Raiders week 14 Ballers & Busters

Each season there's that game that put an exclamation point on the season. This was that game. One could say the Raiders hopes were dashed a few weeks ago when they lost to the Titans and therefore missed out on the chance to enter the playoff race. But this game was the proverbial dagger.

The Raiders made the Jets actually look like a good NFL team. Something that hadn't happened in a month. They also made Geno Smith look like a good quarterback. Something that pretty much hadn't happened all season.

The Jets had a 10-0 lead before the Raiders put their first points on the board with a field goal. Then the Jets put another ten points up before the first half was over which had the Raiders in quite hole of which to dig out. They made quick work of chipping away at the lead by scoring a touchdown two plays into the second half. After that it was an exchanging of blows which left the Raiders on the short end in a 37-27 Jets win.

Hopefully this week's list can somewhat capture what unfolded in this game on Sunday.

Ballers

Marcel Reece

Who knew that whoever the Raiders started at running back not named Darren McFadden would have success? Rashad Jennings can't go? No problem. Watch Marcel Reece show why the Raiders gave him an extension and lend some head scratching as to why in the world he hardly ever sees the ball. But we're sticking to the positive, here. The Raiders went to him early and often. He touched the ball on the first two plays. The second touch was a 26-yard reception. On the Raiders first scoring drive - and their only one in the first half - he carried the ball three times for 26 yards. But the best was yet to come.

The Raiders next scoring drive began the second half and it took two plays. The second play Reece took the hand-off and outran the entire Jets defense and pulled away for a 63-yard touchdown run. He also picked up chunks of yards on the Raiders' three other scoring drives in the second half. He finished with 123 yards rushing and 38 yards receiving with of course the big touchdown.

Rod Streater

A week after Andre Holmes had his breakout 7-catch 136-yard game in Dallas, Rod Streater had his best game of the season with 7 catches of his own for 130 yards and a touchdown. His first catch came on third down on the Raiders' first scoring drive. That two-play scoring drive finished off by Marcel Reece began with a 15-yard catch by Streater. He finished off the next touchdown drive when he caught a pass on a crossing pattern and took it 48 yards to the house. The final touchdown drive of the game was his best. On the drive he had catches of 9, 16, 16, and 15 with the final catch came on fourth and five and set the Raiders up on the one-yard line. The Raiders had to go 78 yards on that final drive and Streater had 56 of those yards.

Honorable Mention

Jared Veldheer, Khalif Barnes, Lucas Nix, Jeron Mastrud - These four didn't have perfect games. Overall, they struggled which is understandable against the Jets' top ranked run defense. But for one key play, they executed with perfection. It was the 63-yard Reece touchdown run. Veldheer cleared his man, Nix pulled from right to left, Barnes cleared the hole, and Mastrud blocked up field. Reece timed it up and shot through the gap and separated from the pack to streak for the score. Perfectly designed and perfectly executed.

Sio Moore - He was second on the team with seven combined tackles with a tackle for loss and a QB hurry. Six of those tackles were in short yardage for a total of 4 yards (2, 2, 3, -4, 1, 0).

Betweener

Matt McGloin

The first half of this game was a forgettable one for McGloin. And good thing for him, he forgot about it and turned it on in the second half. That first half featured him bobbling a snap that resulted in a tackle for loss and throwing an interception with his back to his own end zone to give the Jets the ball at the four-yard line. He also had three drives end on either off-target throws or throwing too short on third down. In total he had just 5 completions in the first half for 71 yards, converting just one third down on 7 attempts.

The second half was another story entirely. He came roaring back to make a game of it. He started with a 15-yard completion on the first play which was finished off by Reece's 63-yard scamper. He threw an 11-yard pass on third and four to keep the next drive alive and finished it off with a 48-yard touchdown throw to Rod Streater. He threw a 14-yard pass to convert on third and seven on the next scoring drive and then had a nifty 20-yard scramble in which he put juked two different defenders. On the final drive, he drove the Raiders down the field 78 yards with 66 yards of that coming through the air and finished off with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Mychal Rivera.

The Raiders outscored the Jets in the second half but in the end the 17-point first half deficit was too much to overcome. McGloin finished 18 for 31 for 245 yards passing with 2 TD's and 1 interception. He finished strong but that needed to have started a lot sooner for the Raiders to have a shot in this one.

Kevin Burnett

Burnett started things off with a ridiculous diving interception in the first quarter that set the Raiders up in scoring position. Then in the second quarter he gave up a 15-yard catch on third and seven. In the third quarter he gave up a 6-yard catch but later had a tackle for loss on a read option keeper. He had another run stuff later in the same drive to help hold the Jets to a field goal. On the next drive he started it off with a run stuff for no gain. Then missed a tackle on Geno Smith who then ran for 32 yards to set up a touchdown on the next play.

Continue on to the Busters