After a promising start to the season, Las Vegas Raiders safety Isaiah Pola-Mao has been struggling over the last month, especially in coverage.
Pola-Mao has been targeted 14 times and allowed 10 receptions for 201 yards and three touchdowns during that timeframe, according to Pro Football Focus. His biggest issue has come against tight ends as the position accounts for half of those targets, four catches (one drop), two touchdowns and two more first downs.
It’s also no coincidence that the only game over the last four weeks that the safety earned an above-average PFF coverage grade was Week 12 against the Denver Broncos, where he didn’t draw any targets against tight ends.
Given those numbers, let’s dive into the tape and see what’s going on.
Week 11 vs Dolphins
Jonnu Smith drew two targets against Pola-Mao and caught both for 58 yards and two touchdowns.
To be fair, the first score is a great play call by Mike McDaniel on fourth and two against man coverage by creating a natural pick or rub route. The Dolphins motion Smith across the formation and Pola-Mao has to stay a few yards deep in the endzone to avoid getting picked by Decamerion Richardson or Tre’von Moehrig at the bottom of the screen.
What Pola-Mao can do better is instead of turning his head to the quarterback—which slows him down—just run full speed and try to collision Smith at the catch point. If timed up properly, it’s a pass breakup. If he’s early and gets flagged for pass interference, the ball moves up one yard and the defense still has a chance to prevent the touchdown. Either result is better than giving up six points.
The second clip is simply a coverage break. Miami comes out in 13 personnel but uses an empty formation where running back Raheem Mostert is the wide receiver at the bottom of the screen. Also, they have Smith in the slot and Durham Smythe (No. 81) as the wide receiver who motions across the formation.
So, Las Vegas matches personnel by using a base formation (three linebackers in the game) and calls Cover 0 to bring one more pass-rusher than the Dolphins can block in the empty set. The problem is Pola-Mao doesn’t follow Smythe as Smythe motions across the formation pre-snap.
Instead, Pola-Mao stays on the two-receiver side and covers the tight end, who Robert Spillane is responsible for. Notice how Spillane points out the motion and tells the safety to bump over. Moehrig takes Smythe while Richardson covers Mostert and Smith is wide open for an easy 57-yard touchdown.
Week 13 vs. Kansas City
Travis Kelce had two catches and one drop on three targets for 30 yards and a first down against Pola-Mao, but there wasn’t anything Pola-Mao could have done better on one of the grabs and the drop. Those two plays were basically the same rep where the Raiders blitzed the nickel off the edge, Patrick Mahomes read it and hit Kelce on a hot route to take advantage of the safety playing from depth to disguise the blitz pre-snap.
However, the other two reps above highlighted some of Pola-Mao’s issues in man coverage.
On the first one, Noah Grey created separation on the deep over route by getting physical and using a flipper technique against the slender safety. That might have been a touchdown had Grey and Mahomes been on the same page as the quarterback sailed the throw and threw it toward the front pylon instead of the sideline.
Against Kelce in the final clip above, Pola Mao’s change of direction skills become an issue and he bites on the head fake at the top of the route. That’s the reason why he stumbles and falls coming out of the break, leading to extra yards after the catch and the chains moving on first and 20.
Week 14 vs. Tampa Bay
Cade Otton only had one target against Pola-Mao but it was a big one that went for an explosive 44-yard gain and highlighted the same issues mentioned above.
The Raiders run Cover 0, putting the safety one-on-one against Otton on an out route. Again, Pola-Mao’s lack of change of direction skills becomes an issue as he gets caught on his heels and loses about five yards of ground vertically to drive on the route, creating plenty of separation to make an uncontested catch.
Making matters worse, Otton breaks the tackle to turn what should have been just a first down in Tampa Bay’s territory into a play that puts the Buccaneers in scoring position. Pola-Mao had four missed tackles in this game and has 10 on the year (15.6 percent rate) with six coming during this four-week period at a 24.0 percent clip.
Conclusion
Out of everything listed above, the biggest issues for Pola-Mao moving forward are his struggles in man coverage and preventing yards after the catch. The third-year pro has to get better at getting in and out of his cuts to drive on routes and clean up his tackling form.
Otherwise, he’ll have a tough time earning another contract with the Raiders as he’s a restricted free agent in the offseason.