What We Saw: Week 7

The What We Saw team recaps everything you missed from Sunday's action

Ben Brown
What We Saw 2 Years Ago
Series Navigation
Introduction
Saints @ Cardinals
Browns @ Ravens
Buccaneers @ Panthers
Falcons @ Bengals
Lions @ Cowboys
Giants @ Jaguars
Colts @ Titans
Packers @ Commanders
Jets @ Broncos
Texans @ Raiders
Seahawks @ Chargers
Chiefs @ 49ers
Steelers @ Dolphins

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

He also had this great throw on the run.

 

 

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:

 

 

He also had this 39-yard catch and run to start the 3rd quarter:

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Jacobs’ third TD came one play after Houston jumped on 4th and 1, extending Vegas’ drive.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

Series Navigation
Introduction
Saints @ Cardinals
Browns @ Ravens
Buccaneers @ Panthers
Falcons @ Bengals
Lions @ Cowboys
Giants @ Jaguars
Colts @ Titans
Packers @ Commanders
Jets @ Broncos
Texans @ Raiders
Seahawks @ Chargers
Chiefs @ 49ers
Steelers @ Dolphins

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