The Raiders got back in the win column on Sunday against the Tennesse Titans, and it was a win the players and coaches desperately needed.
Former All-Pro safety Jamal Adams talked about the game on Sunday night, and he admitted the team was starting to “question a lot of things” after the Raiders’ four-game losing streak.
“Man, it was much needed,” Adams told ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez. “You drop a couple of games and [the] outside starts to turn on you. Inside, we start to question a lot of things… so this was a huge win for [a] confidence boost… getting back on track, that’s the most positive thing we can do.”
Adams didn’t clarify who or what he was talking about, but a handful of players and coaches were under the microscope after last week’s embarrassing loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Among other storylines, head coach Pete Carroll seemed to call out offensive coordinator Chip Kelly on Wednesday.
“The running game has looked well… we need to get more of it. That’s part of it. That’s just mixing football. That’s how you do it. We don’t want to ever rely on the quarterback to do the whole show and sit in shotgun and throw the football. Never coach that way,” Carroll told members of the media at his Wednesday press conference.
“And then, we’ve got to make sure we’re calling all the best stuff in the situations,” Carroll continued. “[Smith is] not calling the plays. We’ve got to call them, and we’ve got to make sure to get him in the right spots and give him the best chance to stay out of harm’s way.”
Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers talked about Carroll’s comments on Thursday and there was no doubt in his mind Carroll was throwing Kelly under the bus with his comments.
“I don’t think he ‘kind of’ threw [Kelly] under the bus. I think he threw him under the bus and then he backed up to make sure the job was finished,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders Squad Show podcast.
“I think that there’s no doubt about it that he threw [Kelly] under the bus with that. Basically, he said that the play calling has got to be better. And I think that we all know what Pete Carroll’s philosophy is. We know that ‘run, run, run the ball’ is what he wants to do and play strong defense. And that’s why Ashton Jeanty at no. 6 [in the draft] made so much sense to anyone who was following the draft… Pete Carroll wants to run the hell out of the ball.”
On Sunday, Geno Smith threw 23 passes, and Ashton Jeanty carried the ball 23 times. Very good balance for a team that had not shown a lot of balance on offense in the first five weeks of the season.
The game flow against the Titans allowed the Raiders to stick with the running game, but next week in Kansas City might be a little different situation.
It will be interesting to see if Kelly is able to satisfy Carroll with the running game against a Chiefs defense that’s a little more talented than what the Raiders faced on Sunday.
x: @raidersbeat
Yeah, well even the most run heavy teams need to throw sometimes. And when your RB is getting stopped behind the line of scrimmage because your line can’t run block, and you’re facing 3rd and 11, and your hand-picked QB is repeatedly giving the ball to the other team with good field position, so you’re playing behind constantly, sometimes way behind….. Kind of hard to have much balance or rely on the run in those situations, isn’t it?
Kelly deserves his lumps, but those comments were insane. Go ahead, Pete, take over play calling on offense. You’re not calling the defense. Show everyone how the offense should be calling plays with this lineup!
Also, the Raiders could have drafted Jalen Milroe. He could give Pete that ultra run heavy offense he apparently wants. It’s not like the Bech has been setting the world on fire.
But no, he wanted Geno, at the cost of a good pick, because he wanted his arm and thought he’d be at least a top 10-12 QB. Instead it’s blown up in his face, and he’s ducking accountability. Take some responsibility, Pete. You’re sounding like the last couple of coaches the Raiders have had.
dont know why everyone is so excited, the raiders did not look great.. the titans were just that bad. This performance would lose to 25 out of 29 other teams.
Still can’t score more than 20 points against the worst team in the league. Another bad pick that wasn’t Genos fault. Carroll dosen’t take any responsibility for anything. We will see next week where we stand in the grand scheme of things, and I wonder whose fault it’s going to be if things turn out badly.