Mile High Sports

Raiders pick on Bradley Roby in Aqib Talib’s absence

Casey Light

One week after earning AFC Defensive Player of the Week status, Bradley Roby had one of his toughest games as a pro. Raiders quarterback Derek Carr targeted and beat the third-year cornerback repeatedly in a 30-20 victory that put the Raiders in sole possession of first place in the AFC West.

Last week, Roby returned an interception for a touchdown and he graded out as one of Denver’s top players in a win against San Diego. He earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors as a result. Roby was also recognized for his off-field work by the NFLPA. The pendulum swung to the opposite side of things against Oakland.

Called into No. 2 cornerback duty for the second week in a row, Roby drew a difficult assignment in Amari Cooper. Carr and Cooper did most of their damage in the first half (40 yards on four catches), including drawing a costly pass interference penalty on Roby that set up Oakland’s second touchdown of the night.

Carr targeted Cooper eight times in total, connecting on six of those passes for 56 yards to lead the Raiders in both categories. Even when Roby drew another assignment, Carr wasn’t shy about throwing in his direction. According to Pro Football Focus, Roby was the defender on nine of Oakland’s first 14 pass plays.

It was a rare off game for Roby, who has established himself as a superb complement to Aqib Talib and Chris Harris in the slot role. But with Talib out for the second consecutive week with a back injury, Roby drew arguably the toughest assignment of his career covering the No. 4 overall pick from 2015 and a Pro Bowler as a rookie, Cooper.

Facing Denver last year, Cooper hauled in four catches for 47 yards in the first meeting and was blanked on eight targets in the second.

To Roby’s credit, Cooper’s 9.3 average on the night was his second-lowest total of this year and his 56 yards were his third-lowest this season. Still, Cooper drew a critical pass interference call late in the second quarter that set up Oakland’s fourth score of the game.

On third-and-10, looking at forcing possibly another field goal to keep his team within arm’s reach, Roby pursued Cooper into the end zone. Carr’s pass was sailing out of Cooper’s reach when Roby dove for the ball and collided with Cooper, drawing a pass interference penalty and giving Oakland first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. It felt like a back-breaking play, even before halftime.

Roby’s off night didn’t end there, though. With Denver trailing by 10 and 3:37 remaining, the Broncos had Oakland in third-and-8 with the clock stopped. Opposite Cooper again, Roby gave a huge cushion and the Raiders converted the third down. The Raiders would eventually punt the ball away, but not before burning more than a minute off the clock after that play. The play drew criticism from the broadcast booth and digital commentators, including Shannon Sharpe.

Trevor Siemian was intercepted four plays later and Oakland would take a knee from there.

It was an unfortunate night for one of the rising stars on the Denver secondary that until Sunday night had looked almost unstoppable.

Roby was far from the only problem on the night, however. Denver’s defensive line surrendered 218 yards rushing and Oakland controlled possession for nearly 70 percent of the game. Still, it wasn’t the game Roby wanted coming off such a successful week prior.

Here’s what folks around the web had to say about Roby’s rough night…

https://twitter.com/RonnieKRadio/status/795458963257131010

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