Washington Defeats Las Vegas 17-15 in a Wild Finish

December 5, 2021

By Noonefromtampa

First Quarter

The Raiders won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Washington opened the game with two big plays. On the first play of the game, Antonio Gibson scampered around right end for 22 yards. Taylor Heinicke hit John Bates for 23 yards on the next play. On a key third down and 10, Heinicke hit Terry McLaurin for 13 yards. Four plays later, after picking up another first down, Heinicke hit Logan Thomas in the back of the endzone for a nice one-handed catch for a touchdown. Brian Johnson, the newest kicker, converted the extra point.

Washington’s defense was able to stop the Raiders on their first possession after they picked up 1 first down and 24 total yards. Kamren Curl has a key pass breakup on third down to stop the drive and force the punt.

On Washington’s second drive, aside from a 16 yard run by Gibson, the offense was not as efficient and picked up false start on 3 and 4. Wendell Smallwood only picked up 7 yards on third down, forcing a Tress Way punt.

The Raiders second possession was less productive than their first one. On first down, Coach Ron Rivera challenged an 18 yard catch by Bryan Edwards which was overturned upon review. Josh Jacobs picked up 7 yards on second down, but Derek Carr threw an incompletion on third down. AJ Cole punted it 67 yards but DeAndre Carter returned it 16 yards.

Washington was only able to pick up one first down and 20 yards on their next series and were forced to punt it back to the Raiders.

Washington 7, Las Vegas 0

Second Quarter

The Raiders first drive of the second quarter was to this point in the game.  They moved the ball 43 yards in 11 plays, starting from their own 9 yard line. Hunter Renfrow, the best offensive weapon in the game, was key, picking up 22 yards on three receptions. Jacobs also picked up 12 yards on two receptions. But after the Raiders moved the ball just over midfield, Washington was able to hold the Raiders to successive no gain plays to force the punt. Carter fair caught the ball at the Washington 10 yard line.

Washington’s next drive was greatly aided by Raiders’ penalties, which gave them two first downs on defensive holding and roughing the quarterback. Washington were able to move the ball into Raiders’ territory but a three yard loss on a run by Gibson and 10 yard sack of Heinicke to move the ball back to Washington’s side of the field. On 3 and 23, Smallwod rushed for 13 yards and Tress Way punted the ball into the endzone for a touchback.

On the next posession, the Raiders were able to move the ball into Washington territory. Carr hit Edwards for 18 yard after being sacked on first down. The other key plays were a 17 yard scramble by Carr and 10 yard penalty on Matthew Ioannidis for illegal use of hands. Daniel Carlson was able to hit the 52 yard field goal.

Washington 7, Las Vegas 3

Third Quarter

The Raiders opened the second half on offense. On their first series, Jacobs rushed for 15 yards but after that Washington’s defense held them to an incompletion, a one yard loss on a running play and a 7 yard loss on sack by Ioannidis.

After the punt, Washington was able to pick up one first down before not picking up any additional yardage and being forced to punt.

The Raiders then went on their longest drive of the game so far, picking up 71 yards. Key plays were passes to Renfrow for 15 yards and 34 yards to Foster Moreau. Washington held the Raiders to only 7 more yards after the big play to Moreau, forcing to two incompletions. Carlson split the uprights on a 38 yard field goal.

In Washington’s best drive since their opening drive, they moved the ball down the field, albeit aided by a couple of key penalties and big plays. The big play was a 35 yard completion to Thomas.  The Raiders’ committed two penalties to give Washington first downs. Heinicke was able to scramble on third down to pick up the first and goal at the Raiders 9 yard line.

Washington 7, Las Vegas 6

Fourth Quarter

After picking up 5 yards on the first two plays, Heinicke hit Gibson at the pylon for a touchdown. Johnson converted the extra point.

The Raiders answered the score with a scoring drive of their own which was also enabled by some key penalties. Carr connected with Renfrow for a 28 yard completion. Then, Daron Payne was called for defensive holding and Casey Toohill for roughing the passer on a 14 yard completion to DeSean Jackson. Cole Holcomb was called for defensive pass interference on Renfrow in the endzone giving the Raiders first and goal at the 1 yard line. Jacobs scored the 1 yard touchdown run. The Raiders went for a 2 point conversion but failed to convert.

Washington’s next drive was progressing down the field behind runs by Gibson and passes by Heinicke. Disaster struck at midfield, though, when Heinicke’s arm was hit while throwing leading to an interception by Nate Hobbs.  Logan Thomas suffered a knee injury during the series and did not return.

The Raiders behind a 14 yard pass to Zay Jones, a 15 yard pass to Renfrow and a 10 yard run by Jacobs moved into field goal range. After Carr overthrew Jones in the end zone on third down, the Raiders settled for a 37 yard field goal by Carlson.

Washington was able utilize their two minute offense to move the ball down the field, completing pass to Bates (10 yards), 2 to Adam Humphries (10 and 12 yards) plus runs by Gibson and Curtis Samuel. Washington came up about a half yard short on third down and elected to go for the field goal.  New kicker Brian Johnson was able to hit a 48 yarder just inside the right upright with 42 second left in the game.

The Raiders tried to move the ball into game winning field goal position, but with only one timeout left, they only moved the 18 yards on two pass plays before having to attempt a Hai Mary pass with two seconds left. The ball was knocked down short of the goal line for the win

Washington 17, Las Vegas 15

Heroes

Brian Johnson, the third replacement kicker, who converted both extra points and the game winning field goal.

Antonio Gibson, who had 88 yards rushing this week keeping the offense from being one dimensional.

Logan Thomas, who scored a much needed first quarter touchdown.

Zeros

The defensive folks for not figuring out a scheme to take Hunter Renfrow out of the game. With the depletion of the receiving group, everyone in football knew that Renfrow would see a lot of targets today (10 in the stat line with 9 catches for 102 yards).

Too many penalties extending the Raiders’ drives.