They Raiders outplayed Denver for most of the game on Sunday, but they’re flying home 0-2 and Jon Gruden will have to wait another week for his first win back in black.
Here are a few thoughts on Gruden’s new-look Raiders. First, the good…
– Kolton Miller has been much better than expected in his first two NFL games and there’s a good situation starting to come together for the Raiders at left tackle. Miller whiffed badly on a run block early and his name barely came up for the remainder of the game… and that’s a good thing.
– Derek Carr is fine. It would be nice to see more play action passes and deeper drops in the pocket, but hopefully those are coming. Get on it, Gruden.
Least favorite play call for Carr? The three step drop. Hate it.
– Amari Cooper had a great game. Sharp routes, great hands, he did it all. That was huge. But watching Martavis Bryant, he might be a notch ahead of Cooper in terms of athleticism – and that’s saying a lot.
What can Gruden do to get the ball to Bryant a little more often?
– The Raiders have now faced two of the three best pass rushers in the league and only given up two sacks in two games. Not bad.
And now the bad…
– Jon Gruden has been crafting his playbook for 10 years, but for the past two weeks it seems like he’s been leaving his play sheet in the locker room at halftime. For the second consecutive week the Raiders have been crushed in time of possession (and on the scoreboard) in the second half.
Why can’t the Raiders end games the way they start games?
– So far, Doug Martin seems to be getting the yards blocked for him and nothing more. He doesn’t look particularly explosive. DeAndre Washington is a decent short yardage back and can probably fill Martin’s role with ease. That needs to happen sooner than later.
– No one wants to hear about it, but Khalil Mack’s absence was devastating in week two. After the Eagles won the Super Bowl, Gruden raved about the way the Philadelphia pass rush sealed the victory. He then invested big in a left tackle to protect his own quarterback. Gruden obviously understands the importance of the pass rush, but he learned a little more about that today.
– There aren’t many NFL teams good enough to run out the clock against a loaded box. When your quarterback is completing 90% of his passes, why force the run into the numbers?
twitter: @raidersbeat
Blah blah blah. We are 0-2. That’s ok that matters. Been listening to “close” for too long. Gotta find a way. Bottom line.
I don’t get it. Carr completed over 90% of his passes yet the coaching staff wants to RUN the clock out. Lynch averaged what 3.9 years per carry and the Denver D knew it was coming smh. They could have let Derek throw the ball short, that would have been way more effective to run out the clock and guess what Denver still would have burned their time outs.
Gruden needs to watch film on how modern coaches perform in situational football because his response to some of the situations he’s found himself in are not encouraging. Who sits on a 2 point lead?
Ha the raiders suck. LMAO. Have fun in the trash Bay Area for some more time.
“There aren’t many NFL teams good enough to run out the clock against a loaded box. When your quarterback is completing 90% of his passes, why force the run into the numbers?”
This is the “why” the Raiders didn’t win yesterday. Carr was shredding the Denver D and instead of resuming a balanced attack it was run, run, run. TO defeat. It was our game and the play calling in the final minutes gave it away.
Learn from that John.
hahaha, love how these fans, all have solutions to the Raiders problems, especially when 99% of them have never played football beyond the HS level, let alone, coached/scouted worked at the college or Pro level. Gruden and his coaches know what they’re doing. Are they right all the time, of course not. It’s the NFL, it’s hard. The coaches and players that they are going up against, are the best in the world at what they do. Give the system coaches, players, and the process some time, people. The roster and coaching staff is 70% new. It’ll take until November until the team feels really comfortable with the new schemes.