Raiders week 12 Ballers & Busters

Ballers

Marcel Reece

I don't have to look at the books to know this is some kind of record. Reece has been the top Baller for the fourth straight week. If the team was better as a whole, that may not have been the case. But he has been the one true bright spot throughout this team's four game losing streak.

He led the team in rushing (74 yards) and was third on the team in receiving ( 4 catches, 29 yards) for a total of 103 yards from scrimmage. The team as a whole had just 245 yards of offense. Despite his longest run being just 15 yards, he averaged 4.9 yards per carry. This was thanks in part to breaking 7 tackles on 15 carries. On the Raiders one touchdown drive, he broke two tackles en route to a 12 yard run, had his longest run of the day (15 yards), and picked up a first down late in the drive in short yardage. They would score the touchdown on the next play. He would have had another 12 yards on a screen pass in the fourth to put the Raiders in scoring position but it was called back by a phantom clipping penalty.

Michael Huff

He had a key matchup with AJ Green in this game and he shut him down. Andy Dalton only attempted two passes to Green while Huff was in coverage and both fell incomplete. One was in the endzone.

In addition to his fine job with Green, Huff had a couple of run stuffs at the line. He gave up just two catches for a total of 14 yards and finished fourth on the team with 6 combined tackles (3 solo).

Miles Burris

It may seem odd to have two defenders as Ballers especially a linebacker with all the points given up in this game. But that's just how it shakes out sometimes. Burris had 13 combined tackles and 7 solo tackles in this game-- both led the team by far. It was quite a rebound after being the top buster last week. And despite the overall weak display of this defense, I can find little fault in what Burris did in this game. He can't do it by himself, but he sure tried.

Betweeners

Rolando McClain - He was in the game for 62% of the snaps which is a lot for him of late. He made quite a few plays stopping the run in this game and even was seen tracking plays all the way across the field to assist in tackles. It was two big plays that went through his position that keep him from getting credit for those plays. He was blocked to allow a 48-yard run on third and one on the Bengals first drive which resulted in their first touchdown. Then in the second quarter he missed a tackle (along with about four other Raiders) to give up a 31-yard run. That too resulted in a touchdown. Stopping the run is what he is supposed to do. He did that most of this game but those two mistakes were pretty glaring.

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