Are we already at the point where punting, kicking battery are best duo on Las Vegas’ roster?
While the Las Vegas Raiders are experiencing quite a roller coaster in overall team performance any given Sunday, there remains a constant on special teams: AJ Cole III is going to get the job done.
The Silver & Black punter continued his field-flipping ways this past Sunday in the Raiders’ 34-18 Week 5 loss at the Denver Broncos.
Las Vegas trotted out their trusty big-legged punter five times against its AFC West division foe and Cole racked up 267 yards (53.4 yards per boot average) with a long of 61 yards. That punt pinned Denver inside the eight-yard line as the boot traveled from the Raiders’ 32-yard line to inside the Broncos’ 10 to showcase just how much influence Cole has on flipping the field.
Cole had three punts in the first half and two in the second — twin 60-yard boots. Unfortunately for the Raiders, however, the second stanza saw the Broncos take possession after both long boots and going on drives that culminated in touchdowns. The first of which was a six-play, 50-yard drive that ended with Jaleel McLaughlin’s four-yard touchdown pass from rookie quarterback Bo Nix. The second an eight-play, 58-yard venture ending with a Nix one-yard touchdown plunge.
P AJ Cole (@AJCole90) boots it 61 yards to the DEN 7-yard line.
Cole notches his 49th career punt of 60+ yards, passing Corey Bojorquez (48) for the second most punts of 60+ yards by a player in their first six NFL seasons since 2000.
— Raiders PR (@RAIDERS_PR) October 6, 2024
In total, two of Cole’s five punts landed inside the Broncos’ 20-yard line — both landing inside the 10-yard line with the one downed at the three-yard line on the razor’s edge — which creates pressure on the opposing offense and giving the Raiders defense the ability to be aggressive (if need be, not always the case, however). That punt downed at the three was the first of the season inside the five yard line for Cole this season.
According to the Raiders, 56 of Cole’s career punts have been downed inside the opponent’s 10-yard line since entering the league in 2019 which ties the 28-year-old punter for fourth most in the NFL over that time span.
Cole continues to showcase both power, touch, and accuracy when he’s called upon to pin opponent’s as far as he can. The coverage unit that backs Cole is getting the job done limiting returns.
Cole’s counterpart, Denver’s Riley Dixon, was called upon six times and totaled 259 yards on his punts with a long of 53 yards (43.2 yard average per boot), with one touchback and three of his kicks landing inside Las Vegas’ 10-yard line.
Danny Dime
The other half of the Raiders kicking tag team — Daniel Carlson — made the most of his lone opportunity against the Broncos: Drilling a 40-yard field goal. The 29-year-old also made his single point after attempt.
The opportunities for Carlson were limited as the Raiders offense faltered badly after the game-altering 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by Patrick Surtain II.
That wasn’t the case for Carlson’s counterpart, Wil Lutz, however. The Broncos kicker went 2-for-2 on his field goal attempts (the long being a 51-yard boot) and he was a perfect 4-for-4 on PATs.
Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Where They Stand
With 22 punts on the season, Cole is ranked seventh in the league in attempts. His total of 1,153 yards punting is good for fifth in the NFL and his 52.4 yards per punt average is good for second as he trails the Cincinnati Bengals’ Ryan Rehkow who has a 55.6 average.
In terms of return yardage, opposing teams churned out 141 yards on punts giving Cole and the Raiders the third-most given up. Only the Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans have yielded more at 215 and 155 yards, respectively. This dips Cole’s net yards per punt (total yards with return yards subtracted) to 45.1 yards per boot. Rehkow and the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Logan Cooke have higher net averages at 49.2 yards and 45.7 yards, respectively.
With 10 punts dropping or being downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, Cole ranks ninth in the league in that category, cementing him as one of the elite punters in the NFL.
Carlson, on the other hand, ranks 18th with 10 field attempts on the season. He’s made eight of those kicks (his 80 percent clip good for 25th in the NFL) with a long of 53 yards (the 21st longest boot amongst all kickers). Carlson remains perfect on PATs at 8-for-8, but that’s good for 23rd in the league, which is an indictment on the Raiders offense as a whole.
His total of 23 kickoffs is good for 17th in the league and the 10 touchbacks on said kicks gives Carlson the 13th least amount boots going into the end zone. The 43.5 percent touchback rate gives the Raiders kicker the sixth least rate amongst all kickers.
Up Next: The Raiders (2-3 overall) host the Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2) in an AFC battle this coming Sunday. Cole has three career games against Pittsburg and boasts a stat line that reads: 14 punts, 660 yards (47.1 yards per boot average) with four of those kicks landing inside the 20 while two were touchbacks. One of Cole’s lowest averages came in the Dec. 24, 2022 meeting at Pittsburgh where he averaged a meager 41.6 yards per boot. Carlson has played four career games against the Steelers going 7-for-7 on field goals and 7-for-7 on PATs. A total of 28 points came from Carlson’s capable right foot in those four games.
Extra Points: Starting safety Isaiah Pola-Mao returned to the special teams mix against Denver, but sparingly with nine total snaps. He was once a mainstay specialist before ascending to the starting role after Marcus Epps was lost for the year due to injury. Fellow safety Chris Smith II garnered 26 total snaps (87 percent of the group total) on special teams. Rookie linebacker Amari Gainer led the Raiders in special teams snaps with 28 (93 percent). Thomas Harper earned 23 snaps in the group while linebackers Amari Burney (21), Kana’i Mauga (18), and Tommy Eichenberg (18) are becoming regulars.