Brock Bowers Passed Mike Ditka on Sunday — and His Coach Says the Only Surprise Left Is When He Doesn't Catch It
Seven catches, 92 yards and two touchdowns against the Jets did more than power the Raiders' 38-33 comeback. Brock Bowers passed Hall of Famer Mike Ditka for the most receiving yards by a non-wide receiver through 35 career games — and head coach Klint Kubiak says he has stopped being surprised by anything except a drop.
The Raiders' comeback win over the Jets on Sunday ran through their tight end, as it so often does. Brock Bowers caught seven passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns in the 38-33 victory, opening the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown catch from Kirk Cousins on Las Vegas' first possession and helping the Raiders climb out of a nine-point deficit to snap a four-game losing streak. Cousins finished with 247 passing yards and three touchdowns, and Bowers was his most reliable route through all of it.
Head coach Klint Kubiak, asked afterward about his tight end, landed on the line that tells the story of Bowers' season: the only thing that surprises him anymore is when Bowers does not catch the ball, according to Raiders reporter Levi Edwards' account carried in the report read by the desk. It is the kind of quote coaches give about veterans a decade in — Bowers is producing it in his third season, as the offense's default answer on the plays that decide games.
Sunday also moved Bowers past a name from another era. With the Jets performance, he surpassed Hall of Fame tight end Mike Ditka for the most receiving yards by a non-wide receiver through the first 35 games of a career — a milestone that measures not one big afternoon but a rate of production sustained since his debut. The Raiders take the win and the record into next Sunday's trip to San Francisco, where Maxx Crosby's storyline already waits on the other side of the ball. For one week, at least, Las Vegas' offense and its tight end are the story.
