The little things often lead to big moments.
For the Las Vegas Raiders, that was the case in a one-point, 25-24 loss to the visiting Chicago Bears this past Sunday. The contest ultimately came down to a go-ahead field goal attempt by the Silver & Black and the 54-yard try was thwarted by a soaring Josh Blackwell who blocked the try.
A little minute detail helped the Bears tremendously in sealing the comeback road victory, highlighting the attention to detail and coaching Chicago had heading into the Week
4 matchup — a tell from Raiders longsnapper Jacob Bobenmoyer.
“Yeah, I mean, early in the week, we had looked at the film to see that they have a little tendency, their snap ability, and we got close the first two kicks, and I was like, ‘I’m going to time this up a little bit, and I’m going to get it,’” Blackwell noted after the game. “He (Bobenmoyer) was moving the ball a little bit. Yeah, seen that and got a good jump. (Bears long snapper) Scott Daly actually found it.”
As Blackwell — a cornerback by trade and core special teamer for Chicago — noted, identifying a tendency and timing their jump on the long snap brought the Bears close to deflecting extra point attempts over the course of Sunday’s tilt before culminating in the game-sealing play.
Las Vegas head coach Pete Carroll played coy about Chicago saying there was a tell with the Raiders’ special teams operation on Monday.
“Yeah, we’ve looked at all that and we don’t see what he what he’s talking about. But good for him, that was a great play with whatever he keyed on,” Carroll said during his day-after game media session.
What the Bears did was a textbook example of noting a tendency, watching film, coaching, and player execution combining into a perfect blend.
This happening to the Raiders, however, is an example of why coaching matters.
While it’s apparent Las Vegas was without a key component in the field goal kicking battery — tight end Michael Mayer who normally the right wing blocker on attempts — it’s not like the Raiders were in a sudden-loss situation. The team had ample time to get defensive tackle Jonah Laulu — who replaced Mayer — up to speed with all the nuances involved due to their tight end sustaining a concussion in Week 3 and missing all the practices leading up to this past Sunday’s game.
Some may call it misfortune, but it all comes down to coaching and execution.
Raiders special teams coordinator Tom McMahon has no excuse, the veteran coach must drill the missteps against the Bears to his unit and ensure it doesn’t happen again. While hindsight may be 20/20, the fact the Bears gleefully boasted about Bobenmoyer’s tell, along with ESPN’s Dan Orlovosky breaking the snaps and timing down in the video above, highlights a must-avoid going forward.
In a copy cat league that the NFL is, you can bet the Raiders’ Week 5 opponent — the Indianapolis Colts (3-1 overall) — are going to pay attention to Las Vegas’ operation. So adjustments must be made by McMahon and his special teams assistants Kade Rannings and Derius Swinton II.
It’s difficult to alter the timing between long snapper, holder, and kicker in-season, especially when the trio of Bobenmoyer, punter AJ Cole III (holder), and Daniel Carlson are normally in-sync and smooth. Yet, the onus is up to McMahon to get the group mentally ready and then it’s up to that trio and the group up front blocking to execute.
And again, this harkens on the fact an NFL teams special teams unit is often overlooked or ignored, until something goes terrific or horrific.
Block Party
Carlson becomes the eighth kicker in the league that have seen their attempts blocked this season. But perhaps no place kicker in the NFL has it worse than the Los Angeles Rams’ Joshua Karty who had two field goals blocked by the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3. One of Karty’s extra point attempts in Week 2 against the Tennessee Titans was blocked, as well.
The current tally of kickers who suffered a blocked field goal are: Karty (2), Carlson, the Pittsburg Steelers’ Chris Boswell; the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Chase McLaughlin; the Green Bay Packers’ Brandon McManus, the Bears’ (practice squad and former San Francisco 49er) Jake Moody; the Arizona Cardinals’ Chad Ryland, and the Tennessee Titans’ Joey Slye.
Where They Stand
With nine attempts on the season, Carlson ranks 13th amongst his contemporaries league wide. His seven makes puts him 15th overall but Carlson’s field goal percentage — 77.8 percent — is well below the league average of 83.4 percent. Carlson is 6-for-6 on extra points but the paltry number of attempts is 25th in the league.
Flip it to Cole, and the Raiders’ punter is 16th in the league with 14 boots (for 717 yards). His yards per punt average of 51.2 sits Cole at sixth in the league. The Cincinnati Bengals’ Ryan Rehkow paces all punters with 23 attempts and 1,213 yards. The Philadelphia Eagles’ Braden Mann leads the league with a 52.9 yards per boot average. Interestingly enough, the Raiders will face the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday and punter Rigoberto Sanchez is tops in net yards per punt (51.0) mainly due to the Colts not allowing a single yard in punt returns.
