Las Vegas Raiders 2020 Week 9 review: Studs and Duds

Las Vegas Raiders 2020 Week 9 review: Studs and Duds

The Studs – Defense

Isaiah Johnson

After Sunday’s game you have to ask why Isaiah Johnson was not in the lineup sooner. Trayvon Mullen missed most of the game due to a hamstring issue and the Raiders were down to two backup CBs but Johnson made a series of big plays and was a huge difference maker for his team.

On the Chargers’ first drive of the second half, Johnson tackled Mike Williams short of the first down on third and six to force a punt and the Raiders went up 28-17 on the following drive. He also made a nice play on Jaylen Guyton to draw an offensive pass interference penalty. Johnson added 6 six tackles to his tally on the day but his biggest plays came on the final two plays of the game.

After the Chargers drove the length of the field doing 31-26, Justin Herbert took two shots to the corner of the end zone but was foiled by Johnson both times. The first was to Mike Williams who made the catch initially but the ball was wrestled away by Johnson and ruled incomplete.

The second, and the play to decide the game, was eerily similar as Herbert threw it up to TE Donald Parham who appeared to make the catch but after review, it showed that Johnson had forced the incompletion to win the game for Las Vegas. If Trayvon Mullen has to miss more time than Johnson should be starting and perhaps should have been starting in place of Nevin Lawson all the time.

Clelin Ferrell and the pass rush

The Raiders pass rush finally started getting home on Sunday against a Chargers team that had given up just 14 sacks going in to Week 9. The defensive line harassed Justin Herbert all game long and it’s a testament to his talent and strength that he was still able to make plays despite the pass rush.

Both Maxx Crosby and Carl Nassib notched sacks on the day but Clelin Ferrell did plenty of damage on his own with four QB hits and a tackle for loss. This may not be the consistent level of play that we will see every week but it was encouraging to see these guys make an impact on the game.

Nick Kwiatkoski

The Raiders’ defensive leader continues to be the biggest impact player on that side of the ball for the Silver and Black. Kwiatkoski lead the team with 13 total tackles and was all over the field making plays to stop the bleeding as the Chargers moved the ball with relative ease.

He also continues to be excellent against the run as the Raiders gave up 128 yards on the ground but 24 of them were from scrambles by Justin Herbert. Kwiatkoski also made one of the plays of the game as he stopped Tyrod Taylor short of the goal line on the two-point conversion which kept the Raiders in the lead and helped decide the game.

The former Chicago Bear has been every bit as good as promised and has helped make up for the disappointment that Cory Littleton and the other defensive signings have been so far.