A 5-foot-8 cornerback defending a 6-foot-4 wide receiver. That was the case when Las Vegas Raiders corner Amik Robertson found himself covering Green Bay Packers wideout Christian Watson. Just like that, Robertson might’ve saved head coach Josh McDaniels’ job.
Who wouldn’t take advantage of that matchup? Conventional wisdom says the gargantuan receiver beats the diminutive corner. Robertson, however, wasn’t having any of that. The Louisiana Tech product showcased the tremendous ballhawk skills that made him a takeaway machine in college by putting on a clinic with his game-saving interception on a pass intended for Watson and doing something no Raiders cornerback has done consistently.
Let’s break it down: It was a 3rd-and-10 play from the Raiders’ 35-yard line with 51 seconds remaining. Trailing 17-13, Green Bay needed a touchdown, and when quarterback Jordan Love broke from the pocket and headed left, he saw what head coach Matt LaFleur saw (hence why LaFleur was jumping up and down and pointing): Watson streaking downfield wide open. Love fired the ball Watson’s way, and this is where Robertson began his impressive play.
The 25-year-old corner sprinted to catch up to Watson, watched the receiver’s eyes, and when Robertson noticed Watson’s eyes look up, the corner turned, leapt (and showed some serious ass hang time), found the ball, and picked it off.
The pick heard around the world, thanks to Amik Robertson…
GOODNIGHT!!!#GBvsLV | ? ESPN pic.twitter.com/xQN2q2etRE
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) October 10, 2023
That was some downright legitimate teach tape, right there.
“I was taught not to really panic when the ball is in the air. I trust my ball skills, and I know what kind of ball skills I have,” Roberton said in the postgame press conference. “When I saw his eyes get big, I didn’t panic, and I turned my head around, and the ball was there, so of course I just snagged it.”
Just like snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, ain’t it?
How many times have the Raiders been in that situation where the defense needs to rise to the occasion, and it doesn’t? Too many to count, yeah? But on a night where Josh McDaniels’ decision to kick a 52-yard field goal on 4th-and-2 and not go for it with his team up 17-13 with two minutes left to play — and normally money kicker Daniel Carlson clanged the boot off the right upright for the miss — it sure looked like it was all set up for a patented Raiders left down.
The Raiders’ Duo…
Yet defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and Robertson himself weren’t having any of it.
“What about the defense?”#Raiders DC Patrick Graham: What about it? #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/D7Re1N7cYV
— Ray Leonard Aspuria (@AsukalAspuria) October 10, 2023
Graham’s group as a whole put forth a strong performance, building upon a second-half effort the defense showed in the losing effort against the Los Angeles Chargers a week prior. Heading into that Week 4 matchup, the Raiders were one of two teams (the New York Giants, the other) that hadn’t generated a defensive takeaway.
The opportunities were there, but the Raiders couldn’t take the ball away. Safety Trevon Moehrig notched the first—an interception of Justin Herbert against L.A.—and then came the deluge of takeaways on Monday night. Linebacker Robert Spillane came away with two interceptions before Robertson’s game-saving pick for the hat trick.
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The Raiders Opened The Floodgates
“We just opened the floodgates, and now we just have to keep continuing to build on assaulting that pocket and finding ways to get the ball out,” Spillane said after the team’s win over the Packers.
Assaulting that pocket. What a novel concept. No Raider can approach Maxx Crosby’s prowess in that department. As our Hunter Haas “Helmsley” wrote, Crosby put his stamp on the Raiders’ victory Monday night, with five total tackles, one sack, and four tackles for loss, as he was not one to be denied despite double teams and chip blocks.
“That dude lives possessed,” Spillane said when asked about Crosby. “Everything he does is at full speed—practice, walkthrough, game, film. I just admire his work ethic, and he shows up every time the lights come on. I’m just glad to be working behind him.”
Going forward, the Raiders hope the waves of takeaways keep coming. Amik Robertson noted they can be contagious, as evidenced by the trio of interceptions in the win over Green Bay. Las Vegas must make good defense a consistent aspect instead of an aberration. And that begins anew with another home matchup against the visiting New England Patriots, a team that’s struggling mightily on offense.
When Opportunity Knocks…
“Guys are seizing the opportunity,” Graham said during his mid-week press conference Wednesday when asked if there was something that clicked on defense to get the four takeaways in the last two games. “They work on it in practice; they work on it in the meeting room. It’s just constantly working through the process, constantly working through the process, and then trying to find a way to get your reward on Sunday or Monday. And last week we had a good opportunity to do that, and we took advantage of it, and now we’re starting the process now for New England.”
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Perhaps more Raiders will rise and match the level of dedication and heart Crosby displays week after week. Robert Spillane and Amik Robertson did so. Maybe that’ll be the contagion that allows everyone to truly say the Raiders defense has turned the corner.
What a hell of a statement that would be!
*Top Photo: John Locher/AP