The Las Vegas Raiders needed a major jolt coming out of the bye week after losing two of their previous three games by 31 points or more. Thankfully, they didn't have to look very far, as superstar tight end Brock Bowers was set to return from injury.
After an All-Pro campaign as a rookie last year, Bowers was off to an incredible start to the 2025 NFL season. Unfortunately, a knee injury he suffered in Week 1 severely limited him for weeks before the team decided to shut him down for a month.
He returned to the field for Week 9's contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars, however, and proved once again that he is the top tight end in the NFL. Bowers also got plenty of praise for his performance on both sides of the aisle.
Brock Bowers dominates in Raiders return against Jaguars
Bowers caught an unbelievable 12 passes for 127 yards and 3 touchdowns on Sunday, tormenting a Jaguars defense filled with great coverage linebackers, and who have a knack for shutting down opposing tight ends.
With the game on the line, Bowers also delivered with a 27-yard touchdown to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, and he scored again in overtime to give the Raiders a chance to win. Head coach Pete Carroll rightfully fawned over him during his postgame media availability.
"I mean, could it be more obvious what a great player that he is? We have to get him the ball, and they hooked it up great. Chip (Kelly) got him open. Geno (Smith) hit him," Carroll said. "(His) efficiency was great. I think he -- did he catch 11 balls? 12 targets for 11 balls? I mean, just great efficiency, and his run after catch was excellent. His playmaking was excellent. The one in the corner of the end zone, the guy's pulling on his glove, you know, and he couldn't get his hand up to catch the ball. He (would have) caught that one, too."
It is no coincidence that, on Sunday, quarterback Geno Smith had his best performance of the year since Week 1. Of course, that is the last time that Bowers was fully healthy. The veteran signal-caller also went on about his young tight end's impact in the same press conference.
"He's one of the best players on our team; one of the best players in the NFL. He just makes my job so easy. He does everything so well. I mean, he made some phenomenal catches today. A lot of those catches, a lot of guys don't make," Smith said. "You can just see his impact on the game when he's out there. He's such a phenomenal, such a dynamic player. At one point, they were double-teaming him, triple-teaming him, trying to stop him, and that just opens up the field for the rest of the guys. Other guys get one-on-ones and you can just see when you got that big chess piece, how coordinators got to call games and you know how we can call games as well."
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Smith was not the only teammate who had great things to say about Bowers, either. According to Raiders reporter Paul Gutierrez, wide receiver Jakobi Meyers also gave Bowers the ultimate compliment after the game.
"Shout out to that boy Brock. ... try to enjoy the show. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime type player," Meyers said. "He just [does] all the little things right. He’s a really good player, a really good dude. I’ve got a son now, hopefully he turns out somewhat like that."
This is quite the badge of honor for Bowers to wear from his veteran teammate. Not only did Bowers get a ton of praise from people in the building, but Jaguars head coach Liam Coen also gave him his flowers during his postgame press conference.
"Well, he's got a full route tree. ... He can run option routes like Cooper Kupp, he can run the seams like Tony Gonzalez. I mean, he's just multi-purpose. I've obviously, you know, competed and coached against him when he was at Georgia multiple times. There's not many players at that position that you can say are as talented as him," Coen said. "(We) knew coming off the bye they were gonna want to feature him in a lot of ways, but it didn't much matter. I mean, he was making plays all over the place. He's so hard to bring down; he's so strong. He's so grounded when he catches the football. He can get vertical so quick and and he breaks tackles like nobody else."
Obviously, this was quite the return for Bowers, as he revolutionized the Las Vegas offense from pretty much the first snap. Despite missing so many games and being hampered in others, he has recorded 31 catches for 352 yards and 3 touchdowns this season.
If he can finish out the year how he started it, and how he just returned from injury in Week 9, then there should be nothing standing in the way of Bowers having another All-Pro campaign in the midst of a brutal Raiders season.