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The Las Vegas Raiders entered their Week 8 matchup against the New York Jets desperately needing a win. After four straight games against the league's top teams, the Jets were, on paper, the team Las Vegas needed to get back on track after a tough few weeks.
Week 8 was supposed to be a manageable game for a Raiders team that has one of the league's toughest schedules. Las Vegas' road slate against the Jets is sandwiched between games against multiple teams with Super Bowl aspirations.
Las Vegas' offense woke up just in time to pull out a thrilling victory against the Jets on Sunday. Their defense played a solid second half, holding New York to 10 second-half points.
Falling behind early and trying their hardest to come back in the second half is becoming the Raiders' identity. Below are the players who are rising and falling after the Raiders' Week 8 loss to the Jets, their fifth straight loss.
Despite many narratives, Las Vegas' offensive line entered Week 8 in the top 10-15 in several statistical categories. The unit excelled significantly more in pass-blocking than in run-blocking. On Sunday, the unit excelled in both, helping Las Vegas jump out to an early lead.
The unit has its deficiencies, but when it comes to giving the quarterback enough time to throw the ball or escape the pocket and make a play, Las Vegas' offensive line plays well. Las Vegas' ground game was its most efficient in weeks because the line played well overall on Sunday.
Nailor's numbers have not shown the true impact he has on the Raiders' offense. However, Nailor's absence noticeably strained the unit in Week 6. His return made a subtle but significant difference for Las Vegas' offense in Week 7, opening things up, despite his lack of stats.
His impact was even more noticeable on Las Vegas' opening drive, as he registered two catches for 24 yards, which were pivotal in the Raiders' 10-play, 60-yard touchdown drive.
Bowers continues to prove he is the best tight end in the league. The price keeps rising weekly, as Bowers shows he is arguably just as much of a wide receiver as a tight end.
Laube entered Week 8 among the league leaders in kickoff return yards. This forced the Jets into a mistake. On the kickoff following their opening-drive field goal, the Jets kicked the ball out of bounds. This gave Las Vegas the ball at their own 40-yard line. This is the type of starting position the unit needs.
Las Vegas' offense capitalized on the good field position, scoring a touchdown on their first drive. Laube's solid kickoff returns this season immediately impacted the game. Laube helped the Raiders score their first touchdown without even touching the ball.
Then, Laube directly impacted the game by returning a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. It was the Raiders' first kickoff return for a touchdown in 248 games. Laube's is a valuable weapon for Las Vegas. The Raiders would not have snapped their losing streak without Laube.
Stokes made two big third-down plays to hold the Jets to a field goal, including on a drive when the Jets had a first-and-goal on the Raiders' five-yard line. Aside from those two plays, the Jets repeatedly targeted Stokes, especially on third-and-short situations.
The Raiders focused first on stopping that aspect of the Jets' offense. However, that left several of Las Vegas' questionable defensive backs in one-on-one situations. Instead of letting their opponent choose, the Raiders picked their poison. It was the passing game.
This was still better than struggling against both the run and the pass, as Las Vegas' defense had done in the previous four games. However, the improvement against the run cost the Raiders through the air, especially Stokes. It simply was not a good outing for the Raiders' best cornerback.
Still, it made more sense for the Raiders to depend on Stokes to figure it out than to switch their defense back into a schematically unfavorable situation.
The rookie looked lost on the Jets' first touchdown. He also could have played better against the run on the Jets' first touchdown after halftime.
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