Breven Honda
The Las Vegas Raiders, who host the Houston Texans at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday afternoon, enter this game coming off their bye week, looking to refine things with the extra time to prepare not only for this matchup but for the remainder of the season.
However, not only did the Raiders (1-4) have a bye week, but so did the Texans (1-3-1).
With how the team’s first five games went, this bye week was much needed for the Silver and Black to regroup and turn their attention to the rest of the season.
Now, the Raiders are facing a Texans team for the first time since 2019 and just the third time since 2014. Lifetime, Houston leads the series 7-4, with the first meeting between the two teams in 2004.
As a result, Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels said this team has been preparing for this AFC South team from the film.
“This is a team that our team doesn’t know very well,” McDaniels said of the Texans on Wednesday. “They have a very straightforward style. They’re going to play no-nonsense football. They take care of the ball on offense. They create turnovers on defense. They’re very good in the kicking game.”
Here are five things to watch on Sunday for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Finish games, finish drives
One of the keys from the first five games was the lack of finishing games. This team could be easily 3-2 or 4-1 if they could get into the endzone for six points.
However, the Raiders have to turn the page and execute the corrections this team needs to make at the conclusion of drives.
“Our ability to play better in the red zone on both sides of the ball is obviously something to be of importance to us as we move forward, and we’re going to try and address that each day in practice,” McDaniels said.
Everything is interconnected, as getting touchdowns and getting key stops defensively will benefit this team in the weeks to come, and the room for mistakes begins to shrink.
“I think there’s a lot of things you can do better,” McDaniels said. “I think we’ve talked about some of those in the past but certainly trying to cut down and limit our penalties offensively, which have put us in long-yardage situations. More third and longs than you want to be in to start a season.”
“Making smart decisions, playing with great technique and focus to try and limit the amount of times you’re hurting yourself offensively is something we’ve talked about.”
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Stopping the run
The Houston offense is led by quarterback Davis Mills and wide receiver Brandin Cooks. However, their key piece is rookie running back Dameon Pierce, who ranks eighth in the NFL with 412 rushing yards.
Over his last few games before the Texans’ bye last week, Pierce has seen increased work in terms of his carries and yardage.
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr said watching this Texans team on tape, especially what they do offensively, the records go out the window as the attitude and effort players put in on Sunday is what really matters.
“When I watch the film, the running back and the quarterback are really good players, good young players in this league,” Carr said Wednesday. “You go across the way, you watch this team and you’re like, ‘It’s everything I’ve ever believed about the NFL. The records never matter. You have to go play and you got to earn your victories in this league.”
Defensively, this is going to be a challenge for the Raiders, but Las Vegas has responded well in covering opposing running backs.
As a team, the Raiders are tied with Tennessee as they have allowed the second-least rushing yards and only trail Buffalo. In addition, teams have not tried to run the ball against Las Vegas, as the Raiders have seen the second-fewest rushing attempts, with 129 carries.
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Raiders need to keep running the football
Despite having one of the NFL’s worst records so far, one of the positives for the Raiders, especially over the last few games, has been their rushing attack, led by Josh Jacobs.
“JJ’s done a tremendous job with his opportunities,” McDaniels said. “He’s been tough to tackle, very durable, makes people miss in space, he finishes runs the right way and so far, he’s taking care of the ball. A really good complete back.”
Through five games this season, the Raiders’ primary running back has recorded 91 carries for 490 yards. That is about 18 carries and 98 yards per game. In addition, Jacobs’ 5.4 yards per rush this season is currently the best mark of his four-year career.
McDaniels said the fact that Jacobs has had at least 140 rushing yards over his last two games and ranks third among NFL running backs is a testament to the entire offense.
“When you run the football well, that’s a product of a lot of people doing their jobs,” McDaniels said. “Give credit to our offensive line, our tight ends. Many times, we’ve had six offensive linemen in the game at the same time. Our fullback, I’d say Derek getting us in good plays, the receivers blocking.”
With the success of the run game over the last few weeks, it needs to continue on Sunday.
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A revolving door in the Las Vegas Raiders’ secondary
One of the challenges this team this faced this week was the hand injury to cornerback Nate Hobbs, who went on short-term injured reserve and will miss a minimum of four games.
“He’s one of our best players and a guy that plays a lot of positions, moves around a lot, very competitive in coverage, good blitzer, good tackler, brings an element of physicality on every play, and it’s like the other things we’ve dealt with this year,” McDaniels said of Hobbs. “Every team does it. We’re not unique. We’ve got guys ready to step and know that they’ll duplicate his role, but they’ll share the burden.”
Luckily, this team has the reinforcements they need, including the return of Anthony Averett, who returned to the practice field on Wednesday, as well as DJ Turner.
McDaniels said the ‘next man up’ mentality is going to be crucial over the next four weeks, but more importantly on Sunday.
“It seems like one leaves and one comes back, so you’re hopeful we can obviously make up for it with other people, which we will,” McDaniels said.
Averett had been on injured reserved and missed the past four games due to a thumb injury.
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Offensive weapons to watch: Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow
The challenge to the Las Vegas Raiders’ offense will be if the trio of wide receiver Hunter Renfrow and tight ends Darren Waller and Foster Moreau will suit up on Sunday.
Not only do they provide targets for Carr, but they are useful pieces to block for Jacobs in the run game, as mentioned earlier. With one healthy tight end at the conclusion of the Kansas City matchup two weeks ago for Monday Night Football, McDaniels had to put in another lineman.
Waller, who has been sidelined with a nagging hamstring injury, did not practice Wednesday or Thursday. Renfrow, who has been dealing with a hip issue, practiced in full on Wednesday but did not practice on Thursday.
When McDaniels talked to the media for his regularly scheduled press conference for the second time in a week on Friday, he said:
“I’m hopeful that both of them are going to be positive,” McDaniels said Friday. “You’ll see Hunter for sure today (at practice). We’ll see how Darren’s doing, but I’m hoping we’re moving in the right direction with both guys.”
The Las Vegas Raiders and the Houston Texans kick off at 1:05 p.m. PT on Oct. 23 inside Allegiant Stadium.
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