When a game turns into an a** whooping of a lifetime, the kicker and punter of the winning team tend to get prime sideline viewing of the annihilation. Such was the case for Daniel Carlson in the Las Vegas Raiders’ 63-21 destruction of the visiting Los Angeles Chargers last Thursday. The Silver and Black place kicker didn’t attempt a single field goal. He was a pristine 9 out of 9 on point after attempts.
The Raiders’ Special Team’s Duo Had A Front Row Seat
His elite cohort, punter A.J. Cole III, however, was an active participant, blasting the ball away like he’s done all season. Booting six balls into orbit for 310 yards, Cole sported a solid 51.7 average per punt. He had a long of 68 and dropped two of his boots inside the Chargers’ 20-yard line.
A game after notching a career-best 83-yard bomb in the Raiders’ 3-0 loss to the Vikings, Cole etched his name in the NFL record books again in Thursday’s victory. Check out the Tweet below:
P AJ Cole (@AJCole90) logs a 68-yard punt, his 14th punt of 60+ yards in 2023, tied for the second most in the NFL.
He now has 45 career punts of 60+ yards, the most in the NFL since 2000 among punters through their first 80 career games.
— Raiders PR (@RAIDERS_PR) December 15, 2023
The Chargers’ JK Scott, another punter who has an 83-yard punt under his belt this season, was an active participant in the Bolts’ buffoonery, blasting away five punts for 246 yards (49.2 per boot). He had a long of 60, and two of Scott’s punts landed inside the Raiders’ 20-yard line.
But here’s a textbook example of the clumsy Chargers: A hold invalidated Derius Davis’s 83-yard punt return touchdown in the fourth quarter.
And guess who drew the infraction?
Cole himself.
L.A. did find the end zone 10 plays later after going 55 yards for the garbage time touchdown.
#Chargers housed a punt but held #Raiders punter AJ Cole and TD is wiped off the board.
That kind of night for zapless Bolts. #RaiderNation— Ray Leonard Aspuria (@AsukalAspuria) December 15, 2023
Had that 83-yard play stood along with the return yards Davis generated (44, a long return of 38 yards), that would’ve resulted in 127. And that would’ve dipped Cole’s net average per punt to a pathetic 30.5 (183 yards divided by Cole’s six punts). Fortunately for Cole and the Raiders, a flag wiped out the play, and the punter’s net was 44.3.
Scott, on the other hand, sported a net average of 44.4 yards per boot after taking into account Las Vegas’ 24 punt return yards.
To close it out, like Carlson, Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker wasn’t called upon for a field goal.
He finished 3 of 3 on PAT attempts, though.
In terms of overall season performance, Cole is second in the league in average per boot at 51.5. The Tennessee Titans’ Ryan Stonehouse (who is on injured reserve after suffering an injury on a blocked punt) is tops with a 53.1 average. Net-wise, Cole is third with a 44.0 mark. He’s behind the Dallas Cowboys’ Bryan Anger (46) and Stonehouse (44.3).
Cole is seventh in the NFL with 26 punts dropped or stopped inside the 20, which is a 43.3% rate inside the numbers (good for sixth in the league). Expect Cole to get ample work in the Raiders’ next game, a Christmas Day clash at the Kansas City Chiefs. Ditto for Carlson.
*Top Photo: Matt Aguirre/Las Vegas Raiders
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