Looking for a game to bet or pick in your survival pool to start the season?
Look no farther than the Raiders in week one.
Let’s talk about three good reasons why the Raiders are a great pick to win this week, both outright and against the spread (-3).
Talent Gap Finally Favors the Raiders
It hasn’t often been the case with the Raiders (at least not in the past couple decades), but they are entering Sunday’s game against the Panthers with a far superior roster.
The Panthers have a great running back in Christian McCaffrey, but they’ve had a lot of roster turnover. Actually, they’ve had turnover throughout the entire organization in recent years: a new owner, a new general manager, a new head coach, and a new quarterback. As of now, we don’t know if any of the new faces will stand out at what they do, but we do know the organization is in rebuild mode – which usually comes with growing pains.
A COVID-19 Offseason
While the Panthers were busy hiring a new coach, finding a new quarterback, and tearing down a statue outside of their stadium, the Raiders were plowing through a pandemic to one of their better offseason workout programs in recent years.
From the Panthers perspective, they picked a less-than-ideal year to bring in a new coach and a new quarterback. Coronavirus restrictions didn’t do first-year HC Matt Rhule any favors in terms of implementing a new scheme on both sides of the ball.
A much-improved Raider defense shouldn’t get rolled over in this one… and a Jon Gruden and Derek Carr offense in year three should do a lot of rolling.
Gruden Teams Start Strong
The Raiders have been well-prepared in week one games under Gruden. Two years ago, they were tied with the Rams with just over a quarter to play and last year they jumped out to a 14-0 halftime lead on the Broncos.
Another thing to remember, in each of the past two years the Raiders have lost arguably their best player in the week preceding the regular season opener. But that’s not happening this year… with just six days until the game, it looks like Hunter Renfrow will be suiting up just fine in week one.
twitter: @raidersbeat
A POSSIBLE PLAYOFF TEAM? REALLY?
The YARDBARKER reported the following two stories. Needless to say, there are some, at best, questionable
moves made by Raiders Management according to these two stories. As we all know, all too well, these ARE
NOT the first questionable moves made by Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock. To be sure, picking players with
talent IS NOT an exact science BUT some are, shall we say, HEAD SCRATCHING to say the least, as the
two stories below will attest to. In my opinion, even PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY can’t adequately explain some
of these decisions.
YARDBARKER STORIES;
5 Las Vegas Raiders who should not have made the 2020 53-man roster
3 players who should have made the Las Vegas Raiders 53-man roster
1. Then, there is the passing on a former MVP, in Cam Newton, in favor of keeping Nathan Peterman. Nathan
Peterman is the worst quarterback in modern NFL history among those with as many pass attempts as he
has. Of the 356 quarterbacks who have thrown at least 130 passes in the last 40 years, the 24-year-old ranks
DEAD-LAST with a passer rating of 32.5. Lastly, the Bleacher Report says, “… it’s hard to argue any
quarterback, in the history of Pro Football, has been worse than Nathan Peterman.” Only Jon
Gruden knows or understands why he would carry such a quarterback (liability)on his roster.
2. Raekwon McMillan – Over the last two years he has allowed quarterbacks to complete a whopping 82.4
percent of passes when targeting him (42 of 51). Last year he allowed 8.7 yards per target as opposing
QBs compiled a 102.8 passer rating against him. It wasn’t a fluke — in 2018, he allowed a passer rating
of 146.2 against him while giving up 9.6 yards per target and six touchdowns. Simply put, Raekwon
McMillan has been a disaster in pass coverage and that’s why the Miami Dolphins dumped him for so
little. Is that Keith Murray I hear laughing somewhere?
3. Lamarcus Joyner – Before the 2019 season, the Raiders signed veteran corner Lamarcus Joyner with
the intention of lining him up in the slot against smaller, shiftier receivers. It didn’t work, as opposing
quarterbacks completed 69.4 percent and racked up a passer rating of 109.8 when targeting Lamarcus
Joyner in coverage last year. If the Las Vegas Raiders don’t fix that problem quickly, poor slot
coverage could sink the 2020 season before it really begins.
4. Derek Carr – With the exception of a 12 win 2016 campaign, Derek Carr has led a losing team every season. And because he has
started since Day One and only missed two games, that has left Derek Carr with a lot of games to lose, 39 wins and 55 losses. In fact,
his 55 losses are the second-most games lost by a quarterback through his first six seasons. The only quarterback with more losses?
His brother David Carr. Conversely, Marcus Mariota has 30 wins with 33 losses.
5. Jon Gruden – has compiled a record of 106 wins and 102 losses, in his coaching career, with the Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay
Buccaneers and is currently 11 wins with 21 losses in his second stint with the Raiders. Further, since Jon Gruden returned to the
Raiders, According to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press, the Raiders have yet to beat a team that advanced to the playoffs since
2018. This was reported on July 20, 2019.
6. A year ago, Defensive Tackle Anthony Rush was all the talk of having a great future in the NFL. Now, the
Philadelphia Eagles have cut him due to the depth that they have at Defensive Tackle. Shouldn’t the
Raiders go after him and get a good player on the cheap?
7. What is the Raiders’ proposed solution to fix their annually occurring problem of effectively covering
opposing team’s tightends, this year, specifically Travis Kelce?