Las Vegas Raiders at New York Jets: 4 things we learned in Week 13

Las Vegas Raiders at New York Jets: 4 things we learned in Week 13

Johnathan Abram’s absence was felt, especially in the run game

Johnathan Abram was ruled out late in the week with a knee injury and that was more concerning for Raider Nation than the absence of Josh Jacobs. The Raiders’ offense has been good all season with a few exceptions but the Raiders’ defense has been the exact opposite, bad for the most part with a few flashes here and there.

Most of those flashes usually feature Johnathan Abram as the second-year safety has been one of the leaders of this unit and a true tone-setter. Abram may get lost in coverage from time to time as he continues to learn the game but where he excels is laying the wood in the run game.

That may lead to some missed tackles as we saw against the Patriots but he makes running backs think twice when turning the corner on those outside runs.

Against the Jets, the Raiders’ defense was repeatedly gashed by a bunch of no-name running backs and one couldn’t help but think that Abram would have erased some of the mistakes made in the run game. The Raiders also had several missed tackles in the secondary and that is another area where Abram could have made a difference.

Abram has also been working on his playmaking skills and is one of the team leaders with two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Sam Darnold played a clean game through the air but he did so against second and third-string safeties and Abram would have clearly been an upgrade.

The young safety is a tone-setter for the defense and has already established himself as a leader and his presence was missed on a dreary day in New Jersey.