Over the last few years, it was a foregone conclusion that the Las Vegas Raiders would lose on any given Sunday. The fanbase was then tasked with finding strong individual showings to latch onto in an attempt to keep themselves sane or find a glimmer of hope where it often seemed there was none.
But the Raiders are 2-0 in the Klint Kubiak era thus far, so there is no need to go picking through any advanced stats or tying yourself into a pretzel to find the winners of the matchup. Instead, there have been so many positives that even dominant players are starting to fly under the radar. Like Tre Tucker.
The fourth-year wide receiver bounced back from a slow opener in Week 1 and had a field day versus the Los Angeles Chargers' secondary in Week 2. But he isn't getting enough credit for it. So, here are those flowers for Tucker, even though they are a bit overdue.
Raiders' Tre Tucker isn't getting enough credit for dominant Week 2 showing vs. Chargers
Kirk Cousins was the talk of the town after the Raiders' win over the Chargers, and rightfully so. His newfound ability to throw the ball downfield changed the game. Lost in that, and in the emergence of practice squadder Cody White, though, is the fact that Tucker needs a game ball for Sunday's outing.
His counting stats look great: 5 catches for 119 yards and a touchdown, including a 40-yarder that found paydirt to get the Las Vegas offense going after a rough start. Tucker overcame tripping on a Chargers defender on the first possession, which led to Cousins throwing an interception, and positively impacted the game.
Kubiak got Tucker open for a beautiful shot play on the score, which demonstrated the new coach's clever schematic instincts, Tucker's great skill set and the two's synergy all in one. Then, to add to his great day, Tucker caught a 42-yard bomb near the end of the first half.
This, of course, set up a field goal for Matt Gay, which gave the Raiders a 10-7 lead after two quarters and wholly flipped the momentum in the contest. Sure, he only caught one pass for nine yards in the second half, but it was a big one on third down to set up a tush push fourth-down conversion.
Not to mention, Tucker made another grab that doesn't show up on the stat sheet because of a penalty, and he fair-caught the Chargers' onside free kick at the end, which helped officially put Los Angeles away. Tucker was also great in run-blocking for a well-rounded day at the office.
Tucker had a tremendous outing, but it has been overshadowed by guys like Cousins, White, and even rookie cornerback Zeke Masses and his two-interception day. That won't stand here at Just Blog Baby, as a performance like Tucker's deserves more than just a mention.
Tre Tucker's job will only get easier when Raiders get Brock Bowers back
Last week, we advised fans not to panic about the lack of production from the Raiders' wide receiver corps. Chief among those reasons was the fact that Brock Bowers would be back in the lineup soon, and he would absorb so much of the defense's attention, which would let the receivers run free.
On Sunday, Bowers worked out pre-game and almost played. Surely, with a full week of practice and workouts, the superstar tight end has an even better chance of being on the field in Week 3 vs. the New Orleans Saints. That would also fit with the original timeline of him missing "one or two games."
Clearly, Tucker got the job done without Bowers against what was supposed to be a good Chargers defense. But with Bowers back in the fold, Tucker should make an even bigger impact, as most of the eyes get diverted toward the 2024 First-Team All-Pro tight end.
Will Bowers being back mean that Tucker gets fewer targets? Perhaps. This is still a run-heavy team, and most defenses have several players who can help contain a good duo of pass-catching weapons. But there is a big difference between being Batman and Robin. Tucker will soon be the latter.
That means that he'll face the second-best cover guy. He won't be bracketed on routes now that he would have been otherwise with Bowers out of the lineup. Defenses will tilt the field to stop Bowers, and with a smart coach like Kubiak, Tucker can feast with heads being turned the other way.
Tucker already had a great outing in Week 2 that has flown way too far under the radar. Going forward, he will be considered even less of a talking point with Bowers' return imminent. But Tucker seems to be one of those rare players who needs the darkness to grow and thrive.
Keep sleeping on him, please. He will continue to make defenses pay, and that job will only get easier for Tucker when Bowers is back in uniform.
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