Film room: Laulu’s up-and-down performance

Defensive tackle had strong moments but was inconsistent on Monday night

Las Vegas Raiders defensive tackle Jonah Laulu made several plays that stood out in Week 15 against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football. Laulu recorded five total tackles, including a sack and was credited with a pass breakup.

However, his 46.7 grade from Pro Football Focus was underwhelming compared to what the box score showed. The site dinged the Oklahoma product for a missed tackle and an ugly 33.1 mark as a run defender to push down his overall grade.

So, is this a case where PFF got it wrong, or was there more than what originally met the eye? Let’s flip on the tape and find out.

After watching the film, the run defense grade above makes sense. There were a handful of other clips, in addition to these three, that also could have been included but we’ll stick to a few examples that shine a light on where Laulu struggled.

The Falcons called a lot of outside zone runs where he was on the backside and ended up getting scooped out of his gap. One common mistake is he consistently false steps out of his stance. Notice how Laulu’s inside foot doesn’t gain any ground on his first step.

So, despite having inside leverage on the offensive tackle pre-snap, the tackle can get inside positioning on him and scoop him out of the B-gap. That creates a backside cutback lane for Bijan Robinson, who picks up a chunk gain and could have had even more yards had Robert Spillane not done a great job defeating his block to make the tackle.

Here we’ll see a similar rep but Laulu is on the front side of the outside zone run. Watch his first step again. This time, he steps to the right with his inside foot almost as if he was slanting into the A-gap but no other defensive lineman moves to the right, meaning John Jenkins has the front side A-gap while Robert Spillane is responsible for the backside A-gap.

So, Laulu ends up getting reached by the guard which creates a rushing lane right where the offense is looking to run the ball. Luckily, Las Vegas walks Tre’von Moehrig down into the box late to get a numbers advantage (eight defenders with seven blockers), and Moehrig makes a nice tackle to prevent the explosive play.

This would have been a big gain had the safety not been there with the defensive tackle not being in his gap.

One of the reasons why the rookie got cut from the Colts this summer is he struggled against double teams. That issue reared its head again on Monday and this rep was one of the worst examples.

Atlanta runs duo which puts the right tackle and guard on a double team against Laulu. The defensive tackle’s pad level is too high and his hands are too wide, which allows the offensive linemen to get a leverage advantage on him. As a result, he gets driven backward about five yards and past the center, picking Spillane in the process.

That is a textbook combo block by the offense and this could have been a much more explosive play had it not been for Jenkins, K’Lavon Chaisson and Adam Butler defeating their blocks.

Moving onto the positive, Laulu did have a solid game against the pass, earning a 65.2 grade in that department with a couple of pressures, including his first NFL sack.

The Raiders dial up a T/T stunt or twist with Butler serving as the pick player and Laulu as the looper. Both players do a good job of attacking the man they’re lined up across from initially to disguise the line game.

Then, Butler picks the guard and Laulu takes an efficient path to the quarterback by not losing ground vertically while moving laterally. The latter allows him to get to Kirk Cousins quickly and finish with a third-down sack.

Also, this a great rep from Chaisson to put more pressure on Cousins and make sure Cousins can’t escape the pocket.

It’s second and eight in the clip above and Las Vegas runs a simulated pressure where Moehrig creeps down to the line of scrimmage pre-snap and Chaisson drops in coverage. As a result, Atlanta slides the protection right while the running back fills the B-gap to pick up the blitzing safety and the left tackle sticks to block the defensive end one-on-one.

Moehrig does a good job of getting pressure which forces Cousins to step up in the pocket. Meanwhile, Laulu doesn’t have a great rep as a pass rusher, but he does enough to get extension against the tackle and recognizes the quarterback stepping up in the pocket.

That allows the densive linemen to escape the block and make the tackle for a two-yard again, setting up third and long.

This last clip is a combination of a perfect play call and great play in coverage by a defensive lineman.

It’s third and six during Atlanta’s final drive of the game. Las Vegas runs Cover 0 with seven defenders on the line of scrimmage. That gives the illusion that the middle of the field is going to be open. However, Isaiah Pola-Mao and Laulu sell the pass rush initially and then drop into coverage.

That puts the two defenders in the passing lane against the short drag route. To finish, Laulu shows off some athleticism by flipping his hips and getting an hand on the ball to pickup the PBU. As a result, the offense had a chance to win the game on a two-minute drive.