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Raiders Ballers & Busters for Week 3 vs Saints
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- Raiders Ballers & Busters for Week 3 vs Saints
Sunday saw the Raiders face their toughest test of the season. A trip to New Orleans in a hostile environment to face a high-powered Saints team. It took some heroics to come away with the win. And the Raiders had a few of those.
DE Malcolm Koonce
No one in this game had a bigger impact on the result than Koonce. With the Raiders down 27-22 in the third quarter in the fourth quarter, his heroics allowed them to take the lead back and then slammed the door shut on the Saints .
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The fourth quarter began with the Saints still ahead and driving. They were inside the 30-yard-line poised to either take an eight-point lead or go back up two scores. Then Koonce came screaming around the left edge to hit QB Tyler Shough as he went to throw, causing a fumble and the Raiders took over near midfield. From there they drove for a touchdown to flip the script on the Saints.
oonce wasn't done though. On the third play of the Saints ensuing possession, he again got to Shough, hitting him as he threw to cause the pass to flutter where it was picked off by Hezekiah Masses and returned inside the five-yard line. And the Raiders would score another touchdown. So, Koonce's plays took the game from the Raiders being down eight to the Raiders being up eight.
He wasn't done, either. The Saints started mounting another drive, trying to tie it up late, just as they did to the Lions to open the season. But on third and one, Koonce stuffed the run for no gain to force them into fourth down. Should was flushed from the pocket and sacked. That means three of the four takeaways for the Raiders had Koonce's fingerprints on them.
QB Kirk Cousins , TE Brock Bowers
From the very first pass of the day to the one that put the Raiders ahead for good. These two were kismet on the field. Which is pretty special considering it was their first ever game action together. Bowers missed the first two games of the season while recovering from a meniscus trim he had just prior to the season opener. But he showed no ill effects from that, looking like his old All Pro self.
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They connected three times for 37 yards on the opening drive alone to help the Raiders to score on their opening drive and take the early lead at 3-0. They connected again on the next scoring drive for 19 yards to set the offense up at the New Orleans 21. The drive would lead to a touchdown in which Bowers would draw attention while Michael Mayer scored the touchdown.
The Saints would drive for a TD as well to tie it back up at 13-13, so Cousins and Bowers got back to work. They connected for an 11-yard completion on third and eight to keep the drive alive. Then with the team inside the 30 in third and 14, Cousins threaded the needle around a defender and Bowers made an incredible catch along the left sideline for the first down. With time running out, Cousins tried two more times to get the ball to Bowers and was unsuccessful, but they were able to re-take the lead with a field goal going into the half.
Come midway through the third quarter, the Raiders suddenly found themselves down two scores. And Bowers got back on his horse. In third and three, Cousins threw a back shoulder pass to him and he played it perfectly for a 20-yard gain. Two plays later, Mike Washington broke through to run for the TD to make it a five-point game.
The Raiders would take the lead back early in the fourth, but it was just one point. The second takeaway would put them in position to put some distance between them and the Saints. And it was Brock Bowers who caught the pass just outside the end zone and pushed through for the score to go up eight points for what would be the final score of 35-27.
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Bowers finished with ten catches for 116 yards and a TD. Cousins notched his third straight three touchdown performance in three games to lead the Raiders to a 3-0 record.
LB Nakobe Dean
Dean had 11 solo tackles in this game. That would have led the team even compared to everyone else's combined tackle. One of those was a tackle for loss and he added a pass breakup and a forced fumble. And just like several other Raiders defense, he did his best work when the game was on the line.
After the Raiders took the 28-27 lead in the fourth quarter, he made a nice open field tackle on a catch to stop it for one yard to put the Saints in third and long. They turned the ball over on the obvious passing situation that followed.And just like he did last week, Dean made the play that officially ended the game. He made the play out right to punch the ball out. Eric Stokes recovered it and the Raiders knelt out the clock for the win.
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Honorable Mention
DE Maxx Crosby -- Came up with a couple timely plays including recovering the fumble off the Koonce strip sack and flushing Tyler Shough from the pocket on the Jeremy Chinn strip sack on fourth down late.
TE Michael Mayer-- Caught the Raiders first touchdown of the game while having a key catch on the drive along the way. He also had the catch that put them in range for their game-tying field goal on the previous drive.
RB Mike Washington-- Showed elite level patience to let his block develop and broke through for a 36-yard touchdown run to start the Raiders late comeback. Also had a seven-yard run on third and two on the Raiders second scoring drive. He finished with almost as many yards (54) as Ashton Jeanty (56) on 14 fewer carries.
Continue to the Raiders Busters for Week 3 vs Saints
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Raiders Ballers & Busters for Week 3 vs Saints
