Raiders Second Tight End Was Missing In Action Against Pats

The Las Vegas Raiders have an offense based largely on the performance of their tight ends, but one of those tight ends was a forgotten man on Sunday against the New England Patriots. 

Michael Mayer played in a season-low 65 perent of the snaps against New England, per Sam Warren of The Athletic, and he was targeted just once for a throw that resulted in a two-yard reception. It was a huge drop-off from the previous week against the Kansas City Chiefs, when Mayer caught eight passes for 82 yards. 

Coach Klint Kubiak blamed himself for the lack of production, stating that he didn’t give Mayer enough opportunities, per Warren. The coach added that the Raiders were forced to use a lot of seven-man protections, which meant Mayer had to stay in and block. 

That also led to a season low of just 19 routes, as the writer noted that his involvement as a complement to star tight end Brock Bowers is essential to the offense. 

There’s more to the story, however. The Raiders offensive line was the source of the struggles, and as they couldn’t protect quarterback Kirk Cousins, with the problem getting noticeably worse as the day went on. That means keeping extra blockers in, which limits the options Cousins has when he’s facing pressure on nearly every play. 

There’s also the issue of the wide receivers. They can’t get open, and they can’t take the top off the defense. That means the Raiders have to use a lot of tight formations, which allowed the Patriots to pack the box and show blitz looks. New England dared Cousins to beat them with his wideouts, as they also took away the hot reads the quarterback has been using to make opponents pay. 

Mayer may also be part of the problem. He’s not an explosive weapon -- he’s a reliable receiver who can get short gains, but not much more. There are few matchups where he offers an advantage, which is part of why Kubiak was forced to turn to other solutions that also didn’t work very well. 

Kubiak also got sped up in this game. The Raiders couldn’t stop quarterback Drake Maye or the New England running game, which meant the Raiders were forced to play from behind. They’re not built to do that, and it showed in this particular game. The Patriots tape is now a formula for beating Las Vegas, and the Raiders need to come up with options to counter it.