Another week, another success story for the Las Vegas Raiders’ offensive line via pass-blocking.
Although Sin City’s O-line began the season struggling more than any unit across the National Football League, Weeks 5-7 presented a much different story.
Guard Jordan Meredith replaced veteran Cody Whitehair, earning the 16th-highest grade among all offensive linemen league-wide via Pro Football Focus in this timeframe (80.9). Meredith was 1-of-13 players to earn a grade of at least 75.0 as both a run- and pass-blocker.
Rookie D.J. Glaze continued taking over for Thayer Munford at right tackle, allowing zero pressures to T.J. Watt during the Raiders’ Week 6 matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers. This was the first time Watt recorded zero pressures in a contest since the 2018 season.
And, despite heading into Week 5 allowing two more sacks than any other offensive lineman in the NFL, Kolton Miller was responsible for zero sacks between Weeks 5-7. Additionally, Miller’s 85.5 pass-blocking grade ranked 14th-highest among all OL players at any position.
Las Vegas headed into Week 8 with an offensive line that was in the midst of a complete turnaround. Week 8 didn’t halt the unit’s pass-blocking progress, either.
Las Vegas Raiders OL pass-blocking continues improving; run-blocking, on the other hand..
The Raiders suffered a 20-27 defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in a game where Sin City’s offensive linemen allowed zero combined sacks. More impressively, the O-line allowed only seven pressures through the entire contest; tied for the second-lowest amount in any Raiders game this season.
Although Las Vegas did surrender a pair of sacks in Week 8, neither was the fault of an O-line player. Running back Ameer Abdullah and tight end John Samuel Shenker were the ones responsible.
Three-of-five starters up front received a pass-blocking grade higher than 75.0, with the remaining two earning a grade north of 60. Whitehair, who tallied 16 snaps on passing downs despite not starting, received the unit’s highest grade with a mark of 84.1.
While the unit has vastly improved when tasked with keeping their quarterback clean, there’s still much to be desired when blocking on running downs.
Kansas City’s defense was able to win the trenches, stopping running back Alexander Mattison three plays in a row from no more than three yards out. With one yard to go, the Chiefs’ defensive line overpowered all Raiders run-blockers to tackle Mattison two yards behind the line of scrimmage.
Running between the tackles with a strong runner like Mattison is a high-percentage scoring play from three yards out; or, at least, should be. While Kansas City’s defense deserves their flowers for stopping Las Vegas’ offense with their backs to the end zone, an inability to punch in the football inside the three yard-line on three tries is simply unacceptable.
Unsurprisingly, no offensive lineman to play for the Raiders earned a run-block grade of at least 70.0 in Week 8. This remains an area of struggle for the Silver and Black.
*Top Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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