Atlanta Falcons: Studs and duds blowout win over Raiders in Week 12
Stud: Forcing Raiders into turnovers
Another thing that took place in Week 12 that was a positive on the side of the Falcons was their defense’s ability to turn the Raiders offense over a few different times in the contest.
During the game, Atlanta’s defensive unit recorded two fumbles and one interception. Over the first few quarters of the contest, Jacob Tuioti-Mariner recorded two fumble recoveries which were committed by Las Vegas quarterback Derek Carr and resulted in the Falcons taking things over to take the ball out of the hands of the Raiders offense. Later, Deion Jones intercepted Carr to return it 67 yards for a defensive touchdown and both LaRoy Reynolds and Keanu Neal also recovered fumbles for Atlanta.
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Not only was that a bright spot in trying to gain more chances on the offensive side of the ball for the Falcons, but forcing those turnovers also allowed Atlanta to take things away from Las Vegas’ offense for a majority of the game.
Dud: Giving up large chunk plays through the air
Overall, Atlanta’s defense played one of its best games of the 2020 season in Week 12 against Las Vegas, but one thing the Falcons defense didn’t end up doing was limiting the large chunk plays the Raiders were able to record through the air in the passing game.
With Derek Carr under center, when he wasn’t throwing interceptions or fumbling the ball, he found some of his wide receivers often while trying to provide the offense with some sort of spark to battle back into the contest.
Overall, the Raiders finished with 240 yards receiving through the air, with four different wide receivers managing to record game-long receptions of at least 15 yards.
It was a minor thing, but Atlanta still has some work to do on various aspects of the defense moving forward.