Quarterback Connor Cook
The sixteenth chapter of the Oakland Raiders regular season didn't go quite as planned, as the Silver and Black fell to the Denver Broncos 24-6 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High Sunday afternoon.
As a result of the loss, the Raiders finish the season with an overall record of 12-4, and will now have to hit the road later this week for a Saturday matchup against the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
However, before we completely shift our focus to the Texans, let's review the playtime percentages from the loss to the Broncos, and take a closer look at the numbers.
Offense
Cook is called into action– Just over a week ago, Connor Cook was the third quarterback on the Raiders depth chart, but yesterday, because of a shoulder injury to Matt McGloin, the rookie from Michigan State was called upon to finish out the Week 17 game against the Broncos. In total, Cook played 32 offensive snaps (59%) finishing his first NFL outing 14 of 21 for 150 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
"It was fast, obviously, going the whole week not getting a lot of reps and just being thrown out there," said Cook. "It's just the name of the game. When you're playing the quarterback spot, if one man goes down then it's next man up. I was frustrated I didn't get out there and get some reps. I was trying to get the timing down with the receivers, but it didn't go the way we wanted it to go."
Crabtree reaches another milestone– Somewhat lost in the fact that the Raiders were felled by the Broncos in their regular season finale is that Michael Crabtree eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the second time in his career, and for the first time as a Raider. The veteran wideout played 35 snaps (65%), finishing the game with a team-high five catches for 47 yards. Crabtree now has 1,003 receiving yards this season, and he and Amari Cooper have become the first tandem of Raiders wide receivers to both go over 1,000 yards in the same season since Tim Brown and Jerry Rice accomplished the feat in 2001.
Washington paces the running backs– For the second week in a row, rookie running back DeAndré Washington led the Raiders trio of running backs. However, the group's effort was a far cry from what they were able to accomplish last weekend against the Indianapolis Colts, as they were only able to rack up 57 yards on the ground. As mentioned earlier, Washington paced the group, playing 21 offensive snaps (39%), rushing the ball seven times for 43 yards.
Defense
**
Malcolm Smith goes the distance **– The veteran linebacker played all 73 defensive snaps in Sunday's loss to the Denver Broncos, and for the most part, No. 53 enjoyed a pretty nice game for the Silver and Black. Smith paced the Raiders defense with 12 tackles, and was a consistent presence around the football all afternoon.
Trawick steps up– After veteran safety Nate Allen was forced to exit Sunday's game early with a concussion, Brynden Trawick was called upon to fill the void, and the fourth-year safety responded in a big way. Trawick played 50 defensive snaps (68%) in the Week 17 matchup, finishing his day with nine tackles, one pass defensed, as well as recording the first interception of his career.
"It felt good," Trawick said when discussing his interception. "I'd have rather gotten the win, but it definitely felt good, hopefully I can get a couple more."
Irvin forces another fumble– Bruce Irvin played 65 defensive snaps (89%) in the matchup against the Broncos, totaling five tackles, one tackle for loss, two quarterback hits, and one forced fumble. Irvin now has six forced fumbles on the season which ties a franchise record.
