Which Raiders players helped or hurt the team the most in Week 4?
The Raiders only have themselves to blame for their 25-24 loss to the Bears at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday.
They were done in by four turnovers and a blocked field-goal attempt by kicker Daniel Carlson with 33 seconds remaining.
Things don’t get easier for the Raiders (1-3) next week, as they’ll travel to Indianapolis to face the Colts (3-1).
Here are six players who either helped or hurt the team Sunday:
Helped
DE Maxx Crosby
Crosby was spectacular against the Bears.
He had five tackles, including three for a loss. He also had three pass deflections, one of which he corralled for the first interception of his NFL career.
His efforts ended up being all for naught, however.
“We gotta find a way to not make it so hard on ourselves,” Crosby said. “It’s the only thing we can do. It hurts, it sucks. I hate losing. Everybody in this locker room hates losing. We just gotta find ways to win.”
RB Ashton Jeanty
Jeanty, the No. 6 overall pick in April’s draft, had a breakout game with 138 rushing yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. He also caught two touchdown passes.
Jeanty, 21, credited his offensive line for his performance.
“That was wonderful. They’ve been playing well every week. I feel like I’ve been making them look bad,” Jeanty said. “It was a great game out there. I was able to see everything, great movement off the ball. We’re able to wear those guys down.”
RB Raheem Mostert
Mostert, a free-agent signing this offseason, was inactive the first three weeks.
The Raiders decided to give him a look Sunday and make running back Zamir White, who struggled on offense and on special teams, inactive instead.
Mostert, 33, made the most of his opportunity. He rushed for 62 yards on four carries and returned four kickoffs for 96 yards.
“Raheem did really well,” Raiders coach Pete Carroll said.
Hurt
QB Geno Smith
Smith threw three interceptions for the second straight home game. Unsurprisingly, the Raiders also fell to 0-2 at Allegiant Stadium.
The 34-year-old now leads the NFL with seven interceptions. The Bears turned his three picks Sunday into 13 points.
“I am frustrated. I am upset the way that I turned the ball over and gave those guys chances and gave our defense short fields to play with,” Smith said. “I’m putting us in tough situations over and over again. And like I said, that’s on me. I’m not going to look anywhere else but at myself when it comes to that.”
DT Jonah Laulu
The Centennial alum has been reliable this year, but he failed to block Bears cornerback Josh Blackwell before Carlson’s last-minute kick as the wing blocker on the Raiders’ field-goal unit.
Blackwell got a hand on the ball to secure the Bears’ win.
“Since field goals were invented, you’ve got to get the guy on the edge,” Carroll said. “And we didn’t get him.”
WR Dont’e Thornton Jr.
The Raiders’ rookie fourth-round pick didn’t have a catch on two targets. The second was a massive missed opportunity.
Smith threw to Thornton on third-and-goal from the Bears’ 11-yard line with 6:45 remaining in the fourth quarter and the team up 21-19. The ball was low, but Thornton got his hands on it. It still fell incomplete. Thornton was about a yard short of the end zone, but securing the catch would’ve at least caused the Raiders to think about going for it on fourth-and-goal.
They instead kicked a field goal to go up 24-19. That left the door open for Chicago, which took the lead for good with a touchdown its next drive.
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.