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== OFFICIAL OAKLAND RAIDERS 2018 thread == (2 Viewers)

Inactives

DL Tank Carradine

T T.J. Clemmings

WR Brandon LaFell

T Justin Murray

DT Brian Price

CB Nick Nelson

RB DeAndré Washington
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Tank was listed as a starter (Mack replacement) on the official team depth chart. Gruden mind games with McVay perhaps. I'm curious to see who starts instead - Key, Fadol Brown or old man Frosty.

Speaking of old men, with Nelson out that means Leon Hall has to work the slot exclusively vs. Cooper Kupp. Not liking that matchup.

 
Team rolled over once the fight went into the later rounds. Carr and Stafford are similar players. Still think Goff is overrated but McVay is the man. Missed Mack. Gruden has dug himself into a hole. :(

 
The guys came to play tonight, was happy to see that but our pass rush is atrocious and our CB's need to lear to turn their head around for the ball. 

 
13 seconds left in the game, down by 3 scores. Why are you still running plays? Just down the thing. Getting somebody hurt would just be the final topper.

 
A few quick takes:

The good:

Cook looked great.

Team fought hard.

The bad:

Carr was dreadful.  Throwing the ball away too quick.  Never challenging downfield, nothing but checkdowns.  Horrible decisions, can't just throw the ball right to the defense without looking.  Even if the receiver was not in the right spot you can't just float it out there without paying attention to what was actually happening.

The "centerpiece" of the offense, Amari Cooper, was invisible.

Zero pass rush.

Once again, year after year, WAY too many penalties.

 
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Same old Raiders with the penalties but Carr and Cooper seem to be getting worse each year. 

Sure would have been nice to have the NFL's best player on D.  We are going to hear about that blunder that for years.  The passing game is going to struggle.  Our WRs are as horrible as ever. 

 
Once Wade Phillips figured out what Gruden was doing, the offense (and Carr) was dead. After they couldn't control the clock with the run game anymore, and exploit the Cook mismatch, it was over. Carr looked like his brother in the 2nd half, scared and tentative. Donald, Suh, Peter's and Talib were in his head. 

Gruden has turned him into a puppet. To me it felt like once the Rams flipped the script Carr couldn't add'lib, be aggressive and make plays down the field. They were dead in the water...

I know it's one game against a really good team and Carr is in his 3rd offense on 3 years but if he can't get a grasp of Gruden's offense, I know what position they're gonna target in the future with those 2 number 1's. Hate to say it, I've always been a Carr backer, but he can't play like he did in the 2nd half again, that was awful.

 
That offense reminded me of the last three years Gruden was in Tampa.  Zero creativity.

I get that the plan was to exploit the Rams LBs but at some point if the best you can do is throw immediate dump-offs to Richard, without even glancing downfield, ELEVEN times then you may be better off forefitting. It's effectively the same thing without the risk of injury.

 
It’s early but Gruden has that 97-99 Ditka feel to him, just with a decent QB. I’m always pulling for Oakland the city and the loyal fans of one of the NFL’s great franchises, hopefully this improves.

 
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To help level set a bit... or keep my rose colored glasses nice and clean.

  • The first half of football was NOT what we had last season, or the year before... or the year before that.
  • The oline across the board played great against a very stout front 3.  Penalties happen, that isn't new.  But Carr stayed upright and pretty clean against a $135M man.  And the blocked well for the run.
  • Carr's 3 interceptions were ugly.  Very ugly.  BUT... but he is far from the only starting QB that had that type of game (Stafford had 4, Carr/JimmyG/Keenum/Roeth all had 3 each.  Mariotta had 2 in about half a game).  There is now opportunity to correct those mistakes.
  • I was happy to see the Raiders play calling adjusted to the strength of matchups.   This was missing in previous play calling.
  • No more KNJ. 
The bad... well, everybody saw the bad.  It was clear that the second half of football was not what we want or hoped for.  Time for Gruden and team to regroup on a short week and get ready for a divisional game.

 
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A QB throwing INT's, even multiple ones in a game, isn't unique. What seemed unique to me was how truly awful many of those Carr INT's were -- atrocious decisions with zero poise against the rush. He's talented, young, and working through a new offense...but I did think he was better than this in terms of how boneheaded some of those throws were.

Is discipline ever going to be a thing for this team? 

And Nelson and the rest of the secondary looked more than lost out there. They were straight-up flailing in coverage. Nelson in particular looked out of place and out of his depth.

Gurley is Gurley but our D line were simply manhandled against the run -- huge gaping holes, and our LBs were having trouble turning contact into tackles.

O-line had their hands full last night and acquitted themselves well. Gruden did well utilizing Cook in the first half and Richard in the second as it was clear our WRs were having trouble getting open. A quality 3rd WR to help thin coverage would help (seems like a refrain I make every year). Maybe more spread instead of bunch would also help create soft spots, I don't know.

My mancrush for Lynch continues -- classic pushing through a thick pile of defenders, with one hanging on his ankle, into the EZ. Just wow.

Short week, Donks are up -- hope we can maintain intensity, focus, and improve execution.

 
Stompin' Tom Connors said:
A QB throwing INT's, even multiple ones in a game, isn't unique. What seemed unique to me was how truly awful many of those Carr INT's were -- atrocious decisions with zero poise against the rush. He's talented, young, and working through a new offense...but I did think he was better than this in terms of how boneheaded some of those throws were.
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Also maybe even more troubling was that there was zero poise against very little rush as well.  There were a couple throw aways and the horrible interception where Carr had more time and just gave up on the play.  Maybe the WRs did struggle to get open, but they were also given very little opportunity to do so.

 
ICON211 said:
A few quick takes:

The good:

Cook looked great.

Team fought hard.

The bad:

Carr was dreadful.  Throwing the ball away too quick.  Never challenging downfield, nothing but checkdowns.  Horrible decisions, can't just throw the ball right to the defense without looking.  Even if the receiver was not in the right spot you can't just float it out there without paying attention to what was actually happening.

The "centerpiece" of the offense, Amari Cooper, was invisible.

Zero pass rush.

Once again, year after year, WAY too many penalties.
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Excellent assessment, ICON.   Couldn't have said it any better.   Carr never seems to try to buy some time in the pocket to allow a receiver to get open.   His decision-making was just dreadful; you could just see the "WTF" look on Gruden's face after the air-mailed INT.   

The team did compete, and I was pleased to see that.   The secondary is still a major issue.   Guys were running free over the middle all game.   We can't have Emmanuel Sanders running roughshod on us next week.  

Jared Cook was like a man possessed last night.   Happy to say I drafted him as my #2 TE in the 17th round (took Rudolph in Round 9).   If that's our new offense (Cooper as the centerpiece??), he starts the rest of the way for me.   Denver historically struggles against TEs.  If you have him and don't have Gronk or Kelce, start him!!! 

Let's go Raiders!!! 

 
Cook was fairly solid for us last year (NFL-wise, not FF), and I think he definitely benefited from game script but I think it bodes well that he'll be a solid contributor going forward, and hopefully provides great options for Carr if Cooper continues to be mediocre and Jordy Nelson shows his age.

 
Some fly over thoughts since I haven't watch the game yet. Carr = Dalton in fantasy. Boom or bust with more bust. Cooper = Devante Parker. Over hyped and continues to disappoint fantasy owners. The Raiders = Browns west.

If this team was truly interested in winning they would have found a way to keep Mack. That may have meant redoing Carr's deal, but I haven't seen one piece of info saying they approached Carr. In Carr's own words: "We figured out a way to do it so that we have the opportunity to sign the other guys that I think are important to this organization," Well, WTF happened? If the front office (Gruden) had a clue they could have figured out a deal to keep Mack. 

And even if they could not come to an agreement they still had leverage. The nonsense about about Mack being disgruntled and a locker room diversion holds no water IMO. Earl Thomas is the prime example of how you handle a super star when you have leverage. He is still making plays even tho he is disgruntle and want a trade. 

 
This team isn't a dumpster fire just yet.

Let's be clear, this was a close, evenly-matched dog-fight in the first half where the Raiders were giving as good as they got. That, to me, is a HUGE win as the Rams can make teams one-dimensional (and was clear they did it to us) given that they have a superb pass rush AND have a good enough secondary to lock down WRs.

We attacked that directly by running right down their throats (taking away their pass rush excellence and forcing them to defend the run, where they are middling once you get past the LOS), and by finding seams underneath/in the middle with Cook and Richard.

So what changed? In my eyes:

  • We didn't adjust enough to become a little less predictable. For example, the draw to Lynch in the first half was an exceptional play call -- but I didn't see us use more of that, more misdirection, or even more PA. Maybe that's because our O-line had it's hands full. But seemed to me we left a lot of our playbook -- even accounting for game plan -- in the binders and not on the field, and just kept targeting the mismatch b/w TE/pass catching back and their underwhelming LB corps. There has to be more to the attack or it's too transparent.
  • Carr's long ball is 100% suspect in my eyes. Last year, I thought he wasn't fully healed enough. This year, no excuses -- I've come to think that Carr simply doesn't have the arm/accuracy to soften up/keep the D honest in a purely vertical attack. Carr had 0 completions off of only 3 passes in the third quarter. Unacceptable performance. 
  • Our slot/3rd wideouts didn't seem to be employed against the Rams underwhelming LB corps. Carrier and Roberts were a collective 3 for 33 off of 5 targets. 
  • 254 penalty yards in the first half on 10 flags (Two PIS for 87 yards) -- we left tons of chances for points constantly backing ourselves up. Can't have red zone attempts (only 1-2 compared to 2-5 for the Rams) if we're backed up against our own end zone.
  • Our D line looked to lose their stamina, and the holes their Oline were creating in the first half became gaping chasms -- 16 carries, 89 yards in the second half for Gurley. 
  • We began losing the time of possession after the half. We were dominating time with the ball in the first half; the Rams took over on long extended drives in the second.
  • Turnovers -- we had 3, Rams had 0, and capitalized the most on them with 2 pick sixes.
Good news is that much of this is addressable -- game plan, penalties, turnovers, etc. Being able to impose our will in the run game against a Top 3 D line is a nice plus. 

The bad news, I fear, is that some of it is not -- Carr's shakiness and bad decisions, Cooper's disappearing act, the lack of other options in our WR game, and our lack of pressure against the pass -- Goff had WAAAAY too much time to go through reads -- is something I think will cause us to be a 4 or so win team than the 7 or so I was hoping for.

Much better schedule until the bye. Time to right this ship, ignore the naysayers, and execute. Pitter patter, let's get at 'er.

 
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Yikes, maybe he always looks like this the day after a loss but Gruden already looks whipped:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZo7UIkHQsM

He's still hyping Carr tho: "I don't have any doubts Derek Carr is going to be great and I can't wait to get started and get ready for the Broncos." And in reply to the first half to second half difference: "Yeah, there were a few plays that uncharacteristically he wasn't at his best but sometimes you have to credit the defense...but knowing how good Derek is it gives us hope we can get it all solved."

It's too early to say he's in denial but... :whistle: .

 
Stompin' Tom Connors said:
Good news is that much of this is addressable -- game plan, penalties, turnovers, etc. Being able to impose our will in the run game against a Top 3 D line is a nice plus. 

The bad news, I fear, is that some of it is not -- Carr's shakiness and bad decisions, Cooper's disappearing act, the lack of other options in our WR game, and our lack of pressure against the pass -- Goff had WAAAAY too much time to go through reads -- is something I think will cause us to be a 4 or so win team than the 7 or so I was hoping for.
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Good, well thought out post as always, Tom. I feel the opposite on some of the above though.

Game plan can certainly be addressed via coaching.

Penalties, tho, I'm not so sure about. You want your guys out there trying to make plays. And as we all know--thru good times and bad--the Raiders have always been heavily penalized.

And I'm not sure what can be done about turnovers, particularly interceptions. Carr can make all the right reads Tuesday thru Friday but when the lights come on Sunday and he pulls the shenanigans he did last night, well... I guess Gruden could call 75 runs.

I think they CAN fix Cooper's problems. One target, one catch, two good CBs. I think things will get much better there. He has too much talent for me to think otherwise. And if they can fix Cooper, that loosens things up for the other receivers.

Finally, on the lack of pass pressure, Gruden said in today's presser re: Hall, Key and Hurst, "it's gonna be a tough year as it is for every rookie." But I'm fairly confident Guenther can come up with some schemes to apply pressure even with you know who gone.

I still think they can win 6.

 
Certainly an awful night by Carr but I'd like to give him more time with Gruden before really worrying. His 2nd & 3rd years were great. In 2016 he was like Stabler late in games (old guy reference). The knock on him out of college was having happy feet but he hug in. It shows he has the ability to be the man. I too wrote off last year to injuries. Hopefully just a mental thing to get over.

 
Ed Wood said:
Yikes, maybe he always looks like this the day after a loss but Gruden already looks whipped:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZo7UIkHQsM

He's still hyping Carr tho: "I don't have any doubts Derek Carr is going to be great and I can't wait to get started and get ready for the Broncos." And in reply to the first half to second half difference: "Yeah, there were a few plays that uncharacteristically he wasn't at his best but sometimes you have to credit the defense...but knowing how good Derek is it gives us hope we can get it all solved."

It's too early to say he's in denial but... :whistle: .
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yeah, he definitely should have thrown his franchise QB under the bus after a bad game and we should start looking for a replacement.

C'mon, what's the coach supposed to say there except be very supportive of his best player.

I have lots of problems with how the game turned upside down in the 4th quarter, but I have zero problems with the Gruden quotes you included here.

 
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Ed Wood said:
Good, well thought out post as always, Tom. I feel the opposite on some of the above though.

Game plan can certainly be addressed via coaching.

Penalties, tho, I'm not so sure about. You want your guys out there trying to make plays. And as we all know--thru good times and bad--the Raiders have always been heavily penalized.

And I'm not sure what can be done about turnovers, particularly interceptions. Carr can make all the right reads Tuesday thru Friday but when the lights come on Sunday and he pulls the shenanigans he did last night, well... I guess Gruden could call 75 runs.

I think they CAN fix Cooper's problems. One target, one catch, two good CBs. I think things will get much better there. He has too much talent for me to think otherwise. And if they can fix Cooper, that loosens things up for the other receivers.

Finally, on the lack of pass pressure, Gruden said in today's presser re: Hall, Key and Hurst, "it's gonna be a tough year as it is for every rookie." But I'm fairly confident Guenther can come up with some schemes to apply pressure even with you know who gone.

I still think they can win 6.
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Nice counterpost, Ed!

In terms of penalties, are you saying that some penalties are inevitable/acceptable so that the team is flat-out playing at a damned-the-torpedoes, risk-the-flag to make the play level? I won't disagree, but there are penalties that are more inexcuseable than others -- false starts, offsides, holding in most situations except for preventing a bad sack or a TD, etc. Simple discipline goes a long way.

For perspective, for the last 3 years, NFL teams averaged 6.3 penalties per game for 54.5 yards. Last night, Raiders were 11 for 155. To me, that's both self-defeating and correctable.

I agree that Carr's INT issues are a real problem. I heard Gruden on Sirius NFL radio today say that one of those INT's was actually a receiver's fault -- didn't say which one, but assuming a wrong route was run. And I believe Carr rushing to throw was part of the game plan to avoid the pressure from Donald and Suh. But to me, Carr over the last few years has been known to make some poor decisions, and of more concern are the INTs caused by underthrown balls deep. Not sure how correctable that is. 

Absolutely Cooper was shut down last night by CB play and double coverage, and his low target count was likely also by design. And he has the talent -- two 1K yard seasons shows the potential. But those were 2-3 years ago already, and he has less than 10 receiving yards in 6 of his last 13 games. That more recent (and more persistent) trend is what I fear is more the norm than his 1K yardage season. He'll rebound, but at this point it's hard to see him rebounding to the level of his early career.

What you say about our D line's inexperience and Guenther's ability to scheme is true, and is improvable. Let's hope we see it fast.

 
dcgangstas said:
Yeah, Kolton was better than I thought he'd be.    So there's that.  
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Yep -- allowed just 2 hurries in his first start. Penn did well, too -- 73 snaps, only 2 QB pressures, no sacks allowed. Something to build on.

And for those glass half-full guys, I will leave this:

The last QB to throw 3 picks in a season opener was Kenny Stabler in 1976.

Who went on to win the Super Bowl later that year.

Things can turn around.

 
LawFitz said:
Team rolled over once the fight went into the later rounds. Carr and Stafford are similar players. Still think Goff is overrated but McVay is the man. Missed Mack. Gruden has dug himself into a hole. :(
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The heave it deep, get a penalty, was a great weapon for the rams. We should send Roberts? Deep and see what happens. Worked for the rams on multiple occasions. It may not work if the opposing dbs are trained to turn their head and look for the ball. 

 
Ed Wood said:
Yikes, maybe he always looks like this the day after a loss but Gruden already looks whipped:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZo7UIkHQsM

He's still hyping Carr tho: "I don't have any doubts Derek Carr is going to be great and I can't wait to get started and get ready for the Broncos." And in reply to the first half to second half difference: "Yeah, there were a few plays that uncharacteristically he wasn't at his best but sometimes you have to credit the defense...but knowing how good Derek is it gives us hope we can get it all solved."

It's too early to say he's in denial but... :whistle: .
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“A skunk got loose in our tunnel”.  He’s constantly joking, saying something cutesy.  With all the smirks and half smiles.  Drives me nuts  

He does look whipped/defeated.  To me, a serious doubter and detractor from the beginning, he also looks like a guy selling a line of bull ####. That he knows, full well, is just that. A line of bull ####.  

Carr looked awful. So many throws were flat footed and or of the back foot. Wtf was with all those lob throws?  Gruden is supposed to be the qb whisperer. What. The. ####?  

And what is with the coaches decision to deactivate tank carradine?  Gruden’s, my way or the high way, tough guy, go #### yourself attitude will not work in todays NFL. the shots of key, totally gassed on the sidelines, on one knee, were very telling. Not to mention, 60 year old, frostee Rucker seemingly, playing every dline position. 

I had them at 2-4 to start the season. I’ll stick to that for now. With 6 wins as my ceiling. Hopefully, it’s less. :bag:   At this point, I almost want them and definitely the bears to lose every game. they need every damn pick they can get. 

 
Chadstroma said:
Someone needs to explain this to me. Very confused.
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If he signs after week one's game his salary is not guaranteed? It also saves them abit over a million (new contract appears to be veterans minimum)

As for the looming suspension? No clue

 
Stompin' Tom Connors said:
Nice counterpost, Ed!

In terms of penalties, are you saying that some penalties are inevitable/acceptable so that the team is flat-out playing at a damned-the-torpedoes, risk-the-flag to make the play level? I won't disagree, but there are penalties that are more inexcuseable than others -- false starts, offsides, holding in most situations except for preventing a bad sack or a TD, etc. Simple discipline goes a long way.

For perspective, for the last 3 years, NFL teams averaged 6.3 penalties per game for 54.5 yards. Last night, Raiders were 11 for 155. To me, that's both self-defeating and correctable.

I agree that Carr's INT issues are a real problem. I heard Gruden on Sirius NFL radio today say that one of those INT's was actually a receiver's fault -- didn't say which one, but assuming a wrong route was run. And I believe Carr rushing to throw was part of the game plan to avoid the pressure from Donald and Suh. But to me, Carr over the last few years has been known to make some poor decisions, and of more concern are the INTs caused by underthrown balls deep. Not sure how correctable that is. 

Absolutely Cooper was shut down last night by CB play and double coverage, and his low target count was likely also by design. And he has the talent -- two 1K yard seasons shows the potential. But those were 2-3 years ago already, and he has less than 10 receiving yards in 6 of his last 13 games. That more recent (and more persistent) trend is what I fear is more the norm than his 1K yardage season. He'll rebound, but at this point it's hard to see him rebounding to the level of his early career.

What you say about our D line's inexperience and Guenther's ability to scheme is true, and is improvable. Let's hope we see it fast.
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The 2 PI calls made up 87 of those yards. Even though it was sloppy our DBs were in position, just need to get their heads around. I didn't mind this at all as we didn't get beat deep and the results of the 2 drives was 3 points

 
Sarlakticacid said:
The 2 PI calls made up 87 of those yards. Even though it was sloppy our DBs were in position, just need to get their heads around. I didn't mind this at all as we didn't get beat deep and the results of the 2 drives was 3 points
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True, Sean Smith would have been left in the dust by Cooks. At least there was a guy there this time. It's the small victories I guess.

 
Sarlakticacid said:
The 2 PI calls made up 87 of those yards. Even though it was sloppy our DBs were in position, just need to get their heads around. I didn't mind this at all as we didn't get beat deep and the results of the 2 drives was 3 points
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Good point. But I would not have our DBs make a habit of it. It's these kinds of deep plays that flip us from a good down/distance situation to the other team getting into position to score that has killed us year after year after year.

 
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