2nd Quarter - 11:21 remaining
3rd and nine
+13 yard line
Raiders ahead 3-0
The Texans called for 11 personnel (one RB, one TE) in the game and came out in what I call Bandit flip gun - a pro set to the boundary, twin set to the field. TE Jordan Akins lined up as an inline TE with WR Brandin Cooks as a flanker to that side with a condensed, top of the numbers split. On the field side, WR Nico Collins and Chris Moore were in a twins, near stacked alignment. The Raiders were in man coverage with two on two to the field side. So, QB Davis Mills worked that side of the field. Collins ran up the field to provide interference for Moore who then followed Collins up the field. The CB that had Moore got picked off by Nico, which allowed Moore to break his route to the sideline. Mills stood strong in the pocket and threw the ball out to Moore before Moore had even made his break. The Texans wideout made a great adjustment to the ball, had yards of separation on his defender Anthony Averett and sprinted into the end zone with his first TD catch of the season. Texans took a 7-3 lead.
3rd Quarter - 3:20 remaining
3rd and seven
+25 yard line
Raiders ahead 17-13
The Texans came out in 11 personnel again but in a different 2x2 alignment. Into the boundary, Chris Moore lined up on the line in a condensed split with TE Jordan Akins set off the ball attached to the LOS. To the field side, WR Phillip Dorsett and WR Brandin Cooks were aligned against the Raiders cover two coverage. Cooks went in short motion which confirmed that the Raiders were not in man coverage. Mills worked the field side again as Dorsett pushed up the field on a bench route as Cooks ran an short out route to pull the flat playing CB Averett up such that Dorsett could work behind him. Essentially, the Texans high-lowed Averett and when Averett hesitated just slightly, reacting to Cooks, Mills threw a LASER shot to Dorsett who juggled, but hung on to Mills' throw for his first TD as a Texan. The Texans landed the needed haymaker to re-take the lead 20-17.
4th quarter - 7:13 remaining
1st and ten
-15 yard line
Raiders ahead 24-20
The Texans had given up a third down and 11 catch to Devante Adams, who fought for ten yards, setting up a fourth and one. Had the Texans made a tackle at the line of scrimmage, the Raiders would more than likely have kicked a field goal, facing fourth and ten or eleven. However, the ten yard gain gave the Raiders the opportunity to go for it on fourth and one. Then, the Texans jumped offsides to give the Raiders a first down at the 15-yard line. The Raiders then stayed with 21 personnel, with FB Jakob Johnson offset in the I-formation in front of RB Josh Jacobs. The Raiders ran a G/F counter with RG Alex Bars pulling to kick out DE Rasheem Green with Johnson following in behind Bars. The hulking FB Johnson kicked out LB Christian Kirksey. LT Kolton Miller had a monster down block on Roy Lopez Jr. The rest was easy for Jacobs who followed his pristine blocking into the secondary and there was just too much room for anyone to make up that ground. The Raiders stud RB ran into the end zone to give the Raiders a 31-20 lead, essentially shutting it down on the Texans in Las Vegas.
4th quarter- 3:38 remaining
1st and ten
+40 yard line
Raiders ahead 31-20
The Texans, moving fast to try to make up a two score lead, had 11 personnel in the game and the receivers seemed to run four verticals. The Raiders weren't playing cover two, as it looked like quarters so S Duron Harmon essentially squatted on TE Brevin Jordan's route up the seam. In quarters, if the #2 receiver goes vertical past eight to ten yards, Harmon matches that route. Well, he sat on it like he knew it was coming and jumped in front of the Texans TE for the game ending pick six.
