Las Vegas Raiders: Studs and Duds from Week 1 vs. Ravens
Studs
5. Daniel Carlson
Last but not least we need to give plenty of credit and love to Daniel Carlson for his excellent performance in a pressure situation. Carlson was lights out last season and perhaps saw too much of the field on an offense that struggled in the red zone but he looks to be just as good this year.
The credit and accolades will be given to Derek Carr and the offense for marching down the field at the end of the game but none of that would have mattered if Carlson didn’t nail his kick. He stepped up and booted the 55-yard kick straight down the middle to send the game into overtime.
Carlson was almost the hero in overtime as well if it wasn’t for Gruden’s mismanagement of the situation but it speaks to his reliability that he would have been trusted to make a 40+ yarder to win the game. The Raiders are lucky to have Carlson and his big leg and he seems to be the next great kicker in a long line of excellent ones in Silver and Black.