The Las Vegas Raiders have prevailed over the Minnesota Vikings in their second preseason game of the year. Similar to their Hall of Fame game, key starters such as Derek Carr, Davante Adams, Deller Waller, and others did not play for the Raiders.
The team also had Zamir White instead of Josh Jacobs playing compared to their previous match. He outperformed Kenyan Drake and Ameer Abdullah despite his stats being very normal.
Game highlights
The Raiders have Jarrett Stidham and Nick Mullens to thank for touchdown drives. These two players were able to convert fourth-down conversions into drives that led to points. The team had focused a lot on the first down which lead to their strong performance in the match, Mullens said.
“…if you’re productive on first down it’s going to keep you on schedule to establish good drives. Everybody banded together, our O-line did a really good job, we ran the ball, and played productive as a unit,” added Mullens.
Though the Raiders only took 23 yards in first-down plays during the first half, the team managed to secure 64 yards in first-down plays for the second half. This let the Raiders finish with 300 yards of offense and an average of 4.3 yards per play.
Notably, Alex Leatherwood didn’t get to play on the field until the second half despite trying for a starting job in Year Two. Leatherwood appears to be very low down the depth chart, even with Parker being injured.
The Raiders have shown off their strength and are looking good in the preseason so far as they have won all their games. Josh McDaniels, the coach of the Raiders, expressed his satisfaction at how his offensive tackle players have been performing so far.
“I think we have some depth at tackle and some competition. We’ve told them since the first day they got here that this was going to be a situation where guys earn their opportunities and they’ll determine their role,” McDaniels said.
Their next match will be against the Miami Dolphins. Fans are expecting the Raiders to play more starters on both offense and defense.
Raiders inactive list and players to follow
The Raiders currently have McCormick, Cre’Von LeBlanc, Micah Kiser, and Kyler Fackrell on the injured/reserved list. Meanwhile, Johnathan Hankins, Trayvon Mullen Jr., Bilal Nichols, and Dillon Stoner are listed as active but unable to perform. Brandon Parker injured his triceps while weightlifting, potentially knocking him out for the whole season but is currently listed on the official Raiders website as active.
Current players to watch out for in the Raiders for offense are Jarrett Stidham and Nick Mullens for their incredible offensive performance in the most recent game. In terms of overall stats for the 2021 season, Josh Jacobs has 872 yards across 217 rush attempts.
There are three players to watch out for in the defensive department. Denzel Perryman is boasts 154 total assists and tackles across 15 games. Though behind in overall stats, Johnathan Abram and Cory Littleton are ahead of the curve with 116 and 98 tackles respectively.
Finally, Daniel Carlson holds the team’s record for points per game at 8.8. He has scored a total of 150 points across 17 games, being responsible for almost half of the team’s points during the previous season.