Something is wrong with the Raiders offense. Marshawn Lynch has nowhere to run and Derek Carr seemingly has nowhere to throw the ball. Amari Cooper has been on the field but his face may as well be on a milk carton. No one has seen him in weeks.
Is the Raiders offense that different from a year ago? No, but there is an interesting trend beginning under first-year offensive coordinator Todd Downing.
The Raiders have essentially abolished the play action pass through four games.
Among starting QBs, #Raiders' D. Carr is the only QB with less than 18 play action dropbacks.
He had just 7 before going down with injury.
— Austin Gayle (@PFF_AustinGayle) October 4, 2017
According to Pro Football Focus, Carr has attempted the fewest play action passes (7) in the NFL. The next lowest total in the league is 18.
Last year, the Raiders ran play action 99 times. This season they’re on pace for only 28.
If the new trend is by design, it’s one the Raiders need to abort as soon as possible. Let Chip Kelly or another mad genius reinvent that wheel.
twitter: @raidersbeat
As a new coordinator I’m willing to give TD some rope. But I hope it’s a short one. So far this season offensive production is way down and our pro bowl O line, isn’t. There were aspects of the previous coordinators scheme that definitely needed to go (screen passes) but the much of our production has left with him. Carr’s not comfortable, we can’rt complete third downs, Amari…nuff said there, and Lynch is a no show. SO what’s wrong. Del Rio better figure it out soon because in the next three weeks we play division rivals twice and going 0-3 in the AFC West could doom what was supposed to be a promising season. I almost believe the team has been reading their own press. Only now it’s going to say what they don’t want to hear. They’re not a very good team right now.
Yea, TD has screwed the peeve in multiple ways, and isn’t taking advantage of it strengths, and I think I know why. Last season it was reported, multiple times, that JDR was unhappy with how Musgrave ran the offense at times. Musgrave wasnt open to suggestion, and ran the offense as he saw fit. It worked to the tune of being the 6th best offense, which includes the abysmal final game of the season w/o Carr. So, enter Todd Downing, JDR’s puppet, and it really looks as though someone unfamiliar with offenses is running the offense, putting players in poor positions to succeed, ie switching the OL from power blocking to zone, not using play action to open passing lanes when defenses have obviously been super committed to stopping the run. They were running downhill with no abandon, bc they new Raiders weren’t utilizing play action, the perfect time to in fact use, play action. Did TD take advantage? Nope, bc Jack wants a smash mouth running team who can run regardless. Stupid. You have a borderline elite QB. Use him. Develop him into becoming elite by using him correctly and building his confidence, not hanging him out to dry and to get injured. Hopefully TD realizes how badly the offense has been operating, and does his job and fixes it. Even if he is Jacks puppet, that won’t stop jack from firing him if the offense continues to suck, and that would make Downing undesirable to other teams. They need to get it together, and it starts with switching back to power blocking on the OL.
Mr. McDP,
I just erased my entire post because I was going to say just what you did. Nicely dissected.
Who’s decision was it to switch an all pro offensive line from power to zone blocking? A return to the Dennis Allen era when this was proven to be a mistake with players not good at zone blocking.
COACHING
Of course not helped with Derek Carr indecision with taking forever to call signals at the line.
QUARTERBACK
Why weren’t defensive liabilities addressed in the off season?
GENERAL MANAGER