What Jon Gruden, Derek Carr and more said on how Raiders defense beat up the Broncos
Pressure seemed to be a big point of emphasis for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Denver Broncos quarterback Drew Lock was the unfortunate victim.
Lock was under siege and intercepted four times by the Raiders defense — twice by Jeff Heath and one each by Carl Nassib and Nick Kwiatkoski — as Las Vegas defeated the Broncos 37-12 in an AFC West matchup Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.
The Raiders (6-3) had their first red zone takeaway in the past 12 games.
It was perhaps the biggest momentum swing of the afternoon, as Heath picked off Lock in the end zone just before halftime.
“Jeff Heath started it off,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. “He made some plays and he’s not playing 100%. He got the fire started. Jeff Heath made a big play that ignited us against the (Kansas City) Chiefs and we’re going to need him next week.”
The Raiders will host the West-leading Chiefs in a prime-time game next Sunday.
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr called Heath’s interception before halftime “huge.”
“The defense was juiced,” Carr said. “Their energy and the excitement and joy on the sideline. The passion they were playing with was awesome. It definitely helped us out.”
Jacobs makes the INT call
Raiders running back Josh Jacobs said the defense “went crazy.” It inspired him to come up with a little prediction just before halftime.
“I told Book (Devontae Booker) on the sideline, ‘This is going to be a pick,’” he said. “They kept doing crossing and under routes. I knew it was a matter of time before we picked one and when he did, it was huge. That took the life out of them.”
From interceptions to strips, Gruden gave credit to defensive coordinator Paul Guenther for orchestrating a game plan.
“Good overall play by a lot (of players) on defense,” he said. “We were opportunistic.”
Entering the game, the Raiders had 99 total pressures and 64 hurries, according to Pro Football Focus. Those numbers won’t be updated by PFF until Monday morning, but the Raiders clearly were focused on causing havoc for Lock.
The Raiders finished with a season-high four interceptions and forced five turnovers.
Kwiatkoski had a late interception off Lock as the Broncos were nearing the end zone.
“It’s nice we can win in multiple ways,” Carr said. “If we can get turnovers the way we did today on defense, that will bode well for us in the future and that will bode well for us going forward and winning more games and making a run is what we really want to do.”
There must be something Heath likes about Nov. 15. In 2015, he had two interceptions while with the Cowboys. That still wound up a Dallas loss, 10-6 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This time, he was happy to contribute to a win, thanks in no small part to the pressure applied by the defensive line and edge rushers.
“We count on those guys to make the quarterback to get rid of the ball a half-tick before he wants to,” he said. “That’s a formula that is going to give you a lot of success when you can apply pressure on the quarterback and make him pay in the back end.”
Big day for the running backs
Jacobs finished with two rushing touchdowns in the win. He topped the 100-yard mark, finishing with 21 carries for 112 yards.
Booker got in on the act, too.
The former Bronco ran for two touchdowns — including a late fourth-quarter 23-yard score, with the distance matching his uniform number.
Booker had 16 carries for 81 yards as the Raiders totaled 203 yards on the ground.
“They for sure have been telling me all week that they want to get this win for me,” Booker said. “We just went out there and do what we needed to do.”
This story was originally published November 15, 2020 at 6:29 PM.
