Texans @ Raiders
Final Score: Raiders 38, Texans 20
Writer: Ben Brown (@BenBrownPL on Twitter)
This game was a tale of two halves; The first half was a slog, with the teams trading field goals and touchdowns. The second half was a wild 30 minutes of football, however, as the Raiders scored on every one of their drives and also took a pick-six to the house. Josh Jacobs continued his recent dominance, capping off his third straight game with over 100 yards on the ground. He scored three touchdowns en route to a monster game.
Houston’s offense, led by Davis Mills, played well enough to win this game. Mills threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns, but it was the pick-six that really put the final nail in the coffin.
Duron Harmon PICK-6! @Raiders lead 38-20. @dharm32
📺: #HOUvsLV on CBS
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/tY2rmmLSQR pic.twitter.com/bTqf8vXbV4— NFL (@NFL) October 23, 2022
Houston Texans
Quarterback
Davis Mills: 28/41, 302 Yards, 2 TD, INT
I was impressed by Davis Mills for most of this game. He has a good arm and he has good accuracy. He was under pressure for a good chunk of this game, and he did well to sling it while standing in the pocket as it collapsed around him. Early in the 2nd quarter, Mills stood his ground with a free rusher coming right at him and delivered a good ball to Chris Moore for the score.
Chris Moore with a touchdown for the Texans! pic.twitter.com/nlI7KnafcC
— Barstool Cincinnati (@UCBarstool) October 23, 2022
Later in the game, Mills’ second touchdown pass was an absolute dime to Philip Dorsett, who nearly bobbled it away before hanging on for the score.
#Texans Davis Mills TD to Phillip Dorsett: Good job buying time, good velocity and accuracy to fit it in the window.
Easily his best game of this season and looks confident out of the bye week. Keep it rollingpic.twitter.com/If2BMTxNbO
— Jordan Pun (@Texans_Thoughts) October 23, 2022
He also had this great throw on the run.
Davis Mills fires a dart to Philip Dorsett! #WeAreTexans pic.twitter.com/7AEn2xGOlD
— Pro Football Culture (@proftblculture) October 23, 2022
As I mentioned in the opening blurb, Mills’ pick-six sealed the win for the Raiders and was a glaring mistake for the young signal-caller. It’s also worth noting that Mills threw for nearly 60 yards once the game was out of hand, so the box score is a bit inflated. However, Mills showed on Sunday that he’s fully capable of being a starting QB in the NFL
Running Back
Dameon Pierce: 20 Carries, 92 Yards | 4 Targets, 4 Receptions, 25 Yards
Dare Ogunbowale: 1 Carry, 8 Yards | 7 Targets, 5 Receptions, 54 Yards
Rex Burkhead: 2 Carries, 8 Yards | 6 Targets, 5 Receptions, 11 Yards
Dameon Pierce had a respectable day for fantasy purposes. He ran the ball hard, evaded some tackles, and generally looked like an every-down stud at the position. There were no goal-line carries for Pierce, nor was there a challenger for any work at the position. He had 84 yards from scrimmage on 12 carries and three receptions in the first half, but the Texans went away from him in the second half for some odd reason. Perhaps they felt they needed to throw the ball to keep up with the Raiders, but I felt that Pierce was their best player on offense in this game and the decision to phase him out as the game went on was a curious one. Hopefully they learn from their mistake.
Don’t look into the receiving numbers for Dare Ogunbowale – this all came at the very end of the game during garbage time.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Jordan Akins: 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 68 Yards
Brandin Cooks: 5 Targets, 4 Receptions, 46 Yards
Phillip Dorsett: 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 45 Yards, TD
Nico Collins: 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 33 Yards
Chris Moore: 4 Targets, 2 Receptions, 20 Yards, TD
Brevin Jordan: 4 Targets
Of this group, I was most impressed with Jordan Akins. Check out this catch he made early in the game:
This 3rd down pass from Davis Mills to Jordan Akins was 🔥 More like this please. #WeAreTexans pic.twitter.com/C5xNzPGPCN
— V̷a̷t̷o̷r̷ (@VatorSports) October 23, 2022
He also had this 39-yard catch and run to start the 3rd quarter:
Jordan Akins takes it 39 yards on the catch and run! #WeAreTexans pic.twitter.com/gr8RI6jlo7
— Pro Football Culture (@proftblculture) October 23, 2022
In an offense that lacks playmakers, I feel like Akins deserves more of a shot to show off his talent. He’s got something.
Brevin Jordan made a fantastic catch in the end zone that would have been a touchdown if he were able to get his feet down. Alas, he could not and it was incomplete.
Nico Collins made a nice catch in traffic, but was hurt later in the game and did not return.
That leaves us with the name you were probably looking for in this section, Brandin Cooks. You’ll be disappointed to hear that I don’t have much to say about him – he just wasn’t a factor. I can’t say if he was just blanketed all day or if Mills simply wasn’t looking his way, but the fact that this lack of usage this year appears to be a pattern makes me think it’s more of the latter. He would benefit from a change of scenery before the deadline.
https://twitter.com/SadNinersFan_/status/1576631941599662081?s=20&t=UhlgjvTXLsjgR51U0gQVqw
Las Vegas Raiders
Quarterback
Derek Carr: 21/27, 241 Yards, TD | 3 Carries, -1 Yards, 1 Fumble (Recovered)
Derek Carr was injured on the Raiders’ opening drive and for a moment it looked like he was going to miss some time. He appeared to hit his hand/arm on a defender’s helmet and was in a good amount of pain, laying on the turf with the trainers looking down at him. He ended up missing only one play, and his toughness helped Vegas win this game.
Carr was not spectacular in this one, but he didn’t need to be with Josh Jacobs running wild. Carr’s two best throws were his touchdown to Mack Hollins and this throw that set up a Jacobs touchdown.
This play by @derekcarrqb was SMOOTH‼️ He splits 2 defenders and delivers an absolute STRIKE to Moreau that sets up a go ahead touchdown by Josh Jacobs. Get used to seeing this #RaiderNation‼️🏴☠️@HarvesterSports @DCarr8 #raiders pic.twitter.com/A322HFHO57
— Optimistic Raider (@planetraider) October 24, 2022
Carr didn’t turn the ball over, he kept the sticks moving, and, most importantly, he kept feeding Jacobs. From a fantasy perspective, this was a disappointing showing for Carr against a bottom-tier defense. However, the Raiders are desperate for wins at this point of the season and they seem ready to take whatever the defense will give them in the pursuit of a victory over everything else. Carr played the game manager role very well on Sunday.
Running Back
Josh Jacobs: 20 Carries, 143 Yards, 3 TD | 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 12 Yards
DJ Turner: 3 Carries, 20 Yards, 1 Fumble (Recovered)
Zamir White: 1 Carry, 2 Yards
Ameer Abdullah: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 7 Yards
Josh Jacobs is one of the best running backs in the league. This was his third straight game with over 100 yards rushing, and he added three scores to boot. It seemed that every run was for eight, nine, or ten-yard chunks as he gashed Houston’s defense all day long. His ability to slither between defenders, making them miss by either dancing around them or running right by them, is really impressive. Vegas’ offensive line did a good job of opening up some holes for Jacobs to work his magic in.
Josh Jacobs' last 3 games:
Week 4: 28 carries, 144 yards, 2 TD, 5 catches, 31 yards, 34.5 fantasy points
Week 5: 21 rushes, 154 yards, 1 TD, 5 catches, 39 yards, 30.3 fantasy points
Week 7: 20 carries, 143 yards, 3 TD, 3 catches, 12 yards, 36.5 fantasy points
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 23, 2022
Oh he's nifty too 👀@iAM_JoshJacobs | CBS pic.twitter.com/Ecj7MocIBB
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) October 23, 2022
Jacobs’ third TD came one play after Houston jumped on 4th and 1, extending Vegas’ drive.
JOSH. JACOBS. GAMEBREAKER. 🤯
pic.twitter.com/dHL9qYRv0P— PFF Fantasy & Betting (@PFF_Fantasy) October 23, 2022
Josh Jacobs vs. the Texans defense: pic.twitter.com/AfuZJsg8PU
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) October 23, 2022
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Davante Adams: 9 Targets, 8 Receptions, 95 Yards
Hunter Renfrow: 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 55 Yards
Mack Hollins: 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 44 Yards, TD
Foster Moreau: 5 Targets, 3 Receptions, 28 Yards
With the Raiders’ offense embracing the full Josh Jacobs experience, the passing attack took a backseat for much of the game. Davante Adams got his, but he was unable to break any of them for big gains to really put his mark on this game. The Texans seemed to always have an extra defender in the area to ensure he wouldn’t beat them – which he didn’t but they should have used that defender to spy Jacobs instead.
Mack Hollins continued his early season success with a great touchdown catch right before halftime.
Precision TD pass by @DerekCarrQB to @mackhollins!
📺: #HOUvsLV on CBS
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/tY2rmmLSQR pic.twitter.com/YbA7hXdPjh— NFL (@NFL) October 23, 2022
Hollins’ touchdown was really the only highlight for this group. Hunter Renfrow had a nice catch, but was otherwise silent on the day despite the juicy matchup against a team he’s burned in the past.