Las Vegas Raiders (2-12) – Atlanta Falcons (7-7): 9-15: 9-15
Thank you Bijan Robinson (22 carries, 125 yards). Because it is not with the performance of Kirk Cousins (11/17, 112 yards, 1 TD, 1 int) that the Falcons were going to completely reassure themselves against the very weak Raiders.
To be fair, the Atlanta quarterback had a good moment, when he threw a 30-yard pass to Drake London (3 rec, 53 yards, 1 TD) for his team's only touchdown on Monday. But the rest of the match, he seemed too hesitant, sometimes getting ahead of himself.
Yes, Cousins has often been under pressure. But he got rid of the ball in dangerous ways at times. And the offense generally struggled as a result. Fortunately, there wasn't much in front.
The Raiders had a chance until the end
Led by Desmond Ridder (23/39, 208 yards, 1 TD, 2 int) who would surely have liked to take revenge on his former team, the Raiders managed to have a chance until the end. Because a touchdown from Ameer Abdullah (7 rec, 58 yards, 1 TD) brought them back to one possession with just under three minutes to play (9-15, XP missed). With the Atlanta attack not being able to eat up the rest of the clock, Ridder and his squad took the lead with 1mn50 left on the clock.
But the Las Vegas quarterback's last desperate attempts ended up leading to an interception.
An ugly match
Between the Falcons' touchdown at the end of the first quarter and the Raiders' possession to attempt a hold up? Not much. A few field goals, a safety conceded by Vegas, a nasty interception by Cousins on the first play of the second half, a punt blocked by Atlanta, a lot of punts, a field goal missed by Younghoe Koo… A good moment for some players special teams, but not high-quality American football.
The main thing for Atlanta is a victory that allows them to stay in the playoff race and gives them hope of winning the division. But the level of play of Kirk Cousins and that of the attack in general seem light years away from the current good dynamic of the Buccaneers, who are leading the way in the NFC South.
