Raiders offensive line bounces back in big way in matchup against Colts

Oct 28, 2018 at 06:18 PM

Eddie Paskal

Senior Writer/Editor

Week Six didn't sit well for the offensive line.

After allowing Derek Carr to get sacked six times en route to a 27-3 Oakland Raiders loss at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks in London, Tom Cable's group vowed to be better going forward, and while their resurgent outing Sunday afternoon against a tough Indianapolis Colts front will likely be forgotten in the mire of another disappointing home loss, the big guys up front deserve their due.

"I think we just had a great week in practice," said rookie tackle Kolton Miller. "I think it was one of our best weeks. I think that just prepared us well, and we just carried it over to the game."

"Just worked a lot harder during the week, man," added Brandon Parker. "They said the rookies had to step it up, so me and Kolton just pressed into our details, and really made sure we did what we had to do."

At game's end, while the Silver and Black fell to the Indianapolis Colts 42-28, the offensive line – from left to right – enjoyed a quality 60 minutes, surrendering no sacks on the day, allowing Derek Carr ample time all afternoon to operate the Raiders offense.

"It was great you know because we didn't have a good performance two weeks ago in London," said wide receiver Brandon LaFell. "We put a lot of emphasis on our o-line this last week, during the bye week, and earlier this week, and those guys came out there protecting him and keeping him up right."

'We went out there and blocked, and he [Carr] trusted us, and went out and did his thing," said Parker.

And Carr no doubt did his thing, connecting on 21 of 28 passes for 244 yards, and three touchdowns, but it wasn't just the passing game that found its groove against the Colts; with the help of Miller, Parker, and the rest of the o-line, the Raiders tallied 103 rushing yards as well.

Sunday's offensive line performance was strong but throw in the fact that the group was once again without the services of All-Pro guard Kelechi Osemele, and their performance becomes all the more impressive.

"Jon [Feliciano] is a heck of a player, so it's not a drop off at all," Parker said. "I think just naturally, a little bit of chemistry had to work together, same thing with me and Gabe [Jackson] at first, coming in here, but now that we've been together for so many weeks, we're starting to get together now."

Entering Week 8 action, the Colts ranked fourth in the NFL with 21 sacks, and after their previous outing left a collective bad taste in their mouth, Parker, Miller and the rest of the line set the goal to allow zero sacks in their return to game action.

They took care of business on that end, but their goals as a group are loftier than keeping Derek Carr clean for one game – when the regular season comes to an end, the group wants to statistically rank among the best lines in the NFL.

"We're still in the running to be the least sacked team out there in the league," Parker said. "I think if [you] give up that much, you have to start pitching some shutouts to try to get back up there where you need to be."

He continued, "If we just keep putting together zero sacks every week, we'll be back where we need to be."

The Raiders are now 1-6, and the reality of it is that the Raiders were beaten by the Colts by two scores, but the play of the offensive line was not the reason for Sunday's defeat, not in the least.