Raiders vs. Chargers Game Review: An Exciting, Emerging Defense

I was impressed with how well Hezekiah Masses, the AFC Defensive Player of the Week, performed against the Chargers, but it wasn’t all glitz and glamor.

It all started on his tackle-for-loss in the first quarter when he was sent on a corner blitz and dropped Omarion Hampton in the backfield with impressive physicality for his stature. On his first of two interceptions, the Raiders disguised man into Cover 3 with Masses playing in trail coverage, and while he does bite underneath to the stop route, he recovers and positions himself to make a play on the football when David Njoku bobbles the pass.

Masses' second interception came in trail coverage as well, this time being matched on a deep hitch against Derius Davis, where he locked into his hip pocket and attacked the ball at the catch point. The fifth-round pick from Cal still has a lot to learn, and he did a couple of assignments wrong, such as the wide-open play to Tre Harris, where he was supposed to play trail but played man coverage instead.

His ankle tackle attempts are frustrating, especially when they come up empty, and he must do better to match the tackle-for-loss play with his run support. Overall, the Raiders should be encouraged by this display from Masses.

Rob Leonard's Defense Begins To Emerge

I want to stay with the Raiders' secondary. Along with Masses, it was a sound day in coverage for Rob Leonard’s defensive backfield.

The first-year defensive coordinator ran multiple fronts all game but used more even-based fronts than he did a week ago, similar to how Mike Macdonald operates his system in Seattle, where they mix and match fronts and personnel structures based on their weekend game plan.

When the pass rush can find its rhythm and generate consistent pressure with higher get-off averages, this Raiders defense becomes a much more dangerous defense; Leonard’s unit had a 54.8 percent pressure rate, according to NFL Pro, the second-highest of Week 2 behind the Los Angeles Rams.

Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel was impressive with his motions and shifts, but none of it fazed this defense, and that is what stood out to me. I also liked how Leonard moved around the shell pre- and post-snap to confuse Herbert. Las Vegas’ secondary is going to keep itself in plenty of games against top AFC and NFC opponents on their schedule.

Kirk Cousins' Strong Day

Las Vegas should feel comfortable with what they have gotten from Kirk Cousins in the first two games of the season. Frankly, he has been one of the biggest reasons for the Raiders' 2-0 start.

After being frank in his assessment of the Raiders' vertical passing game, he finally unlocked it on Sunday with a 40-yard touchdown to Tre Tucker on a post in stride by looking off the weak-side split safety and then throwing Tucker open. Then, the 42-yard completion in the final seconds of the half, where Tucker adjusted to the ball behind him and made a big play while Cousins was getting blasted by a looping Tuli Tuipulotu.

What I love about Cousins, and have for years, is that he has such a great football mind to be able to read and react quickly to what is in front of him. He gets through his first few reads, hits his first read every time he feels the matchup is favorable, and gets to his checkdown. Cousins is the perfect game manager and showed that against the Chargers.

Extra Notes

• Let’s go back to Tre Tucker, who caught five passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. He did a great job manipulating routes with subtle jab steps and head fakes at the top of route stems to shake defenders and get their hips to commit. Tucker’s speed is legit, and I think his yards per catch could skyrocket when Fernando Mendoza makes his debut later this season.

• It was a rough day for running back Ashton Jeanty, especially in the passing game. He dropped three passes out of seven targets, but I noticed his continued usage in the passing game and the need to get him involved. Kubiak was using Jeanty similarly to how the 49ers use Christian McCaffrey, if that tells you anything about how much influence Shanahan has on this system.

• The Raiders have had fun using Quay Walker all over the front seven, but MIKE linebacker Nakobe Dean is flying around making plays. He did miss three tackles during this game, according to Pro Football Focus, but he was explosive downhill, racking up a team-high three pressures with aggressive blitzes and speed to the ball carrier. His forced fumble was textbook, and it gave the Raiders the win in L.A.

• Opposite of Masses was Eric Stokes, the No. 1 cornerback on the roster on Sunday with Porter out. The former Green Bay Packer was steady in coverage and earned a coverage EPA of -3.9, the 12th-best among all qualified defensive backs in Week 2, according to NFL Pro. Stokes was good in trail coverage and stayed disciplined in man coverage.