Film room: Pola-Mao was force against Jaguars

Safety forced two fumbles and led the team in total tackles

Heading into the Week 16 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Las Vegas Raiders safety Isaiah Pola-Mao had hit a rough patch. He was struggling to cover tight ends and wasn’t making much of an impact, needing a bounce-back performance to build some momentum heading into 2025.

Then, Christmas came a few days early for Pola-Mao as he certainly left his mark on the Jaguars with a strong performance. He was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.

The third-year pro out of USC managed to lead Las Vegas with 11 total tackles on the afternoon and forced two fumbles toward the end of the first half to create turnovers for Las Vegas. On top of that, Pola-Mao also allowed just 26 yards in coverage and earned his highest PFF grade (72.9) since Week 4, an outing that’s undoubtedly worthy of this week’s film breakdown.

Run support doesn’t get much better than this from a strong safety.

Jacksonville calls power and has to like the matchup they have as Pola-Mao, a 205-pound safety, is taking on a pulling guard as the force player in the run fit. However, he does an excellent job of reading the play to come downhill and take on the block by dropping his pads at the point of contact.

As a result, Pola-Mao wins the rep by effectively setting the edge and constructing the rushing lane for the running back. Take a look at the clip above from the end zone view, the back had no room to run and trips as he went through the hole, allowing Tyree Wilson to make the tackle.

Especially given the size disadvantage, this is teach-tape material from the safety.

This next rep isn’t nearly as impressive but it does result in an impactful tackle against the run from Pola-Mao.

Jacksonville runs outside zone and Wilson does a good job setting the edge. Also, Zach Carter—the 3-technique defensive tackle—occupies two offensive linemen against the combo block while staying in his gap. That frees up Pola-Mao, who shows good patience to protect his gap while also being in a position to make a tackle if the running back bounces outside, to get an unblocked tackle for a two-yard gain.

This time, Jacksonville wins up front on the inside zone run. The center and left guard are able to scoop nose tackle John Jenkins out of the playside A-gap while linebacker Amari Burney gets caught in the trash, creating a wide rushing lane.

This has the potential to be an explosive play, however, Pola-Mao takes on the block from the slot receiver—who is a natural tight end—with his hands to create extension on the block. That allows him to escape and the safety has a perfect punch out on the ball to create a turnover.

So, a rep that had the potential to be disastrous for Las Vegas turns into a positive one because the 25-year-old makes a great play.

We’ll end with a couple of reps in coverage, the first being Pola-Mao’s second forced fumble of the game.

Las Vegas is showing a two-high look pre-snap but has Pola-Mao rotate down to run Cover 3 post-snap. That helps influence the throw to the middle of the field and allows the safety to come downhill at full speed. Shortly after the tight end secures the catch and turns upfield, Pola-Mao delivers a textbook tackle, dropping his pads, wrapping up and getting his shoulder on the football as the ball pops out for another recovery.

Jacksonville was driving and about to be in scoring position right before the half, so this tackle took points off the board in a one-score game.

Here, we see the same play call from Patrick Graham, showing two-high and rolling into Cover 3 where Pola-Mao spins down into the hook-to-curl area. While Brian Thomas Jr. makes the catch through contact, the safety has a great close, preventing any yards after the catch and giving the defense a third-down situation.

This clip is from Jacksonville’s two-minute drive at the end of the game, right before a pressure from Tre’von Moehrig forced a throwaway and the Jaguars got called for holding on fourth and one. They couldn’t convert the fourth and 11 attempt, giving the Raiders the ‘W’, and all of that doesn’t happen unless Pola-Mao makes a tackle short of the sticks.