Raiders offense: No matter the quarterback, Brock Bowers needs plenty of looks

Whether it Desmond Ridder or Aidan O’Connell, feeding rookie tight end against Atlanta Falcons a necessity

Where there’s a Brock, the Las Vegas Raiders must find a way.

No matter if it’s Aidan O’Connell or Desmond Ridder (or Carter Bradley), the Silver & Black quarterback must look at rookie tight end Brock Bowers early and often.

While opposing defenses have put forth concerted efforts to stymie the record-setting rookie this season, Las Vegas can press the issue by moving the versatile Georgia product around the formation in a variety of spots — not just the standard in-line and split out wide spots for tight ends.

“Yeah, me and Scott [Turner] talked about that this morning, just finding different ways to move him around, put him in different positions. He’s now becoming, obviously a key factor for us, but also a key factor for teams to stop,” Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce said on speaking with his interim offensive coordinator on Bowers. “And we are never going into a game not thinking about throwing to Brock, let’s put that out there first and foremost.”

It’s clear Bowers is a focal point of the Raiders offense.

With a team-leading 118 targets that’s turned into 87 receptions for 933 yards and four touchdowns, it’s no secret the 6-foot-4 and 230-pound 22-year-old (turned that age just two days ago) is a primary option.

“He’s our number one option and probably our last option, we’ll go through that,” Pierce admitted. “But you’ve got to be smart with the ball, and we can’t force throws, because that happened in the game as well. Forced the throw and we got interceptions. So we got to be smart with that. But again, we are a more efficient offense when we get Brock going. And obviously it was a big day for Big Mike (Michael Mayer). It was good to see him going. So again, the way the game kind of shapes out each and every week is going to change, and you’re going into it with one plan and it creates opportunities for other players, and those guys have to step up as well.”

Yet, with Pierce’s Raiders sitting at 2-11 and tied with the New York Giants for worst overall record in the league, forcing the issue with Bowers isn’t suspect at this point. Las Vegas has nothing to lose and going Bowers-heavy offensively isn’t detrimental to the overall scope of things (unless you’re in the tank for a better draft pick camp). Thus, whether the starting quarterback in Week 15 is O’Connell or Ridder, getting the ball to Bowers should be the top priority.

The visiting Atlanta Falcons don’t want to be victimized by Bowers’ exploits in the Monday Night Football clash in Allegiant Stadium and are likely to bracket the talented tight end with safeties Jessie Bate III and Justin Simmons along with a cornerback like AJ Terrell.

Bates and Terrell lead the Falcons with two interceptions a piece while the trio of Bates, Terrell, and Simmons have seven, five, and five pass deflections, respectively. Bates is also second on the team in total tackles with 81 on the season.

“I don’t know. They match AJ Terrell, and again, whether that’s going to be on (wide receiver) Jakobi (Meyers) when he’s outside, and then if we put Brock out there, he’ll go on Brock instead. I mean, we’ll find that out as the game goes on,” Turner said when asked about what he expects Atlanta’s secondary to do against Bowers. “The safeties are high level players, Jesse Bates and then Simmons. Those are big time guys, and we know that we’ve got to be ready for them, but it’s a really good secondary and they play well together. I know they’ve given up some big plays, but most teams do at times in the NFL. But no, I’ve got a lot of respect for them and those players.”

Getting Bowers his touches — which tend to be very productive — can draw massive attention which can open the flow of the offense to other Raiders like Meyers, Mayer, and speedster Tre Tucker. Especially if running back Sincere McCormick is getting chunk gains on the ground.

Of course, the overall style of offense changes a bit when it comes to who is under center. O’Connell suffered a bone bruise in his knee and is labeled as questionable for the Monday Night clash after not practicing this week. Ridder, who is more mobile, doesn’t have the same type of assimilation as his counterpart.

Starting against Atlanta would be a revenge-type game for Ridder as he was originally a third-round pick by the Falcons (74th overall) in the 2022 NFL Draft. He started 17 of the 19 games he played in a Falcons uniform before being traded to the Arizona Cardinals in a player-for-player swap as the quarterback was sent to the desert for wide receiver Rondale Moore (who landed on injured reserve back in August).

“Why would you say that? No, I’m kidding. Yeah, they’re different types of players,” Turner said when asked about the game plan between Ridder and O’Connell. “Yeah, I think you try to play to your guys strengths, so we’ll be ready.”

Series History: The Falcons and Raiders have meet 15 times with Atlanta leading the all-time series 8-7 (all regular-season contests). The Silver & Black haven’t beaten the Falcons since a 41-14 shellacking all the way back in 2000. While the two teams have met sparingly in their respective franchise histories, the Raiders are riding a five-game losing skid with the most recent outing a 43-6 beatdown the Falcons handed them in 2020. The winning streak Atlanta is on is the longest in the overall series. The Raiders (both Oakland and Los Angeles variants) won four in a row from 1975 to 1985.