‘Fun to see the smiles again’: Rookie helps Raiders halt losing streak
They had lost 10 straight games and were constantly reminded that the No. 1 overall draft pick was within their grasp if they kept losing. But that wasn’t in the Raiders’ game plan Sunday.
With rookie tight end Brock Bowers etching his name into the record book and quarterback Aidan O’Connell surprisingly showing nimble feet, the Raiders rallied to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars 19-14 at Allegiant Stadium.
It was their first win since beating the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 29 and gave them a 3-12 record in Antonio Pierce’s first season as coach. And it left owner Mark Davis, clad in his glistening white Raiders jacket, to go locker to locker fist-bumping his jubilant players.
“When you see that all white, you know there’s some good things going on for sure,” said defensive end K’Lavon Chaisson, who notched a sack against his former team.
Bowers finished with 11 catches for 99 yards and now has 101 receptions for 1,067 yards this season.
He made an impact throughout, but no stretch was bigger than on the Raiders’ 70-yard touchdown drive to pull ahead early in the fourth quarter.
Everyone in the stadium knew the Raiders were going to feed their young star. The Jaguars loaded up on him as a result. It didn’t matter. Bowers still steamrolled them for three catches to help pave the way for Ameer Abdullah’s 7-yard touchdown run.
“That’s how I prepare every day. I’m sure everyone does,” Bowers said. “Everyone’s ready for that moment, and the ball came to me a couple of times, so I had to make a play.”
Assault on record book
Bowers’ 101 catches are the most by any rookie in their first 15 games. He joins Jason Witten, Travis Kelce and Zach Ertz as the only tight ends to record 100 catches through the first 15 games. Bowers and Mike Ditka are the only tight ends to reach 1,000 receiving yards in the first 15 games.
Bowers is five catches from setting the record for the most catches by a rookie and 10 yards from breaking Ditka’s rookie tight end receiving yards record.
“He’s all ball. He’s all business,” Pierce said. “He doesn’t blink. He doesn’t flinch.”
O’Connell flashes legs
O’Connell, not the most nimble of quarterbacks and still battling the knee injury that kept him out of Monday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons, made two big plays with his legs to extend touchdown drives.
On a third-and-3 play on the game-winning drive, he escaped what looked to be a drive-ending sack by rolling to his left and heaving a throw downfield to Abdullah for 12 yards and a first down.
O’Connell also had a 13-yard run on a first-half drive that ended in a touchdown and 7-7 tie. He finished 24 of 38 passing for 257 yards.
Perfect placement.#JAXvsLV | 📺 @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/RLGUoVex7C
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) December 22, 2024
“I was shocked, just like you,” Pierce said of O’Connell’s running. “I’d like to see more of it.”
O’Connell would like to see an upbeat locker room more often.
“It was just fun to see the smiles again,” he said. “The biggest thing for me was kind of looking around and high-fiving everybody and seeing how happy guys were.”
Win has ramifications
It was a decidedly conflicted win, at least for Raiders fans who saw their hopes of drafting Colorado star Shedeur Sanders, the would-be quarterback savior, all but vanish.
The Raiders came into Sunday in a virtual tie with the New York Giants for the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. By the end of the day, they had fallen to No. 6.
The Giants now would have that pick to themselves after losing Sunday to fall to 2-13. Four other teams — the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans and Jaguars — also have 3-12 records.
If things stay status quo for the next two games, Sanders would be a pipe dream for the Raiders. So would Miami’s Cam Ward, generally regarded as the second-best quarterback in the draft.
That’s not O’Connell’s problem. He has bigger worries than the Raiders’ draft status.
“I don’t read anything, so I don’t really hear it,” he said. “Ignorance is definitely bliss, and that’s how I’m rolling.”
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.
