Soaring Spillane: Linebacker raises Raiders’ defense in victory over Packers

By Case Keefer (contact)

Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023 | 2 a.m.

His feet were quick, his movements precise and his hands steady.

Robert Spillane hardly ever appeared out of position in the Raiders’ 17-13 win over the Packers on Monday Night Football at Allegiant Stadium. Not bad for a veteran middle linebacker who never got the chance to be a full-time NFL starter until this year, mainly because scouting reports labeled him as a liability in pass coverage.

The former Steeler made those criticisms look foolish with two interceptions and two broken-up passes that played a large part in the Raiders breaking a three-game losing streak.

“That boy was locked in,” Raiders running back Josh Jacobs said of Spillane. “That boy was everywhere. He was making the plays when they needed to be made and saving us from a lot of things too.”

That’s exactly the role the 27-year-old former undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan hoped to fill when he came to Las Vegas this offseason. He spoke decisively in training camp about how he was tired of the Raiders’ defense being labeled as the team’s weakness and how he wanted to turn it into a strength.

That attitude got him the support to be voted a team captain, and now he’s starting to fulfill the promise.

Against all expectations, the Raiders’ defense has played better than their offense during a 2-3 start to the season. Spillane and Co. have kept Las Vegas in three straight games while the offense has stagnated.

It ultimately wasn’t enough in losses to the Steelers and Chargers, but the unit finished the job against the Packers by realizing another goal Spillane preached going into the season — consistently creating takeaways. The Raiders’ third and final interception clinched the game when cornerback Amik Robertson picked off Packers quarterback Jordan Love in the corner of the end zone on a deep pass intended for Christian Watson with 51 seconds remaining.

“(The defense) has been playing better and better as the season has worn on,” Raiders coach Josh McDaniels said. “Sometimes, that happens: When one side of the ball is playing well enough to win, and the other side has to catch up. I think that’s kind of where we’ve been.”

And that’s where many thought the Raiders would be early in the season, only with the offense carrying the weight for an unproven and rebuilt defense. But the dichotomy has swung the other way, and never has it been more apparent than in the NFL's final Week 5 game Monday night.

The showdown with Green Bay was billed with star receiver Davante Adams as the headliner going up against his longtime team for the first time. But Adams was clearly not 100% from a shoulder injury that kept him out of practice all week and managed only four catches for 45 yards.

Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander, whom Adams helped rise to stardom, mostly won their much-anticipated one-on-one matchup. The Raiders’ offense overall averaged only a meek 4.5 yards per play.

But it didn’t matter because the Raiders’ defense kept stifling the Packers’ offense.

Las Vegas’ first points came off a short field, on a 14-play, 57-yard drive after the defense forced a three-and-out.

Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo zipped a touchdown pass into wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, who led the team with seven catches and 75 receiving yards, on a slant to go up 7-3. They then built their third 7-point lead of the young season a minute-and-a-half later after Spillane’s first interception.

“It was one of their play-action looks,” Spillane explained. “I wasn’t over-anticipating run when they went to play action. I just kind of held my location and the receiver ended up running behind me and the quarterback ended up throwing me the ball.”

The Raiders’ offense appropriately lost one yard on the ensuing possession, but Spillane’s 18-yard interception return to the 7-yard line set up kicker Daniel Carlson for a short field goal.

Spillane’s main partner in leading the defense was not surprisingly edge rusher Maxx Crosby, who finished with a sack, a quarterback hit and two tackles for loss. Green Bay’s entire scheme looked to be based around slowing Crosby, but it still didn’t pay off.

“That dude lives possessed,” Spillane said of Crosby. “Teams always got to figure out what they want to do with Maxx Crosby. Do they double him? Do they triple him? And he still finds a way to get pressure on the quarterback.”

There was only so much Spillane and Crosby could do at certain points though. The Packers’ only touchdown came after Garoppolo threw his league-leading seventh interception to safety Rudy Ford in Raiders’ territory to start the second half.

Packers running back A.J. Dillon bruised in a five-yard touchdown run to tie the game.

Not everyone on the Raiders’ defense was as perfectly aligned as Spillane or Crosby either.

A coverage breakdown by Spillane’s fellow newcomer/captain, former Eagles safety Marcus Epps, allowed the longest play of the game — a 77-yard catch by Packers receiver Christian Watson later in the third quarter. But veteran cornerback Marcus Peters never gave up on the play. Peters pursued the speedster Watson and grabbed a hold of the only part of the receiver’s uniform he possibly could — the back of his shoulder pads to draw a horse-collar penalty to move the ball from the 6- to the 3-yard line.

“It’s the right penalty,” McDaniels said. “That’s a really smart play at a critical time in the game. If it’s the first quarter in the middle of the field, you don’t want to horse collar, but if you’re saving a touchdown on a long play like that, you at least give yourself a chance to play a few more downs. Then the defense really rose up and played well.”

Las Vegas stuffed Dillon at the goal line on back-to-back plays and then gave Love no open looks on third down. A 22-yard field goal from Daniel Carlson’s younger brother, Anders Carlson, handed the Packers their final lead of the night at 13-10.

It didn’t last long because Adams and Jacobs, who had 25 touches for 89 yards on the night, immediately came alive for a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Jacobs’ two-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter wound up as the game-winner, but the remaining 15 minutes weren’t without drama.

Peters and Spillane spoiled the Packers’ next drive when Love tried to force a ball to Watson, and the cornerback tipped it away into the hands of the linebacker.

“We just opened the floodgates,” Spillane said of the Raiders’ three takeaways. “Now, we’ve just got to continue to build on assaulting that pocket and finding ways to get the ball out.”

Las Vegas’ offense again lost yards after Spillane’s second takeaway, and then failed to capitalize on another three-and-out forced by the defense. In yet another clear coaching mistake by win-probability models, McDaniels opted to try a 52-yard field goal on 4^th-and-2 play with two minutes left in the game.

Daniel Carlson’s second attempt of the night clanked off the left upright to keep the score at 17-13 with the Packers’ offense taking the field for a potential game-winning drive.

“I was like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to get a stop,’” Jacobs said of his belief after the missed field goal. “I didn’t know how it was going to be. I didn’t know if Maxx was going to get a sack or what it was going to be, but I felt confident in (the defense) closing the game.”

That’s a foreign feeling to Raiders’ fans, hardened by years of underperforming stop units. But this year’s defense might be earning the newfound confidence.

Robertson ended up being the one who stepped up in the biggest moment. The Packers gained one first down and got to the 35-yard line when it looked like Love had Watson open for a touchdown for a split second.

But the 5-foot-8 Robertson recovered and sprinted toward the ball as Love released it, leapt and cashed in on his fourth career takeaway.

“I just walked out on the field and just said, ‘I’m going to be the reason,’” Robertson said. “I’m the smallest guy on the field. I knew they were going to test me. I just wanted to not get the (pass break-up). I’m tired of those. I wanted the ball. I wanted them to feel it.”

They felt it all right, with the largely Packer-partisan crowd silenced as Raiders’ teammates swarmed Robertson in celebration. A fourth-year Raider, Robertson is among the longest-tenured players on the defense but hadn’t played a snap outside of special teams since a Week 1 win over the Broncos.

An injury to starting cornerback Nate Hobbs thrust him into a rotational spot against the Packers.

“One of the best interceptions I’ve ever seen in my life,” Spillane said of Robertson’s pick. “(Thirty-five yards) down the field, to be able to contort his body, high-point the football and end the game like that, what an outstanding play by a player who’s just been gnawing at the bit to get on the field. I’m excited for him.”

Spillane expected nothing less. One of the new leaders of the Raiders’ defense has expressed nothing but faith in the unit’s ability to make big-time plays.

And it’s actually what he asked for in the defensive huddle after Daniel Carlson’s missed field goal.

“‘It’s on us, D,’” Spillane said he told his teammates. “Let’s step up and win this game.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or