What We Saw: Week 2 – Monday Night

Brett Ford
What We Saw 5 Hours Ago
Series Navigation
Introduction
Buccaneers @ Texans
Chargers @ Raiders

Chargers @ Raiders

Final Score: Chargers 20, Raiders 9

Writer: Griffey Geiss (@ggeiss_mlb and @ggeiss_PL on Twitter)

 

Well, you really only need the box score to figure out what happened here. It was an all-around ugly game for the Raiders. Geno Smith, coming off a monstrous performance in Week 1, looked like a shell of himself turning the ball over what felt like every possession. Pressure came nonstop from the Chargers, even when Khalil Mack left the game early, and ended the game without allowing a touchdown. In the absence of Mack, star Derwin James had himself a game. Both rookie running backs, Ashton Jeanty and Omarion Hampton, did not impress whatsoever — it was quite unfortunate. In other news, both kickers, Tucker Carlson and Cameron Dicker, were perfect from the field. Notably, Carlson nailed a 54-yarder.

Three Up

  • Jakobi Meyers: looked the part as LV’s WR1 and a quality flex option
  • Keenan Allen: another veteran WR that remains a solid flex option moving forward
  • Justin Herbert: 70% completion, used his legs well, and led his team to victory

Three Down

  • Omarion Hampton: you need to see more from him, point blank… an utter disappointment
  • Geno Smith: just an all-around abysmal performance, 3 INTs says it all
  • Ashton Jeanty: another rookie RB that simply hasn’t lived up to his ADP

 

Los Angeles Chargers

 

Quarterback

 

Justin Herbert: 19/27, 242 yards, 2 TD, 2 fumbles (1 lost) | 9 carries, 31 yards

While Herbert may not have been as dominant in the box score as he was last week, he sure did sling the ball well leading his team to victory. His connection with year two wideout Quentin Johnson looks legit, and he’s been equally on point with veteran Keenan Allen. Herbert is also utilizing his legs in a very effective way. He did have a really poor sequence in the fourth quarter, throwing a ball that looked like an easy interception that was dropped, then had a bad transfer on a rush play to a receiver that resulted in a fumble on the next play (both players seemed somewhat at fault here, to be fair).

Herbert was also charged with a fumble that was completely not his fault. Omarion Hampton lost control of the ball on an easy rushing attempt.

Missed Opportunities

  • 18-yard pass to Ladd McConkey brought back due to holding
  • dropped pass by Quentin Johnson

 

Running Back

 

Najee Harris: 8 carries, 28 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 20 yards

Harris looked decent in a small sample size (20 snaps). Eight of his ten touches were in the fourth quarter after Hampton essentially evaporated from the gameplan, including three rushes for at least four yards a piece on the Chargers’ final drive.

Missed Opportunities

  • 8-yard rush taken away due to illegal formation

 

Omarion Hampton: 9 carries, 24 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 1 yard

As you can see, Hampton is listed below Harris here… not great for many fantasy owners that drafted Hampton relying on solid top-RB production. Even with a lead that the Chargers sustained for a healthy portion of the game, Hampton was unable to break out. He had 22 yards at halftime, and once the Chargers essentially put the game away in the middle of the third quarter, Hampton did not touch the ball again outside of the late-game fumble (though it wasn’t ruled that way… yet). The silver lining is, if you want to be optimistic, Hampton played three quarters of the game as the lead back and still took more snaps (30) and ran more routes (17) than his backup.

Missed Opportunities

  • accepted 5-yard penalty brought back a 4-yard rush from Hampton… this was a redzone attempt

Below is his best play from Monday. They simply need to find a way to have him touch the ball more often.

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

Quentin Johnson: 7 targets, 3 receptions, 71 yards, TD | 1 carry, -2 yards

Johnson continues to look good in this Chargers offense. He did have a drop — something that fantasy owners and Chargers fans alike will monitor — but he appears to be a quality deep ball target for Justin Herbert, averaging nearly 24 yards per reception. His longest catch? A 60-yard dime from Herbo for the tuddy.

 

Keenan Allen: 7 targets, 5 receptions, 61 yards, TD

Allen remains a steady receiver not only for his QB, but for fantasy owners that bought low on him either on the waiver wire or in the draft. He looks like a solid flex option moving forward and in deeper leagues, perhaps a WR2 option, hauling in 12 catches for over 120 yards with 2 TDs in his first two games back in LA.

 

Ladd McConkey: 5 targets, 5 receptions, 48 yards

I expected more from McConkey tonight. While he did have the second-most snaps and routes run amongst skill players, he only targeted five times. The lead did have somewhat of an effect on this, where three of his five receptions were before halftime.

He did have a nifty eighteen yard grab brought back due to a penalty

 

Tre’ Harris: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 31 yards

Will Dissly: 1 target, 1 reception, 7 yards

 

 

Las Vegas Raiders

 

Quarterback

 

Geno Smith: 24/43, 180 yards, 3 INT | 5 carries, 20 yards

Simply put, Geno looked awful. Poor reads, so many incompletions, it was unpleasant to watch. I feel bad for those who streamed him this week and stayed up late at night just to watch him play like that. Smith was constantly under duress tonight, even with star edge rusher Khalil Mack leaving the game early. He took three sacks and was hit five times. He was forced to throw the ball away a handful of times and there were several instances where a pass was batted down.

Missed Opportunities

  • Clear DPI went uncalled; would have been a massive catch, targeting Dont’e Thornton
  • 8-yard scramble brought back due to holding

This play perfectly sums up the Raiders’ ability to protect in the passing game:

 

Running Back

 

Ashton Jeanty: 11 carries, 43 yards | 4 targets, 3 receptions, 1 yard

Like Smith, the Chargers’ D-Line was on Jeanty all night long. Las Vegas’ O-Line is a problem, and a bad one. While he had touches in all quarters, Jeanty only played 39 of the 70 offensive snaps and ran just 18 routes. This was still good enough to lead his backup, Zamir White, but I’d certainly expect a lot more time on the field, let alone production from the 6th overall pick.

 

Zamir White: 2 carries, -2 yards

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

Jakobi Meyers: 12 targets, 6 receptions, 68 yards

Meyers, even with a QB playing at such a subpar level, looks to be the real deal as a flex or even mid tier WR2 option. He played the most snaps (65 of 70), ran the most routes (47), was targeted the most times amongst both teams (12 times) and led his team in both the receptions and receiving yards department. Safe to say he’s Smith’s go-to option.

 

Brock Bowers: 8 targets, 5 receptions, 38 yards

Bowers was fine for the most part but wasn’t effecting the game in any special way. He played the fourth-most snaps on offense and was still targeted the second-most times. He was completely shut down in the first half, catching just one pass for five yards in the 1st quarter, then proceeded to get his next seven targets in the second half — five of which came in the 4th quarter. Owners should note Bowers did not practice a lot this week (knee injury), but did manage to sneak in time on Saturday when he was officially deemed healthy enough to play.

 

Dont’e Thornton: 4 targets, 1 reception, 20 yards

I have to say, Thornton looked like an intriguing deep threat. Raiders fans should be excited regarding what they have in Thornton. His lone reception was for twenty yards which doesn’t seem like much (57 snaps and 31 routes — 3rd for LV), but he had a massive play that was ruined due to DPI. Worst of all, a flag wasn’t even thrown.

 

Tre Tucker:  8 targets, 3 receptions, 12 yards | 1 carry, 7 yards

Tucker played the second-most snaps, running the second-most routes on the team, and was targeted a whopping eight times. It was a pretty balanced performance all-around, even with the Raiders leaning on the passing game thanks to the scoreboard. He also returned a punt for fifteen yards.

 

Dylan Laube: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 17 yards

 

Michael Mayer: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 9 yards

Series Navigation
Introduction
Buccaneers @ Texans
Chargers @ Raiders