It was a tale of two halves for the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. They trailed the New York Jets 23-14 at the break, and they still found themselves down by nine after the first two possessions of the third quarter. But Klint Kubiak's team rallied in the game's final 25 minutes to win 38-33 and to get to .500.
Although this group is young, it is resilient. Both sides of the ball came through when called upon, and Kubiak has to be happy sitting at 4-4, with the most brutal stretch of the schedule now behind him and his team. And the Raiders are far from out of it when it comes to the postseason picture.
But before we even go there, let's talk a bit more about Las Vegas' victory over the Jets in Week 8. It certainly wasn't perfect for the Silver and Black, but in a win like that, there is always more good than bad. Here are the positives and negatives from the Raiders' bounce-back win.
Positives and negatives from Raiders' big win over the Jets
Positive: Klint Kubiak's offense was COOKIN'
Can I interest anyone in 31 offensive points with 333 yards and 5.6 yards per play? In a game in which the Raiders' defense made it impossible for them to establish a rhythm, Kubiak's offense was cookin'. He kept dialing up incredible plays that caught the Jets off guard and opened up easy throws, and the run game was a bit better on Sunday, too. Given what Kubiak has to work with, he's been a magician.
Positive: Dylan Laube brought the juice
Laube is a Long Island, New York, native, so Week 8 was a homecoming for him. As he told us this summer, the game was circled on his calendar. And he brought his "A" game, recording a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, the franchise's first since 2012, and Laube tacked on a special teams tackle and let a kickoff go out of bounds. He provided a big jolt in the third phase of the game.
Negative: Ashton Jeanty is on rocky footing
Jeanty didn't get a chance to back up his smack talk, as Kubiak gave him just two carries, which he took for nine yards. To be fair, Jeanty was involved in the passing attack, catching three passes for 64 yards, including a 45-yard reception, but his status as the lead back is in question. Mike Washington Jr. got 25 carries on Sunday, more than Jeanty has gotten in a game this year. Quite the statement.
Positive: Kirk Cousins left no doubt
Cousins was facing a lot of pressure this week, as the whispers about Fernando Mendoza taking over have been getting louder. And not only did the Raiders win, which cooled that talk a bit, but Cousins balled out and left no doubt that he should remain the starting quarterback in Las Vegas. He threw for another three touchdowns and 247 yards, and Cousins came through in every big moment.
Negative: Eric Stokes looked unplayable
What on earth was up with Stokes on Sunday? Despite Darien Porter going down, which left rookie Jermod McCoy as the other cornerback, the Jets picked on Stokes relentlessly. He was targeted 11 times in the matchup and gave up seven catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. Stokes had two pass breakups, but both of them came on underthrows in which he did not even turn his head. It was ugly.
Positive: Raiders' TEs were men amongst boys again
When the offense needed a boost in the second half, who did Kubiak and Cousins go to? Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer, of course. The former caught 7 passes for 92 yards and 2 touchdowns, and the latter had 5 grabs for 53 yards, all in the final two quarters. This pair came up with every contested catch and in every clutch situation. So, hats off to them for the Nth straight week.
Negative: Rob Leonard may not survive the season
If there is one loser from this game, it's Leonard, whose unit gave up 33 points to a New York team that was averaging just 19.6 before Sunday. The Jets had 439 yards of offense and averaged 7.2 yards per play, including 6.1 yards per carry, and they pretty much had their way with the Raiders' defense. Folks may not be wrong to wonder about Leonard's job security after this year, or sooner.
Positive: Jalen Nailor showed up big
Nailor had his best game of the year in Week 8, catching his first touchdown of the campaign and setting season highs in catches (4) and receiving yards (38). He had three clutch grabs on third down, two of which went for a first down, and the third of which went for the aforementioned score. With Tre Tucker putting up a goose egg on Sunday, Nailor's contributions were much needed.
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