
Fourth quarter:
Smith Tucker f0r a 10-yard touchdown to cut the score to 34-16 with 12:57 to go. It was Tucker’s second score of the game. The Raiders were stopped on the two-point conversion.
McLaurin is out for the rest of the game with a quad injury. The Commanders are really banged up.
The Raiders scored another garbage time touchdown and hit the two-point conversion to make it a 34-24 game with 3:42 remaining as Smith hit Tucker for his third score of the game, this time a 61-yarder.
Commanders 41, Raiders 24.
Now that the game is over, let’s take a look at the key aspects:
Team records: The Las Vegas Raiders are 1-2. The Washington Commanders are 2-1.
What the win/loss means for the Raiders:
This was a tough one for Pete Carroll’s team. This was a very winnable game as the Commanders were without star quarterback Jayden Daniels and several other players. et, the Commanders completely owned the game. It was the Raiders’ second double-digit defeat in six days.
Turning point of the game:
The Raiders tied the game at 10-10 with just over minutes to go in the second quarter. Yet, the Commanders then ripped off 24 unanswered points to run away with the game.
Injury report:
Tight end Michael Mayer took a bad hit in the first quarter and was assisted to the locker room and was evaluated for a concussion. He did not return.
What’s next for the Raiders:
The Raiders host the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Kickoff is at 1:25 p.m. PT.
Category: General Sports
