Las Vegas Raiders 2020 Week 10 review: Studs and Duds

Las Vegas Raiders 2020 Week 10 review: Studs and Duds

Studs – Part 2

Jeff Heath

Jeff Heath has been an absolute ballhawk this season as he now has 3 of the Raiders 7 interceptions this season. He has played just 28% of the defense’s snaps this season, partly due to injury, but it’s clear that he needs to be in the lineup much more often.

On Sunday, he made two huge plays as his interception came while the result of the game was still in doubt unlike the gifts handed to Carl Nassib and Nick Kwiatkoski.

The first interception came in the first quarter with the Broncos facing third and 14 from their own 32. A punt was a likely result but given how bad the Raiders defense has been on third and long this season there was no guarantee.

Heath’s pick set the Raiders up with decent field position and though they couldn’t do anything with it, he still stole a possession from the Denver offense.

The second interception was one of the key turning points of the game as the Broncos were driving at the end of the first half and had the ball inside the Raider 10-yard line with 12 seconds to go. At the very least the Broncos would have kicked a field goal to move within one point of the Raiders and make them sweat a little more.

Instead, Heath stepped in front of Jerry Jeudy and picked off Lock to end the half and keep the Raiders ahead by four.

The Raiders pass rush

The Raiders pass rush is waking up after a few weeks of being dormant and they were a massive factor in Sunday’s win. They “only” sacked Lock twice but they harassed him all game long and ended the game with 7 QB hits and even more pressures. Some of Lock’s mistakes were self-inflicted but the interceptions to Nassib and Kwiatkoski were both the product of pressure and the young QB’s happy feet in the pocket.

The sack totals to still just 11 on the season but you don’t always need to bring the QB down to impact the play as we saw multiple times on Sunday. The Raider defense and specifically the pass rush will have a massive test on Sunday Night Football in Week 11 when one of the slipperiest QBs in the game in Patrick Mahomes comes to town.

They did a solid job containing Mahomes in their last matchup but we know he won’t gift the defense with as many turnvoers as Lock did on Sunday. Regardless of what happens in Week 11 the Raiders and their pass rush can circle the Week 10 win as yet another game where they made a huge impact on the outcome.