Raiders’ quick slants: Jaguars edition

Defense stops two distinct Tanks in their tracks in 19-14 win over visiting Jacksonville

Playing like a man possessed, safety Isaiah Pola-Mao was a forced-fumble machine helping the Las Vegas Raiders jar the ball loose from two distinct Tanks in a 19-14 win over the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars.

The third-year safety stripped tailback Tank Bigsby of the ball in the second quarter and, a series later, put his shoulder and helmet into the ball after tight end Brenton Strange hauled a pass in, (Las Vegas recovered both fumbles) helping the Silver & Black snap a 10-game losing streak.

And, in turn, erode the grip the Raiders had on potentially earning the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

Two tanks, stopped in their respective tracks — cold.

“Yeah, Isaiah, since he stepped in for Marcus (Epps), I think he’s done an outstanding job, one, with the communication, picking that up, understanding his role, and then to be honest, last several weeks just making plays,” Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce said of the safety. “I thought today just the physicality. None of those were punch-outs. He put his hat on the ball, right, the physicality. The way we talked about playing here, ill intent, violence. That showed up today.”

Pola-Moa’s two forced fumbles goes along with his team-leading 11 total tackles as the Raiders displayed spirit to end the 10-game skid and improve to 3-12 on the season.

A loss would’ve kept the Las Vegas on pace to vie for the No. 1 overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft and Sunday’s victory over Jacksonville (also 3-12) drops the team to the No. 6 overall selection — if the season ended today.

The draft order will fluctuate until the final whistle of the 2024 regular season and when asked about how some in the fan base loath winning a “meaningless” ball game, Pierce’s response to inquiry was short.

“Talk to Tom Telesco,” Pierce quipped when asked what his response is to the part of Raider Nation focused on the first overall draft pick.

One of Telesco’s prized draft picks in the 2023 draft continued to shine in Brock Bowers. The rookie tight end once again become the focal point of the Silver & Black attack as he was targeted a team-high 13 times and hauled in 11 passes for 99 yards (a long of 32 yards). A true record breaker, the No. 13 overall pick in this past draft becomes the first tight end in NFL history to have 1,000-plus receiving yards and 100-plus catches in their rookie season. Oh, and he has two more games left.

Bowers needs five catches to break the Los Angeles Rams’ Puka Nacua’s rookie catch mark. And just 10 yards to break Mike Ditka’s 63-year-old rookie tight end yards record he set with the Chicago Bears.

While he didn’t throw a single touchdown (he didn’t throw an interception, either), Raiders starting quarterback Aidan O’Connell finished 24 of 38 for 257 yards. He also had seven carries for 12 yards (a long run of 13 yards), showing off nifty elusiveness and nimbleness in the pocket despite having a cement-shoes-style as a pocket passer.

O’Connell usually gets the ball out of his hands quickly as he fires passes, but when pressed, he bought time with his legs and his arm did the rest.

“Yeah, I think probably some desperation. 10 losses in a row will do that to you,” O’Connell said when asked about moving all over the place with his legs before throwing to targets. “Just trying at all costs to make a play and great protection by the offensive line, and obviously Ameer making an awesome play. Yeah, Ameer has just been doing a great job and the rest of the guys, as well. Like I said, different plays call for different things, and just trying to make a play.”

Let’s hit the quick slants as fast as the Raiders said “No Tanks” against the Jaguars:

—Veteran running back Ameer Abdullah paced the Raiders backfield with seven carries for 38 yards and a score. He also added five receptions for 47 yards. Fellow tailback Alexander Mattison pitched in with 27 yards on 12 carries and an end zone visit. He also netted four catches for 28 yards.

—Defensive end K’Lavon Chaisson collected the Raiders lone sack. The former Jaguar finished with two total tackles, a pass deflection, a tackle for loss, and a quarterback hit to go along with his takedown of Jacksonville signal caller Mac Jones.

—Speaking of Jones, the Jaguars quarterback finished similarly to O’Connell going 25 of 39 for 247 yards with one touchdown and zero interceptions. His sum total was buoyed by a 62-yard gift from the Raiders defense.

—And it was sensational rookie wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. on the receiving end of that gift. Miscommunication in Las Vegas’ secondary allowed the No. 23 overall pick in last April’s draft to jog in for the 62-yard score. He finished with nine receptions for 132 yards.

—In a battle of the league’s top punters, the Raiders AJ Cole III punted six times for 285 yards (47.5 average per boot) with a long of 60 while the Jaguars’ Logan Cooke finished with seven boots for 275 yards (39.3 average) with a long of 55. Cole had three of his six punts downed inside Jacksonville’s 20-yard line while Cook saw two of his seven downed inside Las Vegas’ 20.

—Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson finished 2-for-3 with his longest field goal being of the 49-yard variety. His missed field goal — wide right from 46 yards out — would’ve loomed large if the Jaguars got into the end zone on their final drive. But that final lurch fell short.

Quotes of Note:

“Long overdue. Good. Good to see all those smiling faces from our players, our staff, everybody involved in the organization. Obviously, you don’t want to go through what we went through over the last 10 weeks, but that’s behind us. I thought it was a great win, great job by our home crowd. I thought they were very loud and active. That was positive for our defense, especially in certain situations. I thought it was very efficient by our team. Very proud of this group being resilient, blocking out the outside noise and playing for one another.” —Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce on how he’s feeling after the win