Versus: Raiders secondary steps to the plate against a lethal vertical threat in DJ Moore

Oct 18, 2023 at 12:54 PM

Levi Edwards

Digital Team Reporter

The Las Vegas Raiders are looking to keep their win streak alive on the road this week.

Their Week 7 encounter will put them in an hostile environment against the Chicago Bears. While things are trending up for the Silver and Black, they'll be facing a hungry Chicago team looking to get back on the right track following two straight losses. Despite the Bears' record, they have talent and speed in all three phases, especially in their receiving corps and their defensive front.

Here are three matchups to keep an eye on before the team heads to the Midwest.

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Tre'von Moehrig vs. DJ Moore

DJ Moore is the X-factor for the Bears offense and will demand a lot of attention from the Raiders secondary.

The Bears receiver was traded from the Carolina Panthers this offseason, and promptly took over WR1 responsibilities. He leads the team in catches (32), receiving yards (582) and touchdowns (five). In the Bears' lone win this season, Moore went for 230 receiving yards on eight catches plus three touchdowns.

It's going to take a village to limit Moore. The Silver and Black have produced five interceptions over the past three games, two of those coming from free safety Tre’von Moehrig. Despite playing through a thumb injury, Moehrig is having a career year. The former Jim Thorpe Award winner at TCU has a 78.7 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus, the seventh highest of all safeties (min. 100 snaps). He's also accounted for four pass deflections and 13 defensive stops.

"I feel comfortable, I'll say that," Moehrig said following the Patriots win. "I wouldn't say I have it all figured out, I've still got room to improve. But I'm definitely feeling good back there and it comes from coaches and my teammates around me."

Kolton Miller vs. Yannick Ngakoue

This Sunday for Kolton Miller should be reminiscent of a few practices from the 2021 season.

The Raiders left tackle will line up against edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue, who's been a proven pass rusher for awhile now. He's tied as the Bears sack leader (two) and has picked up at least eight sacks every season of his career to this point. Miller and Ngakoue were teammates in 2021, with the edge rusher leading the Raiders in sacks that year.

While Ngakoue will be a handful, Miller has shown he can hang with anyone. The Raiders team captain's 81.3 offensive grade from PFF is the seventh highest of all tackles this season, with an 82.7 pass blocking grade to complement it, and has played 100 percent of snaps in six games.

While it's still uncertain if Jimmy Garoppolo will play this Sunday, Miller will play a huge role in protecting whichever quarterback is under center.

Raiders offense vs. the red zone

The score of last Sunday's game should've looked a lot different. The Silver and Black had no problem moving the ball down the field against the Patriots, outgaining their opponent in time of possession, yardage, offensive plays and first downs – not to mention committing less penalties.

Despite the overall better showing on offense, the Raiders still won the game by only five points. A big reason behind that: going 1-of-6 inside the red zone.

The leg of Daniel Carlson came in clutch for the Raiders, with a perfect 4-for-4 on field goals while tying a season-high 13 points. However, if a few of those drives resulted in seven points instead of three, the game wouldn't have been as close down the stretch. That's something the Raiders coaching staff is well aware of, with an emphasis on it heading into Chicago.

"To me, it's when you get down there, there's a premium on everything we do. We had multiple penalties down there that cost us," Josh McDaniels said of the Week 6 red zone offense. "We had two holding penalties and an offensive pass interference that puts you now in first-and-20 or second-and-20, in an area where that's really difficult to overcome.

"Then we missed some opportunities. We had opportunities whether it was the running game or the passing game, we just didn't quite capitalize on them. And again, down there it's all about details and execution. There's very, very little margin for error. ... I have to do a better job of trying to get us to play penalty free and be able to capitalize on the opportunities that we have."

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Las Vegas Raiders defensive tackle Byron Young's (93) pads in the locker room prior to the Las Vegas Raiders' arrival for their regular season home game against the New England Patriots at Allegiant Stadium.