Matt Holder joins us for Week 17 of “Interview with the Enemy.”
This week, the New Orleans Saints will return home to face the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 17 of the 2024 regular season. Matt Holder of Silver and Black Pride joins us to preview Sunday afternoon’s matchup.
NJ: How would you grade rookie sensation Brock Bowers through his first 15 games? What are his strengths and weaknesses, and how should the Saints prepare for the star TE?
MH: A+.
Bowers is having the best season of a rookie tight end in NFL history. He’s about to break Mike Ditka’s nearly 65-year record for the most receiving yards for first-year players at the position, already has more receptions than any other rookie tight end and could easily break Puka Nacua’s rookie record for catches regardless of position. He’s also leading all tight ends in catches and yards—the only one to have 1,000 yards in 2024 currently—so I don’t know how you give Bowers anything less than a perfect grade. He’s been as advertised this far.
As a receiver, the Georgia product does about everything you want from a tight end. He runs good routes, can make plays after the catch and is good on contested catches. His blocking could use some work, making that his biggest area of improvement moving forward.
Guarding Bowers is a tough task. Defenses pretty much have to treat him like a wide receiver by either putting one of their best corners on him or using bracket coverage. He’s too athletic for safeties and linebackers and a prime example of that came against the Broncos. Denver tried putting P.J. Locke on him to begin the game, but Bowers ate Locke alive to the point where Denver pivoted to putting Pat Surtain II on the tight end.
NJ: Do you expect the Raiders to part ways with HC Antonio Pierce after a disastrous debut season as a full-time head coach? Has the control he once had over the locker room diminished?
MH: I don’t have a great sense of whether Mark Davis will fire Pierce because I think Davis wants some stability. However, at the same time, it’s hard to ignore the fact that the team has declined this year and is headed toward a three- to five-win season. Also, if the goal is to draft a quarterback this spring, it’d make sense to pair said QB with an offensive-minded coach.
As far as the locker room goes, the Raiders haven’t rolled over and quit down the stretch of the season. They’re just bad and can’t finish games. Black Friday against the Chiefs was a great example as the Raiders should have won that game if they didn’t continuously shoot themselves in the foot. If Pierce has “lost the locker room”, I don’t think Las Vegas would have beaten Jacksonville last week as the players are still playing hard.
NJ: Which under-the-radar offseason addition has made the biggest impact for Las Vegas this season, and what do you expect his role to be against New Orleans this weekend?
MH: Jackson Powers-Johnson. The rookie has taken over as the team’s starting center and made a big difference in both the running game and pass protection. The Raiders’ rushing attack was awful at the beginning of the season and got up to a respectable level once he slid over to his natural position.
That being said, starting left guard Jordan Meredith might be out for the second game in a row which could push the second-round pick back over to guard and elevate Andre James—the offense’s previous starting center—to the starting lineup since that’s what the Raiders did last week. James is a downgrade at center and Powers-Johnson isn’t as effective at guard, but that would be their best lineup if Meredith can’t go.
NJ: Assuming the Raiders select a quarterback in the upcoming NFL Draft, who would be your preferred option: Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward, Jalen Milroe, or someone else?
MH: I’m going to remove Milroe from the conversation because I think it’s a two-horse race between Sanders and Ward. Personally, Ward should be the pick because I believe he has more talent and a higher ceiling as a pro. However, Sanders is the safer option and could be better right away. Also, there have been a handful of signs that Sanders is interested in playing for the Raiders and the club is interested in him, so it seems like that’s the most likely pairing. But if it were up to me, I’d take a gamble on Ward’s traits.
NJ: According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Raiders (-118) are currently 1.5-point favorites over the Saints (+100) in Sunday’s matchup; who do you think will come out on top, and what’s your final score prediction?
MH: It depends on Derek Carr’s status. If Carr is out, I think the Raiders win since, as mentioned above, they aren’t rolling over and can still beat bad teams. No offense but the Saints’ performance on Monday night doesn’t particularly scream that the team is hot right now… If Carr plays, I think New Orleans can pull off the upset because I’m sure he wants to stick it to his former club and the offense is much more functional with him in the game.
I’ll give you two final score predictions. If Carr is out, Raiders win 21-10. If Carr plays, Saints win 24-21.
Thank you again to Matt Holder for joining us this week! You can check out the rest of his work here.
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