It seemed as though the Raiders defense did everything within its power to overcome the Minnesota Vikings.
Josh Dobbs was put under tremendous pressure by the unit, which sacked him five times and only allowed him 63 passing yards. Prior to being replaced in the fourth quarter by Nick Mullens, Dobbs had a 50.8 quarterback rating.
Less than two minutes remained in regulation time, but the Raiders managed to prevent the Vikings from scoring despite giving up 132 rushing yards and totaling eight tackles for loss.
For the most part of the game, everything appeared to go in the Raiders’ favor on defense. At home, they gave up a season-low three points to the Vikings. However, after Minnesota’s 36-yard field goal, the offense was unable to muster the necessary spark, and the team eventually lost to the visiting Vikings, 3-0.
Nate Hobbs, sitting in his locker after the game, offered his best analysis of what went wrong, which was confirmed to him by Interim Head Coach Antonio Pierce after the team’s defeat.
“It’s not good enough to play good,” the Raiders cornerback remarked. “To win these kinds of games, we must exert every effort. It demands everything.
Hobbs went on, “I’ve never lost 3-0, so I never knew how that felt until now.” “Next play, next game, it is. That is how the business operates.”
Throughout the entire game, the defensive line set the tone. Maxx Crosby (two), rookie Tyree Wilson, and Janarius Robinson combined for four of the five sacks.
“I had a decent feeling. Robinson said of the sack, “To be honest, I was just acting on instinct and in the end I got rewarded for it. “However, we need to improve on simply finishing games. Though I think we played pretty well today, we still need to improve on our finishing. preventing them from entering the red zone, where they could have scored three points and eventually emerged victorious.
Robinson proved he can establish himself in the edge rushing rotation with his first career sack and his first game back on the active roster.
Crosby expressed the same opinion as Hobbs and Robinson. He became the fifth player in the history of the team to reach 50 career sacks with his two sacks in this game.
Whatever the accomplishment, the edge rusher didn’t hold back after the defeat.
“I thought our performance was pretty damn good. Crosby commented on the defensive performance, “We held them to three points.” “We won the game even though we didn’t play flawlessly. We simply couldn’t make it. Personally, I always tell the guys that no matter what happens or the result, you train and go through all of this just to have a chance to step onto the field 17 times, guaranteed.
“It’s horrible, it stinks, and we both detest losing. To win more games, though, I need to figure out how to improve. We just need to figure out how to keep getting better as a team. All we can do is that.”
