The Las Vegas Raiders nearly pulled off the season sweep of the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. How did the wide receiver corps fare in this close contest?
Head coach Jon Gruden’s offense has been very impressive so far in 2020. The running game had been steady heading into Sunday’s AFC West showdown with Josh Jacobs leading the way. However, the catalyst is quarterback Derek Carr as the offense goes through him. ‘4’ is playing at an MVP level this season, and this in spite of all the drops by his receivers.
Speaking of drops, Raiders receivers have been plagued by them this year. As the team prepared to host the defending Super Bowl champions, this unit was going to have to step up and have a perfect game. The question is, were they able to?
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How Did Carr’s receivers perform for the Raiders?
In a game that could have gone either way, the Raiders were led in receptions by a familiar face, tight end Darren Waller. ’83’ is becoming a star and unstoppable force in front of our eyes. He totaled 88 yards off of seven receptions and hauled in a touchdown pass in the process.
The surprise of the year for the Raiders has been wide receiver Nelson Agholor. The former Philadelphia Eagles wideout continued to impress in this game despite a huge drop, amassed 88 receiving yards, and caught a touchdown pass from Carr. Agholor’s longest reception was for 29 yards in this game and was targeted nine times, indicating he’s become one of Carr’s favorites.
Rounding off the top receiving performances were Hunter Renfrow who caught a huge 21-yard reception. First-round pick Henry Ruggs III was targeted only once and caught a five-yard pass. However, the Alabama standout partook in the running game and broke off a 12-yard run. Also, future Hall of Famer, tight end Jason Witten caught a huge touchdown pass near the end of the game for the Raiders.
There were some obvious positives in this game such as Waller continuing to dominate. The obvious negative takeaway is Ruggs and his inability to get going, sooner or later, fans hope he’ll have a true breakout game in 2020.
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*Top Photo: Associated Press/Jeff Bottari