Busters
Perry Riley Jr
This season the Raiders have been a lot better off with him in the lineup than without him. But in this one, it started out about as bad as possible. The Bills already average 157 yards per game rushing, and the Raiders gave up a lot more than that. They had 197 yards by the end of the third quarter and finished with 212 yards on the ground.
First Riley gave up a 14-yard catch and later in the same drive was blocked on a 4-yard option toss play and then was blocked on the 1-yard touchdown run as the Bills jumped out to a 10-3 lead. Late in the second quarter, he missed a tackle on a 6-yard run and gave up a first down on a scramble on third and 9.
The very first play of the third quarter, Riley was among those who let LeSean McCoy get to the second level and pick up 54 yards to the Oakland 12-yard-line. The Bills scored the touchdown on the next play to take a 17-9 lead.
The following drive, Riley missed a tackle on a 9-yard run and was run through on the touchdown form two yards out as the Bills took a 24-9 lead. The Raiders defense stiffened up after that, but they were in a tough situation in part because of the plays Riley surrendered.
Dan Williams, Justin Ellis, Jihad Ward
What happened to Dan Williams and Justin Ellis this year? They have played so poorly that the team is actually missing Stacy McGee and undrafted rookie Darius Latham. Between Williams and Ellis, in 53 total snaps, they combined for one tackle (Williams). He also gave up two runs to set up the Bills final touchdown. Jelly gave up the biggest run (29 yards) on the Bills first touchdown drive
Ward had 2 combined tackles (1 solo) in 62 snaps and gave up a several runs on that first Bills touchdown drive including the touchdown run from two yards out. The only one missing from this group is Denico Autry because he actually made some plays to go along with the ones he gave up.
Meanwhile the Bills were running all over the Raiders for 212 yards, the most they’ve given up all season.
Maquette King
It may be time for King to focus more on his consistency than his celebrations. He is still a Pro Bowl caliber punter, but this game he slipped a little. He had a touchback for a 40-yard net punt, a 28-yard shank that gave the Bills great field position at the 46-yard-line which set up their third touchdown drive, a 32-yard punt, and was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for picking up a flag, playing with it, and throwing it down.
I love how much fun King has, and his dances are great. But there’s a difference between having fun and being childish. Jack Del Rio said after the game that King simply didn’t know he couldn’t pick up the flag and play with it. He has to know that. He got carried away and needs to rein it back in a little bit or he’s going to have the officials watching him like a hawk. The Raiders don’t need to get that kind of attention from the officials.
King did have a 55-yard punt that was downed at the 4-yard-line. It was a great punt, though I give most of the credit to Taiwan Jones for getting down there to keep it from bounding into the end zone.
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