2016 Oakland Raiders thread (3 Viewers)

[massraider]

Glad that one is in the rearview. 

I didn't feel like it was Musgrave's best called game, from the first play of the game. 

We don't do flares, passes in the flat, or screens well. For whatever reason, this season when I have seen a designed pass behind or close to the line of scrimmage, it has gone badly the majority of the time. 

Still think the team should use more hurry up, I think Carr would excel in that format. He's such a film junkie, and we have seen him make solid audibles all year long. Let the smartest guy on the field make some decisions, spot mismatches, and let the defense run vanilla schemes against it. 

Not all the time, we don't wanna Chip Kelly the defense. But running two quick plays in a row, or three, would be great to see more often.  

Same solid defense on 1st/2nd down, and no pass rush on 3rd down. The D line isn't pulling its weight on passing downs.

 

[DocHolliday]

Good post. 

 

[32 Counter Pass]

Glad that one is in the rearview. 

I didn't feel like it was Musgrave's best called game, from the first play of the game. 

We don't do flares, passes in the flat, or screens well. For whatever reason, this season when I have seen a designed pass behind or close to the line of scrimmage, it has gone badly the majority of the time. 

Still think the team should use more hurry up, I think Carr would excel in that format. He's such a film junkie, and we have seen him make solid audibles all year long. Let the smartest guy on the field make some decisions, spot mismatches, and let the defense run vanilla schemes against it. 

Not all the time, we don't wanna Chip Kelly the defense. But running two quick plays in a row, or three, would be great to see more often.  

Same solid defense on 1st/2nd down, and no pass rush on 3rd down. The D line isn't pulling its weight on passing downs.

I thought Musgrave called a pretty solid game. He used formations to match up the RBs with the Texan LBs pass and tore them a new one. The Raider RBs had 11 catches for 199 yds and 2 tds. That is good coaching.

Your observation about flares and screens out of the backfield might be a a result of Carr's skill set. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Carr has some accuracy problems with horizontal routes such as drags, crossing routes and flares. His strength is throwing the ball vertically. My guess is they are calling routes that play to his strength. 

I would like to see them use a hurry up offense more often as well. 

 

[32 Counter Pass]

Disagree.  No one RB is going out and putting up monster games week-in-week-out but the team is running very well.  They are 9th in the league with 118 rushing yards/game (despite being 16th in attempts) and they are tied for 5th with an average of 4.6 YPC.

Jalen Richard 6.1 YPC

Latavius 4.2 YPC

DeAndre Washington 4.8 YPC

It's the fact that there is no dominating back that creates the impression that they are not a good running team.

Interesting. My take away is they are efficient, very efficient, at running the ball, but not dominant. That is where my disappointment comes from. 

 

[LawFitz]

Interesting. My take away is they are efficient, very efficient, at running the ball, but not dominant. That is where my disappointment comes from. 

There are more posts about this upthread,

- Lat has less variance in his runs and thus gets yardage consistently closer to his overall his YPC, whereas both Richard and Washington get theirs in chunks with a significantly larger amount of substandard runs (< ~3.3 yards) mixed in. When Lat was out, it felt more like the running game was stalling, because that consistency he adds was missing. Even in those games, the running game still put up decent overall yardage and YPC stats; but as Chaka pointed out, it just didn't feel effective when watching the team play.

- Before Lat got hurt and since his return to health, the Raiders running game has been a borderline top 5 unit. The complement backs (and this year, they've been better complements than feature backs) have been the perfect combo to go with a Latavius runner. I would expect the Raiders to look to continue this setup (even if it means replacing Lat with a hard charger rookie) next year and beyond. It's working.

 

[massraider]

I would expect the Raiders to look to continue this setup (even if it means replacing Lat with a hard charger rookie) next year and beyond. It's working.

Nick Chubb for the win?  Love to see him drafted in the 2nd next spring.

 

[32 Counter Pass]

That is my thought as well. But IMO even more juicy would be McCaffery. More rounded player. 

 

[LawFitz]

Nick Chubb for the win?  Love to see him drafted in the 2nd next spring.

Chub for Chubb

 

[krsone21]

That is my thought as well. But IMO even more juicy would be McCaffery. More rounded player. 

I'm a big McCaffrey fan. I would love for the Raiders to land him. He is good in three phases of the game. He can run out of the backfield, go in the slot and catches the ball great, and he is electric in the return game.

 

[Riversco]

All this talk of luck and magical seasons has me thinking...  Would Brady and the Pats be who they are without the tuck rule? The 99 Rams we're the fastest show on turf but Tampa Bay almost beat them the playoffs and the Titans as we all know, also almost got them in the Super Bowl. Teams catch fire in a bottle. Maybe this is the Raiders turn again. How often do they get the breaks (Hopkins play, the short yardage spots by the refs). Maybe ,just maybe this game was the Raiders "tuck rule" game. Good teams find a way to win right? And to throw out another cliché, "sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. " Its been a long time since we've rooted for a winner. Seems like when you have strong leadership, great players and coaches, things just seem to go your way. 

All that being said...  They must beat KC! Gotta get those ####$!

The raiders had some great luck in the playoffs in winning the super bowl in the past. Id say the tuck rule game kinda evens things out instead of the raiders needing redemption for the tuck rule game. 

 

[massraider]

The raiders had some great luck in the playoffs in winning the super bowl in the past. Id say the tuck rule game kinda evens things out instead of the raiders needing redemption for the tuck rule game. 

For real!!

I was just saying to my friend, remember how lucky we were in 1972, when the Steelers beat us with the Immacualte Reception?  

ANd then he said, Heck with that, remember how lucky we were in 2002, when the one coach that knew our team made it to the Super Bowl against us, and our Pro Bowl center had a nervous breakdown??

I replied, ''Hmmm, yeah, that was lucky, but really, we shouldn't have been in that game anyway.  We were lucky to beat the Jets in the playoffs that year (only won by a score of 30-10), and the Titans had some bad luck (final score:  41-24), we got lucky there.

He said, yah, but for total rabbit out of your a$$ luck, you have to go to the '83 team.  Talk about lucky!!!  Remember those squeaker playoff victories?!?  (38-10, 30-14, 38-9).  And winning the Super Bowl vs a crappy Redskins team that had barely any success, and a coach that was lucky to be there (won previous year's Super Bowl, talked about as all-time great team till Raiders got ahold of them).  

Hey chief, I said, that wasn't as lucky as 2000, when Tony Siragusa bodyslammed our QB in the playoffs.  That was SO LUCKY!!!.

Talk about lucky, my buddy said, that 1980 title shouldn't even count.  The Raiders were super lucky to be a wild card, and win 4 games in a row as first wild card team to win a Super Bowl.  I mean, that was pretty much all luck.  

But Ben Dreith made a phantom call in 1976, so you know, it all evens out.

 

[Interseptopus]

what's the word raider fans on extending Murray? looking ahead for cheap keepers... Richard seems to have cemented the rb2 duties. could be a sneaky keeper if they let Murray walk. 

can't see them signing a big check for Murray with that depth at rb. Unless Murray has a realistic price

 

[massraider]

what's the word raider fans on extending Murray? looking ahead for cheap keepers... Richard seems to have cemented the rb2 duties. could be a sneaky keeper if they let Murray walk. 

can't see them signing a big check for Murray with that depth at rb. Unless Murray has a realistic price

Every dynasty/keeper league I am in I have a piece of Richard or Washington where I can.  Only because of the lottery aspect of the Raider RB job.  I would not be surprised to see a RB added in the 2nd-5th rounds, either.  But if they don't add anyone?  Richard or Washington both could have value.

As to Latavius, my own personal opinion is that McKenzie is of the opinion that you have top paid guards and centers so that you don't have to pay a RB a lot of money.  

Latavius has made no money in his career as a 6th rounder, he needs to follow the biggest bonus check. 

Raiders free agents over the next two years:

Derek Carr
Khalil Mack
Gabe Jackson
DJ Hayden
Malcolm Smith
Perry Riley
Menelik Watson
Matt McGloin
Stacey McGee
Lee SMith
Justin Ellis

Latavius can forget 6 mill a year from this team. 

 

[massraider]

Anyone else notice that Carr's most clutch big time passes this year, he has always had the same release?

Which is to say, almost always a touch pass, gently throwing to a spot?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM7BtcdVvXg

That's the Seth Roberts 4th down TD vs. Bucs in overtime.  Carr takes a little off the ball, and his entire body language was the same as it would be on 1st down in the 1st quarter.

He is really oozing confidence right now.  

 

[Hankmoody]

Nick Chubb for the win?  Love to see him drafted in the 2nd next spring.

Good God yes.  I had a huge chub for EZE last year but Nick would be a great consolation prize.  Where we're looking to be drafting it may even make sense to get him in the 1st and not risk it.

 

[Stompin' Tom Connors]

and our Pro Bowl center had a nervous breakdown??

Solid post. And highlighting this as it's one of the weirder Raider/NFL moments that doesn't get talked about a lot. Robbins simply disappearing the morning of the biggest game of his life wasn't a unique occurrence -- he had gone missing for the bulk of the week leading up to the AFC Championship game in 2001, but at least showed up to play in the game.

He had apparently been battling bipolar disorder for a while (and in this day and age, one wonders how much decades of smashing his head aqainst opposing D-linemen's helmets contributed to his symptoms), but went off the deep end on a manic episode in the sliver of window time between getting dropped off at his hotel before 11 the night before the Superbowl, and the next AM for the team's first meeting. Running off to Tijuana to party, he was quoted as saying that he thought the Raiders had won the game already so he was celebrating.

Some say pain was the trigger -- Robbins was battling foot pain for most of the season and was constantly shooting cortisone and numbing agents for every game. Others say stress may have been the trigger, given Callahan switching the SB game plan late from a run-heavy attack to a pass-heavy attack, putting that much more on the shoulders of Robbins n pass pro.

Either way, his career was over with that single inexplicably poor decision, and his life went downhill fast from there -- scrap with a security guard at a hotel, arrested for battery, public drunkeness, and trespassing. Then shot in the lung during an incident in Miami where he was charged with attempted murder. After some jail and rehab time, he got nabbed smoking crack and was sent to the hoosegow for 5 years.

Feel for the guy who was obviously suffering crippling depression and bipolar issues and while things had been building, that one event seems to have contributed to a pretty big downward spiral he still hasn't fully overcome.  

 

[rick6668]

For real!!

I was just saying to my friend, remember how lucky we were in 1972, when the Steelers beat us with the Immacualte Reception?  

ANd then he said, Heck with that, remember how lucky we were in 2002, when the one coach that knew our team made it to the Super Bowl against us, and our Pro Bowl center had a nervous breakdown??

I replied, ''Hmmm, yeah, that was lucky, but really, we shouldn't have been in that game anyway.  We were lucky to beat the Jets in the playoffs that year (only won by a score of 30-10), and the Titans had some bad luck (final score:  41-24), we got lucky there.

He said, yah, but for total rabbit out of your a$$ luck, you have to go to the '83 team.  Talk about lucky!!!  Remember those squeaker playoff victories?!?  (38-10, 30-14, 38-9).  And winning the Super Bowl vs a crappy Redskins team that had barely any success, and a coach that was lucky to be there (won previous year's Super Bowl, talked about as all-time great team till Raiders got ahold of them).  

Hey chief, I said, that wasn't as lucky as 2000, when Tony Siragusa bodyslammed our QB in the playoffs.  That was SO LUCKY!!!.

Talk about lucky, my buddy said, that 1980 title shouldn't even count.  The Raiders were super lucky to be a wild card, and win 4 games in a row as first wild card team to win a Super Bowl.  I mean, that was pretty much all luck.  

But Ben Dreith made a phantom call in 1976, so you know, it all evens out.

Wish I could give this more than one like.  Great post.

 

[joey]

[SIZE=12pt]https://sports.yahoo.com/news/raiders-promote-lbs-adams-cowser-active-roster-005200132--nfl.html[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]raiders promote LBs Cowser and Adams, cut T McCants and TE O'Malley. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Is there some rash of LB injuries that I'm not aware of?[/SIZE]

 

[Chaka]

[SIZE=12pt]https://sports.yahoo.com/news/raiders-promote-lbs-adams-cowser-active-roster-005200132--nfl.html[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]raiders promote LBs Cowser and Adams, cut T McCants and TE O'Malley. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Is there some rash of LB injuries that I'm not aware of?[/SIZE]

Well, I think most would agree that LB, particularly ILB and coverage LBs in general, is a position of weakness for the Oakland D.

 

[Stompin' Tom Connors]

[SIZE=12pt]https://sports.yahoo.com/news/raiders-promote-lbs-adams-cowser-active-roster-005200132--nfl.html[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]raiders promote LBs Cowser and Adams, cut T McCants and TE O'Malley. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Is there some rash of LB injuries that I'm not aware of?[/SIZE]

This is more likely Reggie protecting the team's depth as Goodell fs around draggin his feet about Aldon Smith.

I can't say it too many time. Goodell has to go.

 

[DocHolliday]

This is more likely Reggie protecting the team's depth as Goodell fs around draggin his feet about Aldon Smith.

I can't say it too many time. Goodell has to go.

Not sure why the the NFL owners put up with Goidell. 

 

[Stompin' Tom Connors]

Good on this team continuing to build on their momentum and playing smart, tough football.

Game is far from over, but the team looks good in terms of demoralizing the Panthers on both sides of the ball.

Great seeing Lat be successful against a stout D, and love seeing Mack get his pick six.

 

[BustedKnuckles]

Good on this team continuing to build on their momentum and playing smart, tough football.

Game is far from over, but the team looks good in terms of demoralizing the Panthers on both sides of the ball.

Great seeing Lat be successful against a stout D, and love seeing Mack get his pick six.

shades of Jack Squirek

 

[SDJohnny]

Hayden killing us again.  

 

[massraider]

So: Khalil.

Also, if Carr wants to rock the single black glove from now on, I totally approve.  

 

[Garrett]

So: Khalil.

Also, if Carr wants to rock the single black glove from now on, I totally approve.  

Skywalker

 

[Hankmoody]

Darth Carr

 

[BustedKnuckles]

Darth Carr

Glove or no glove, The Force was with Derek Carr

 

[Sarlakticacid]

Skywalker

The 4th quarter is strong with this one

 

[joey]

Ok. Of course this win was amazing and, yes, I generally dig the balls and guts of the play calling and aggressiveness this team is showing. But I was livid that the didn't run it 3 times in a row at the end of the game to keep the clock running.  Would've left the Panthers with something like 45 seconds instead of 1:45 or whatever it was. Frustrating. 

Yes, a win's a win. But still. We gotta be smarter as we head in to the final stretch of this season. 

That said...9 and 2?!?!?!?! What the what!?!?

i told my sons...THIS is how good the Raiders used to be when I was a kid. They're finally starting to understand my inexplicable love of this team.

 

[joey]

And a KC/Denver tie would be a nice little bonus.

ETA: THAT close. :(

 

[kaso]

Holy moly... that game.   During the run of 25 straight points for Carolina, there was a lot of flashbacks from previous seasons. Super impressed with the Raiders will to stay in the game.  In the past that game would have been over once Carolina started their run. 

Two random thoughts;

- That blocked extra point turned out to save 3 points ... if that kick was made, the Panthers would not have had to try for the 2 point conversion on the next 2 scores. 

- Has there every been a QB to finish a game with two kneel's while in Shotgun?  
 

 

[Stompin' Tom Connors]

Strikes me that Seth Roberts has become that clutch possession receiver that we all thought Crabtree was until Crabs became a bona-fide 1A WR on our roster.

While he has dropped some balls this year, strikes me that we can rely on his hands when it counts more often than not. Not sure he's getting the credit he deserves in the Raiders success this year - not flashy, not huge, but consistently helping out.

Good on ya Seth.

 

[Bruno2]

Carr just showed us all what type of person he is yesterday. He could have folded like Superman on laundry day. Instead, he got back out there and lead the team to another victory. Glad that kid is on our side! 

 

[dcgangstas]

Hayden killing us again.  

Good Lord was that a terrible first round pick or what?   

I remember Reggie saying that he would have taken him third overall if he hadn't traded down.    Sean Smith gives me heartburn.   We gotta fix that secondary, but lovin' the 9-2 record!!! 

 

[LawFitz]

As a prior Carr detractor, let me say I am 100% sold now, hat in hand for this dude. He has Brett Farve's physicals and competitiveness, with intelligence and intangibles that are showing in spades. Dude is in year 3 and straight ballin. I thought his best case upside was Stafford, but I was very wrong. His best case upside is MVPs and Superbowls. I see you, Derek Carr.

 

[Bruno2]

Good Lord was that a terrible first round pick or what?   

I remember Reggie saying that he would have taken him third overall if he hadn't traded down.    Sean Smith gives me heartburn.   We gotta fix that secondary, but lovin' the 9-2 record!!! 

Looking back that was a brutal draft class. Yeah, there was Richardson, Star and Hopkins. But not much talent at the top end of the draft. Lots of teams wiffed that year. Not making excuses for Reggie, but he could have just as easily drafted Millner who's not even in the league anymore. Hindsight 20/20 it looks like Rhodes is becoming the best DB of that draft class, with Amerson a close 2nd unless I'm missing someone off the top of my head. 

 

[DocHolliday]

Strikes me that Seth Roberts has become that clutch possession receiver that we all thought Crabtree was until Crabs became a bona-fide 1A WR on our roster.

While he has dropped some balls this year, strikes me that we can rely on his hands when it counts more often than not. Not sure he's getting the credit he deserves in the Raiders success this year - not flashy, not huge, but consistently helping out.

Good on ya Seth.

Carr missed a wide open Seth for an easy 10 yard gain on the play that Carr threw the INT to Davis in the middle of the field. 

Seth was standing wide open on the right side if the field. Not sure why Carr missed him and instead threw a horrible pass. In Sony case, the WR Corp is strong. 

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Solid post. And highlighting this as it's one of the weirder Raider/NFL moments that doesn't get talked about a lot. Robbins simply disappearing the morning of the biggest game of his life wasn't a unique occurrence -- he had gone missing for the bulk of the week leading up to the AFC Championship game in 2001, but at least showed up to play in the game.

He had apparently been battling bipolar disorder for a while (and in this day and age, one wonders how much decades of smashing his head aqainst opposing D-linemen's helmets contributed to his symptoms), but went off the deep end on a manic episode in the sliver of window time between getting dropped off at his hotel before 11 the night before the Superbowl, and the next AM for the team's first meeting. Running off to Tijuana to party, he was quoted as saying that he thought the Raiders had won the game already so he was celebrating.

Some say pain was the trigger -- Robbins was battling foot pain for most of the season and was constantly shooting cortisone and numbing agents for every game. Others say stress may have been the trigger, given Callahan switching the SB game plan late from a run-heavy attack to a pass-heavy attack, putting that much more on the shoulders of Robbins n pass pro.

Either way, his career was over with that single inexplicably poor decision, and his life went downhill fast from there -- scrap with a security guard at a hotel, arrested for battery, public drunkeness, and trespassing. Then shot in the lung during an incident in Miami where he was charged with attempted murder. After some jail and rehab time, he got nabbed smoking crack and was sent to the hoosegow for 5 years.

Feel for the guy who was obviously suffering crippling depression and bipolar issues and while things had been building, that one event seems to have contributed to a pretty big downward spiral he still hasn't fully overcome.  

i was at that Super Bowl and still think i could have gotten robbins back for the game if i had been his chaperone, yellow blow off TJ whore's asses and all.    we knew about robbins being awol before it hit any news outlets.  we had one buddy staying at the hyatt with the raiders and we were in a condo right down the street.  we hung out at the hotel all weekend and were having breakfast when the news spread through the hotel like wildfire.

other than the game, such an epic weekend!

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Strikes me that Seth Roberts has become that clutch possession receiver that we all thought Crabtree was until Crabs became a bona-fide 1A WR on our roster.

While he has dropped some balls this year, strikes me that we can rely on his hands when it counts more often than not. Not sure he's getting the credit he deserves in the Raiders success this year - not flashy, not huge, but consistently helping out.

Good on ya Seth.

robert's drives me crazy  drops the easy ones, catches the difficult ones.  

 

[DA RAIDERS]

what really impressed me about this last game is they didn't fold.  they kept fighting.  carr goes down, CAR scores at will for 20 minutes....but!  both sides of the ball did what was necessary to get the win.

they already have 1 more win than i had predicted before the season started.  this #### is fun again boys!!!

*booked hotel rooms for the home playoff games...  

 

[raidergil]

As a prior Carr detractor, let me say I am 100% sold now, hat in hand for this dude. He has Brett Farve's physicals and competitiveness, with intelligence and intangibles that are showing in spades. Dude is in year 3 and straight ballin. I thought his best case upside was Stafford, but I was very wrong. His best case upside is MVPs and Superbowls. I see you, Derek Carr.

Dude had a double dislocation on throwing hand finger. Slaps on a glove & leads 2nd 4th Q game winning drive in 6 days. Straight up leader! Love this kid.And if you follow all the social media I love the relationship betw Carr & Mack - each one pushing & talking up the other. Best if we write off the Hayden pick & appreciate how lucky we were to get Mack & Carr in same draft.....not too mention how Reggie made up for Al's horrible DHB pick & signed us Crab!

 

[SDJohnny]

Pretty vague on getting Edwards back. We really need that inside push. Latham stepped up in the Bronco game, but only played 18% of the snaps yesterday. Hope is ankle is better by Sunday.

http://raiderswire.usatoday.com/2016/11/28/raiders-mario-edwards-jr-expected-back-this-season-amerson-this-week/

After injuring his hip in an exhibition game Aug. 12, Oakland Raiders defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. was supposed to miss six weeks.

As the season now hurdles along into Week 13 without Edwards Jr. even practiced, fans have been growing anxious. When Raiders coach Jack Del Rio was asked if he thought Edwards Jr. would return this year during media availability Monday, he did offer fans some reason for hope.


“Yeah, I do,” Del Rio said Monday via The Mercury News, “but until he gets cleared, it’s just kind of wait and see.”

 

[SDJohnny]

Dude had a double dislocation on throwing hand finger. Slaps on a glove & leads 2nd 4th Q game winning drive in 6 days. Straight up leader! Love this kid.And if you follow all the social media I love the relationship betw Carr & Mack - each one pushing & talking up the other. Best if we write off the Hayden pick & appreciate how lucky we were to get Mack & Carr in same draft.....not too mention how Reggie made up for Al's horrible DHB pick & signed us Crab!

It's really amazing to have a Franchise QB finally. I'm usually looking at our potential draft slot by this time. 

 

[DA RAIDERS]

aldon smith decision on friday...

 

[joey]

It's really amazing to have a Franchise QB finally. I'm usually looking at our potential draft slot by this time. 

So true! Thanks for writing that and reminding us how much different this year has been from the past decade+

 

[dcgangstas]

So true! Thanks for writing that and reminding us how much different this year has been from the past decade+

I agree.   I can finally say "JaMarcus Russell"   and laugh in retrospect now.    The NFL is so much better when we're good.    Raider Nation on the move, Baby!!

 

[massraider]

Think I'm going to KC for the game.

 

[SDJohnny]

Think I'm going to KC for the game.

I'm making the trip from Las Vegas to San Diego Dec 18th. I expect it to be a "home game".  

 

[BoltNlava]

Think I'm going to KC for the game.

I've been as a Charger fan wearing...*gasp* a Leaf jersey. The fans gave me ton of S***,  but were the best fans I've ever encountered to this date. Highly recommend. ****WARNING**** Not sure if that holds for Raider fans...LOL