ALAMEDA – The Raiders haven’t achieved the desired run-pass balance they’re seeking, but are showing signs of being capable.
A big reason: the offensive line.
The group up front is fresh off a standout performance in the team’s win over the Baltimore Ravens and looks to carry that into Cleveland on Sunday. But despite some outside praise, the Raiders (1-1) aren’t overhyping their line play after two games.
“They’re doing a nice job up to this point, but we all know we can be better,” offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said.
Mike Tice, the team’s offensive line coach, offered a similar review, but he was very pleased with the team’s effort against the Ravens.
The only sack registered on Derek Carr came when he stepped out of bounds on a scramble just shy of the line of scrimmage. Tice got slightly annoyed when he saw that on the stat sheet after thinking the Raiders had gone 46 pass plays without a sack.
“I could figure out when the sack happened,” he said.
The Raiders have allowed pressure on only 16 of their 93 pass plays and their pass blocking is rated the fifth-most efficient in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. That’s as important as keeping sacks to a minimum.
“We chart hits, we chart pressures,” Tice said. “Of course we chart sacks, but the hits are sometimes worse than the sacks. We don’t want to quarterback to get hit.”
That’s something that hasn’t happened much to Carr this year. Of course, he suffered his hand injury and was hit on a scramble in the season opener, but he’s only been hit four other times after not taking any sacks in the preseason.
One was a late hit that drew a 15-yard penalty on the game-winning drive against Baltimore and another came when he stood in the pocket to deliver the deep throw on Amari Cooper’s 68-yard touchdown.
“I think the group is getting better every day, putting in the work and the communication, all that that goes with it,” coach Jack Del Rio said. “There’s still some things pre-snap-wise that we want to clean up. They’re doing a great job communicating, identifying, getting the point right and executing together. It gives us a chance. There are still some things we know we need to clean up, and we will. But it was a good second week.”
Only three teams have run the ball fewer times than the Raiders’ 35 attempts, but their efficiency on the grounds suggests they can and should use the ground game more. They are tied for fifth at 4.6 yards per carry and Tice said they were efficient on 11 of their 18 runs on Sunday.
“We’ll take that,” he said.
Cleveland has allowed the most rushing yards through two games this season, giving up 160 yards per game. That should give Musgrave reason to put the ball in the hands of Latavius Murray more after he’s had just 26 carries in two games.
“I wouldn’t expect those numbers or those statistics to remain at those levels over time,” Musgrave said. “It’s just a two-game sample size up to this point.
“I think everybody has to focus on the running back to try to stop the run because you don’t want to die that slow death of getting it run down your throat, which would be the ideal way to do it.”
* Mychal Rivera has just four catches for 19 yards, and fellow tight ends Clive Walford (two catches, five yards) and Lee Smith (one catch, six yards) haven’t been featured heavily in the offense yet.
“We’d like to see more touches for everybody, but especially the tight ends,” Musgrave said.
Walford, the team’s third-round pick, was expected to seize a solid role, but the depth of the wide receiver group and his absence for most of training camp stalled that. Musgrave said he’s making up for his lost time but still isn’t 100 percent up to speed.
“He’s making progress and getting into football shape after missing, really, the entirety of training camp,” Musgrave said.
* Defensive tackle Justin Ellis (ankle) and defensive end Benson Mayowa (knee) are out this week and fullback Jamize Olawale (ankle) is questionable. Safety Charles Woodson (shoulder) and defensive end Justin Tuck (knee) are both probable. Ellis worked out on the side field during Friday’s brief session.
* Carr won a fan vote and was named the Castrol Edge Clutch Performer of the Week for his performance in the come-from-behind win over the Ravens. He completed 30 of 46 passes for a career-high 351 yards and the game-winning touchdown with 26 seconds to go.
