Falcons fend off late comeback attempt to beat Raiders – Las Vegas Sun News

Desmond Ridder lofted a pass into the end zone as time expired in the Raiders’ “Monday Night Football” game against the Falcons at Allegiant Stadium.

Falcons safety Jessie Bates came down with it.

The failed Hail Mary ended a late spirited comeback attempt from Las Vegas, which lost a 10^th straight game in a 15-9 loss to Atlanta.

For 55 minutes, the Raiders’ offense didn’t look capable of snapping the franchise’s longest losing streak since relocating to Las Vegas in 2020. Ridder, starting at quarterback against his former team after an injury to Aidan O’Connell, had yet to hit 100 passing yards, and the Raiders were averaging less than three yards per play facing a 15-3 hole.

But then he finally found a long-elusive rhythm, piloting a nine-play, 68-yard drive capped by an eight-yard touchdown pass to Ameer Abdullah with 2:54 to play.

Las Vegas then needed its defense, which mostly kept Atlanta off base all night, to step up and get the ball. The unit delivered — perhaps even twice.

Las Vegas appeared to get a crucial third-down stop with 2:40 remaining when blitzing linebacker Robert Spillane hit Atlanta quarterback Kirk Cousins to force an incompletion.

But an official threw a flag for roughing the passer, and the Falcons’ drive was extended.

Las Vegas got another third-down stop when defensive tackle Jonah Laulu — who also had a sack earlier in the night — dropped into coverage and deflected a pass from Atlanta quarterback Kirk Cousins.

The Raiders moved the ball 45 yards down the field on their final drive inside the two-minute warning including a fourth-down conversion dump-off pass to Abdullah and a 22-yard heave to Jakobi Meyers. That set Ridder up for two chances at a miracle pass into the end zone from the 35-yard line.

The first one fell incomplete after being thrown as a jump ball into a collection of bodies. The second one wound up in Bates’ hands.

Ridder ended up completing 29 of 39 pass attempts for 208 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

He threw another interception earlier in the fourth quarter when he tried to force a ball to Meyers that safety Justin Simmons picked off.

Las Vegas’ defense was just as disruptive to Cousins, who finished with 112 yards on 12-for-17 passing. Spillane picked off Cousins to start the second half, but Ridder and company couldn’t get a first down to cut into the Falcons’ 9-3 lead.

They had scored on a busted coverage near the end of the first quarter when top receiver Drake London fooled the Raiders’ top cornerback Jack Jones with a double move for a 30-yard touchdown.

That would be their biggest play of the game. Running back Bijan Robinson broke a couple rush attempts as part of a 125-yard rushing night but the Falcons rarely sustained long drives that turned into points.

Their second score came defensively when lineman Zach Harrison stuffed running back Alexander Mattison in the end zone for a safety.

They also settled for three field-goal attempts form kicker Younghoe Koo, who made the first two but missed a 42-yarder wide left that proceeded the Raiders’ lone touchdown drive.

Las Vegas returns to action next Sunday at home against Jacksonville with another chance to break its losing streak and improve on a 2-12 record for the year.

This is a developing story. Stay tuned to lasvegassun.com for more coverage later.

As if the action couldn’t get any sloppier, the second half started with a turnover for each team within the opening three minutes.

Raiders linebacker Robert Spillane intercepted Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins on the first play, setting the home team’s offense up right near midfield. But they lost yardage and punted, or tried to punt.

A.J. Cole saw his punt attempt blocked to set the Falcons up in Raiders’ territory. Of course, Atlanta couldn’t do anything with it.

The Falcons failed to gain a first down and settled for a 49-yard field goal from Younghoe Koo. It’s now 12-3 Atlanta with 9:25 to play in the third quarter with neither offense giving much confidence that they can add much to the scoreboard.

Falcons lead after ugly first half

Much to the chagrin of the well-attended Allegiant Stadium, Falcons at Raiders is living up to accusations of not being primetime-worthy so far.

The lone Monday Night Football stop in town this week goes into halftime with Atlanta leading Las Vegas 9-3.

The Falcons have 128 total yards and an average of 4.9 yards per play; the Raiders have 80 total yards and an average of 2.8 yards per play.

Appropriately, the final score before halftime came defensively with the Raiders backed up against their goal line. Falcons defensive lineman Zach Harrison broke through the line and planted Raiders running back Alexander Mattison for a safety.

Las Vegas hasn’t been able to run the ball at all with its three running backs — Mattison, Sincere McCormick and Ameer Abdullah, having combined for 17 yards on 13 carries.

McCormick was injured earlier in the second quarter and has not returned.

The Falcons will receive the second-half kickoff.

Raiders get on the board

The Raiders answered on their first drive since the Falcons found the end zone; they just fell short of tying the score up.

It’s 7-3 Falcons after Daniel Carlson booted through a 52-yard field goal to cap a nine-play, 37-yard scoring drive.

The Raiders may have lost their starting running back in the process, as Sincere McCormick headed to the locker room with trainers as the special teams unit ran off the field.

McCormick hadn’t gotten much going, with eight yards on seven carries. Ridder leads the team in rushing yards with three attempts for 22 yards.

He’s completed five of eight pass attempts for 32 yards.

Drake London scores first

Jack Jones will want to have the Raiders’ last defensive play back.

Las Vegas’ top corner was toasted by Falcons top receiver Drake London, who fooled him with a double move and then caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins.

It’s 7-0 Falcons with seconds left to play in the first quarter.

The teams traded punts on each of their first three possessions — with defensive tackle Jonah Laulu sacking Cousins to end the Falcons’ first drive. But Atlanta has moved the ball more efficiently than Las Vegas with running back Bijan Robinson having already picked up 27 yards on four carries.

The touchdown was London’s first catch, and his first score since a Week 10 win over the Cowboys, also the last time the Falcons picked up a victory.

Pregame

Desmond Ridder will get the chance to hand his original NFL team a fifth straight loss tonight at Allegiant Stadium.

The third-year quarterback, who was claimed off the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad in October, will start tonight for the Raiders on “Monday Night Football” against the Atlanta Falcons. Aidan O’Connell tried his best to recover from a bone bruise suffered in last week’s loss at the Buccaneers, but ultimately wasn’t cleared by the Raiders’ training staff.

O’Connell didn’t practice this week but ran through a pregame warmup on the field. He’s officially inactive, though eligible to play as an emergency third quarterback.

Undrafted rookie free agent Carter Bradley, elevated to the active roster from the practice squad for the first time this season, is Ridder’s backup.

Ridder, a former third round pick out of the University of Cincinnati, started 14 games for Atlanta last year and was deemed “the quarterback of the future” by team owner Arthur Blank.

But the franchise decided to go in a different direction, signing free agent Kirk Cousins and drafting rookie Michael Penix, after Ridder struggled with 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions a season ago. The Falcons traded him to the Cardinals and probably never thought they’d face him again so soon.

But the Raiders don’t have anywhere else to turn after losing O’Connell and Gardner Minshew (broken collarbone) to injury over the last month. They’re looking to snap a nine-game losing streak of their own against the Falcons.

The Raiders’ other inactives alongside O’Connell are edge rusher Maxx Crosby (shut down for the season with an ankle injury), Charles Snowden (who was arrested for DUI earlier this week), cornerback Sam Webb and offensive lineman Andrus Peat.

Raiders vs. Falcons, not exactly a primetime matchup, could still be an exciting game

The Raiders’ lone primetime game of the year goes down tonight in only their second home date in six weeks. Many wondered if it would ever happen.

Monday night games can now be flexed back on to Sundays, and a showdown featuring the Raiders, currently slotted to pick No. 1 in the 2025 NFL Draft, looked like a candidate before the deadline three weeks ago. But moving games isn’t always simple, as other networks can protect marquee matchups and some teams are protected from being forced to play on an extra short week. So, ESPN decided to stick it out with the original plan.

It’s at least a big game for the Atlanta Falcons, now one game back in the NFC South after leading for most of the season. The Raiders assisted their plunge last week by losing to the NFC South’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 28-13, while Atlanta dropped its fourth straight game, 42-21 at Minnesota.

Several of the best games in the five-year history of Allegiant have come as part of Monday Night Football. The Raiders will try to coax some of that magic out once again to break a nine-game losing streak.

Favorable matchup: Raiders’ streaking pass rush vs. Falcons’ up-and-down offensive line

This might be more like strength vs. strength if isolating for recent performance. Las Vegas’ pass rush has been mediocre at best on the season but has broken out in the past two weeks. After harassing Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to the point of a near upset victory two weeks ago, the Raiders disrupted the Buccaneers’ Baker Mayfield just as much in Tampa Bay. They had four sacks and four more quarterback hits on Mayfield, led by another standout performance from former practice-squad edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson, who had one apiece and also batted down and intercepted a pass. Atlanta’s offensive line struggled in pass protection for most of the year but has suddenly been much better. The unit moved up five spots to No. 14 last week in Pro Football Focus’ offensive line rankings after giving up only three pressures and no sacks against a formidable Vikings defense. Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham will surely have a plan to attack it though. He’s begun using more looks where Las Vegas gets its most talented pass rushers on the field together, though this week Chaisson and former first-round pick Tyree Wilson will not have superstar Maxx Crosby (ankle) with them on the field.

Problematic matchup: Falcons running back Bijan Robinson vs. Raiders’ rush defense

The Raiders’ emphasis on rattling Mayfield last week may have come at the expense of their rush defense. They gave up nearly 6 yards per carry in the defeat including a season-high 90 rushing yards to Rachaad White, who had previously been slumping and losing carries to teammates. Now they face a taller task in Robinson, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft who might be the most talented opposing running back they’ve faced in at least a month. He also might be entering off one of the best stretches of his career, with at least 90 yards in three of the Falcons’ past four games. Atlanta ranks No. 8 in the NFL for rushing offense per the DVOA ratings. Las Vegas is No. 25 in rushing defense. Missed tackles have been a recurring problem for Las Vegas, as it sits 26th in the league with 122 on the year per PFF. Robinson rates sixth in the league with 18 broken tackles. Las Vegas’ primary defensive leader, linebacker Robert Spillane, is known as a sure tackler and it might be up to him more than anyone to wrap up on Robinson when given the chance.

Gamebreaker: Quarterback Aidan O’Connell

It might be overstating it to say O’Connell potentially being in position to start against the Falcons is a miracle, but not completely. No one, including O’Connell’s teammates and coaches, thought that would be possible for the second-year pro out after he was carted off with a knee injury in the third quarter of the Buccaneers loss. O’Connell’s leg was placed in an air cast and Raiders coach Antonio Pierce himself hinted he was out for the year. But an MRI came back negative, and further imaging revealed O’Connell only suffered a bone bruise. His left knee remained swollen over the next week, but he worked off to the side in practice and moved around the team’s Henderson facility fine. Backup Desmond Ridder will be ready to play if O’Connell is unready to go, and the Raiders promoted practice-squad rookie Carter Bradley to the active roster for the first time this season. But O’Connell will be the starter if it’s at all possible against the Falcons. The Raiders need O’Connell to have the best chance to win, as Pierce has continually implied he doesn’t feel like Ridder is ready after being claimed him off the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad midseason.

Big Number: 0

Raiders top receiver Jakobi Meyers doesn’t have a single dropped pass on the season. Last week, he became the first NFL player in 25 years to have more than 95 targets in a season with zero drops, per the 33rd Team. It’s been overshadowed by the Raiders’ struggles and the record-breaking ways of rookie tight end Brock Bowers, but Meyers is having a career season in his sixth year as a professional. Over the past three games, he’s hauled in 23 catches for 285 yards. That puts him at 66 catches for 743 yards on the year, and Pierce said the Raiders hoped to push him over the 1,000-yard milestone for the first time in his career over the final four regular-season games. Meyers might lack the blazing speed or big-play ability of some of his No. 1 receiver peers around the league, but few if any of them are as reliable from a route-running and ball-securing standpoint. The 28-year-old still has one year left on his contract after this season, and if the Raiders indeed select a top quarterback early in the draft, he’ll have a couple solid starting point offensive weapons in Bowers and Meyers.

Best Bet (7-6): Bijan Robinson under 82.5 rushing yards

The Falcons may prioritize other players, namely fellow running back Tyler Allgeier, too strongly to give Robinson the best chance to go over this high of a number. Robinson has the ability to eclipse these sky-high lines regularly, but he doesn’t always get the opportunities. The Falcons are too inconsistent with his workload and every time it appears that’s changed, it feels like Robinson’s chances are diminished the next game. He’s had 56 touches over the past two weeks so maybe this time it’s different, but history would caution against blindly assuming that’s the case. The Raiders have been poor against the run, but that’s partly because they’ve more frequently emphasized pass rush. That might be different this week given the struggles of Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, who has thrown six interceptions the past two weeks while looking highly uncomfortable and immobile. Las Vegas may sell out to slow Robinson even if he receives the overwhelming share of rushing attempts.