Raiders Stock Report: Risers, Fallers After Monstrous Victory Over Saints

The Las Vegas Raiders earned their third straight victory over the New Orleans Saints in Week 3.

Below are a few Raiders who are on the rise and a couple who are "falling" after the Raiders' Week 3 outing against the New Orleans Saints.

Rising

K Matt Gay

For the third consecutive week, Gay has impacted the Raiders' offense. On Sunday, Gay was responsible for nine of the Raiders' 16 first-half points. Gay finished the first half with nine points; the Saints finished the first half with 13. Gay is following up a strong training camp in impressive fashion.

Gay's early-season dependability takes pressure off the Raiders' offense to score touchdowns every single drive. The Raiders know all they have to do is get within Gay's range and not turn the ball over. Doing so will usually lead to at least three points.

LB Nakobe Dean

The Raiders' offseason addition of Dean continues to pay off weekly. Dean has been one of the most critical players on the field for Las Vegas through the season's first three games. It was more of the same for Dean against the Saints; the veteran linebacker set the tone against the run early.

Dean made multiple run-stuffing plays that held the Saints to minimal gains.

TE Brock Bowers

In his return to the field, Bowers looked like his normal self. Las Vegas' star tight end finished the first half with seven catches on nine targets for 87 yards. Against the Saints, Bowers looked just as unstoppable as he did in training camp.

Bowers' presence on the field opened up Las Vegas' offense more than it had been. Adding Bowers to an offense that was already averaging nearly 27 points per game entering Week 3 opened up passing lanes for all of Las Vegas' pass-catchers who were not there nearly as much in Weeks 1 and 2.

Falling

S Isaiah Pola-Mao

The Raiders turned to veteran safety Isaiah Pola-Mao to fill in for rookie safety Treydan Stukes, who missed the entire week of practice and Sunday's game with a concussion. Pola-Mao started last season at the position, but is set to become a free agent at the end of this season.

This is in addition to the fact that his play on the field left and continues to leave the Raiders' defensive backfield vulnerable. There is a reason Stukes rose up the depth chart and started the season at safety instead of Pola-Mao. Part of that reason showed up against the Saints.

Last season, and during Sunday's matchup against the Saints, Pola-Mao often seemed a step behind. That was the case on the touchdown he allowed in the first quarter. Stukes has shown the closing speed that Pola-Mao simply lacks.

There are times when Pola-Mao is on the field where you wonder where the free safety is, as he misses plays that are there to be made. Raiders' defensive coordinator, Rob Leonard, has been with the team for the past three seasons. In his elevated role, he knows Pola-Mao well.

With that knowledge, Leonard decided to start a rookie at safety in the season's first two games. Pola-Mao displayed these same deficiencies against the Los Angeles Chargers last week. Pola-Mao was the primary defender on both of the Saints' touchdowns in the first half.

The Saints continued to pick on Pola-Mao throughout the second half. It does not matter how good the Raiders' pass rush is if the back end of the defense gives up completions as easily and regularly as they do with Pola-Mao on the field.

DB Hezekiah Masses

It would be nearly impossible for Masses to replicate last week's performance, but that was not needed. Overall, Masses was serviceable against the Saints, especially considering he was often responsible for covering wide receiver Chris Olave.

As expected, Olave was a much tougher matchup than any receiver the Chargers have on their roster, except for Ladd McConkey. On Sunday, Olave gave the rookie a few small lessons about life in the NFL. It did not amount to points, but the Saints definitely went at the rookie.

Masses was the primary receiver on Olave on nearly all of his three first-half catches that gained 41 yards. After winning AFC Defensive Player of the Week in his very first start, every opponent on the Raiders' schedule will test Masses to see if he is legitimate. Offenses would rather try him than Eric Stokes.

Again, it was minimal, but the Kansas City Chiefs will undoubtedly try Masses plenty next Sunday.

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