One of AJ Cole’s punt attempts blocked; Daniel Carlson doesn’t get a field goal opportunity in Las Vegas’ loss to Pittsburgh
An embarrassing effort within the confines of Allegiant Stadium isn’t anything new for the Las Vegas Raiders.
The 32-13 defeat at the hands of the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday was just the latest example. Despite a promising start from the defense and offense, the Raiders’ inability to string together quality drives — and hang on to the football — eventually resulted in a lopsided loss where a tiring defense was gut punched by the Steelers.
It’s a commonplace story that Las Vegas is accustomed to, unfortunately: Can’t move the ball and score points before being unable to stop the opposition from gaining yards and putting up field goals and touchdowns.
But what was new in the Week 6 defeat: Special teams — the usually consistent and dependable unit in Las Vegas — was lumped into the overall flop.
In a game filled with mental miscues that resulted in gaffes — like costly fumbles, for example — the punt unit wasn’t immune to the infection of ineptitude. On Las Vegas’ initial drive of the second half, personal protector Chris Smith II and long snapper Jacob Bobenmoyer had a miscue on which direction to block and who to stymie. That allowed Steelers linebacker Jeremiah Moon to fly in basically untouched to block a punt from the Raiders’ AJ Cole III.
.@steelers with a “Punt Block” called by Danny Smith and executed perfectly. Game changing play in a tight ball game. Well done is always better than well said. #HereWeGo Get to know Jeremiah Moon. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/bk8ncdMoro
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) October 14, 2024
That mishap marked the first blocked punt of Cole’s career — and he’s in year six with Las Vegas. Fortunately for the Raiders, the defense stood tall and limited Pittsburgh to a field goal (a 15-7 deficit), but the damage was done.
While Cole did have a strong game on boots that did reach flight — three total punts for 170 yards (56.7 yard average per kick) with a long of 66 yards — the Raiders coverage unit getting fooled by Steelers return men that feigned they were catching the ball only for it to drop way behind and Las Vegas out of position to stop the ball before it found its way into the end zone for a touchback. That happened twice leaving much to be desired as had a gunner been in position, Pittsburgh would’ve started deep in their own territory instead of the 20-yard line.
Cole’s kicking battery tag team partner — place kicker Daniel Carlson — didn’t even get a single field goal attempt on the Week 6 loss. This is the ninth time in his career (that started in 2018 with the Minnesota Vikings — where the 29-year-old didn’t get to attempt a single field goal.
Where They Stand
It’s taken six games, but the inevitable has happened: Cole is atop the league marks in yards per punt at 52.9. After looking up at the Cincinnati Bengals’ Ryan Rehkow, the Raiders punter is tops — although Rehkow has the same average.
The pair of touchbacks against the Steelers did hurt Cole’s net average, however, as it stands at 43.2, giving him the seventh-overall ranking in the NFL in that category. Rekhow is tops with an impressive 47.3 net average. This showcases the area of opportunity for Cole and the coverage unit. As a group, the Raiders have yielded 141 punt return yards which is the fifth-highest mark in the league.
Touchbacks also hinder overall punting net. The league-high touchback count is at four and Cole has three under his belt. Of his 25 total punts, 10 have dropped or been downed inside the opponent’s 20 giving him a 40 percent rate of pining the opposition deep. For reference, the Indianapolis Colts’ Rigoberto Sanchez leads this particular category as 17 of his 24 punts have dropped or been downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line for a 70.8 percent rate. The next closest punter to that is the Kansas City Chiefs’ Matt Araiza (eight of 13 punts for a 61.5 percent rate).
For Carlson, the lack of opportunities are dwindling his chances to contribute to the Raiders offense. His 10 attempts on the season put him near the bottom of the rankings at No. 25. The eight he’s made has him at No. 28 overall.
Up Next: The Raiders (2-4 overall) head further out west to meet the Los Angeles Rams (1-4). this coming Sunday. Both Cole and Carlson have one career game against the Rams under their respective belts — the 2022 matchup that saw L.A. top Las Vegas 17-16. In that game, Cole punted three times for 148 yards (49.3 yards per boot average). Two of those boots landed inside the Rams’ 20-yard line. Carlson, meanwhile, went 3-for-3 on field goals and booted through is lone point after attempt resulting in 10 of the Raiders’ 16-point output coming off the Carlson’s foot.
Extra Points: Linebackers Kana’i Mauga, Amari Gainer, and Amari Burney paced the Raiders special teams snap count with 24, apiece — good for 96 percent of the units total snaps. Safety Thomas Harper was right there with 23. Fellow safeties Chris Smith II and rookie Trey Taylor got in the mix with 18 and 14 snaps, respectively. Veteran tailback Ameer Abdullah and backup tight end John Samuel Shenker each got 15 snaps while journeyman wide receiver Alex Bachman netted 14.