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== OFFICIAL OAKLAND RAIDERS 2018 thread == (1 Viewer)

Gruden doesn't last 4 years before he runs screaming. Kinda like Parcells did after he became a SB winning HC.
This wouldn't surprise me one bit. Parcels, Holgrem, are the two that come to mind who to semi-quote Parcells, "want to shop for the groceries and cook the meal." Bite off more than they can chew. If Gruden makes it past 5 years as GM/HC I'd be impressed. If he makes it past 5 years AND hes built a successful team then I'll be very surprised,  and gladly eat crow. 

 
Whelp, I am pretty much through the Elizabeth Kubler-Ross 5 stages of grief.

Week 1 against the Rams, was pretty much in denial about this team -- we looked super solid despite the glaring weaknesses and second half collapse, thinking, "Hey, it's the Rams, didn't expect this team to win anyway, some good signs for this season."

Blew through anger from losing to the hated Broncos, with a little bit of bargaining -- Carr and Cooper looked efficient and solid, offense looking explosive we still looked strong out the gate in limiting the Donks to just two first downs, maybe we just got unlucky in the second half and the Denver D is strong, after all.

Full blown depression set in against Miami -- we are who everyone says we are, this isn't a potential winning team who just has to hold it together and find ways to win, it's a losing team without consistency or cohesive character whose season -- once again -- is over barely before it began. Another season of dashed hopes and dreams and another year of wasting the talent we have.

OK, acceptance. Rather than competing for the division, we're a team that needs to prove we can compete for a full 60 minutes, for yet another long year in this sliding franchise's history. I have zero expectations of this team and its performance other than of Gruden, who needs to right this ship as if his job depends upon it. 

And I will take what little good comes our way as small building blocks on the long road to revelance. Some of these are:

  • Arden Key continues to develop -- highest graded defensive player with QB hits in ten pass rush snaps, 2 run stops in 5 run D snaps. 
  • Other rookies looking ok -- specifically Miller, but Hurst has flashed at times as well. 
  • Team is 4th in the league in yards gained.
  • Carr is 4th in passing yards
  • We seem to be able to get in the red zone, we just need to find ways of scoring -- we're 28th in points per game.
  • As we rebuild, we have 27 contract expiring, so some work for Reggie to do (and I hope we keep him just to manage the post-Mack year or two in this regard) but we will have $60M in cap space before cuts compared to $25 going into the offseason -- a lot of room to help development.
  • We have not trailed for any snap through the first 3 quarters of every game this season. Ratcheting down our execution for a full 60 minutes is addressable
  • Our needs aren't all over the place to regain some semblance of competitive play -- if we win turnover battles, D and ST need to improve field position (we're currently averaging starting at the 22 yard line), and minimizing penalties -- all addressable things -- these three things alone can help win games.

 
Whelp, I am pretty much through the Elizabeth Kubler-Ross 5 stages of grief.

Week 1 against the Rams, was pretty much in denial about this team -- we looked super solid despite the glaring weaknesses and second half collapse, thinking, "Hey, it's the Rams, didn't expect this team to win anyway, some good signs for this season."

Blew through anger from losing to the hated Broncos, with a little bit of bargaining -- Carr and Cooper looked efficient and solid, offense looking explosive we still looked strong out the gate in limiting the Donks to just two first downs, maybe we just got unlucky in the second half and the Denver D is strong, after all.

Full blown depression set in against Miami -- we are who everyone says we are, this isn't a potential winning team who just has to hold it together and find ways to win, it's a losing team without consistency or cohesive character whose season -- once again -- is over barely before it began. Another season of dashed hopes and dreams and another year of wasting the talent we have.

OK, acceptance. Rather than competing for the division, we're a team that needs to prove we can compete for a full 60 minutes, for yet another long year in this sliding franchise's history. I have zero expectations of this team and its performance other than of Gruden, who needs to right this ship as if his job depends upon it. 

And I will take what little good comes our way as small building blocks on the long road to revelance. Some of these are:

  • Arden Key continues to develop -- highest graded defensive player with QB hits in ten pass rush snaps, 2 run stops in 5 run D snaps. 
  • Other rookies looking ok -- specifically Miller, but Hurst has flashed at times as well. 
  • Team is 4th in the league in yards gained.
  • Carr is 4th in passing yards
  • We seem to be able to get in the red zone, we just need to find ways of scoring -- we're 28th in points per game.
  • As we rebuild, we have 27 contract expiring, so some work for Reggie to do (and I hope we keep him just to manage the post-Mack year or two in this regard) but we will have $60M in cap space before cuts compared to $25 going into the offseason -- a lot of room to help development.
  • We have not trailed for any snap through the first 3 quarters of every game this season. Ratcheting down our execution for a full 60 minutes is addressable
  • Our needs aren't all over the place to regain some semblance of competitive play -- if we win turnover battles, D and ST need to improve field position (we're currently averaging starting at the 22 yard line), and minimizing penalties -- all addressable things -- these three things alone can help win games.
Very well said STC.

 
Got the broken lens in my rose colored glasses fixed this morning.  I'm back.

Raiders win in week 4.  The address key areas and play a strong game at home.  The start of the season hasn't been great, but there are a lot of positives to build on, and Gruden will have the team ready to win at home while the mainstream media continues to write them off. 

Collectively the opponents from the last 3 weeks hold a record of 8-1 (0.889).  I'm sure it doesn't have to be stated, but the Raiders opened the season against what is looking like the best team in the NFL and hung in there with them for a good portion of the game.  McVay came out with the better half time adjustments.  Week 2 was a divisional game on the road which they had the lead for all but 6 seconds of the game. It's rare that a team sweeps a divisional opponent.  Week 3 they traveled across the country for a 1pm game, regardless of regime, this has always been a thorn in the side of the Raiders.

Looking forward, the have 3 home games (week 5 is @ the LA Chargers) before heading into their bye week.  The next 3 opponents hold a collective record of 3-5-1 (0.389).  

It is not far fetched to head into that bye at 3-3 and with a much different feeling to the season. 

 
kaso said:
Got the broken lens in my rose colored glasses fixed this morning.  I'm back.

Raiders win in week 4.  The address key areas and play a strong game at home.  The start of the season hasn't been great, but there are a lot of positives to build on, and Gruden will have the team ready to win at home while the mainstream media continues to write them off. 

Collectively the opponents from the last 3 weeks hold a record of 8-1 (0.889).  I'm sure it doesn't have to be stated, but the Raiders opened the season against what is looking like the best team in the NFL and hung in there with them for a good portion of the game.  McVay came out with the better half time adjustments.  Week 2 was a divisional game on the road which they had the lead for all but 6 seconds of the game. It's rare that a team sweeps a divisional opponent.  Week 3 they traveled across the country for a 1pm game, regardless of regime, this has always been a thorn in the side of the Raiders.

Looking forward, the have 3 home games (week 5 is @ the LA Chargers) before heading into their bye week.  The next 3 opponents hold a collective record of 3-5-1 (0.389).  

It is not far fetched to head into that bye at 3-3 and with a much different feeling to the season. 
Yup, just quoted myself. 

I forgot that the Seahawks game is in London.  So that isn't a home game, although it counts/shows as a home game.  So dumb.
 

 
Thanks goodness we won today.   Carr put up monster numbers, but he tends to throw up a lot of lollipop passes that the DBs can recover and defend.     

Jared Cook is for real this year.   

 
What a roller coaster of a game, my heart is still recovering from palpitations.

Team still deserves our record, but they - and the home fans - also really deserve the win.

Good to see us battle back and take this to the wire, and gut out the W.

Our D is really poor, but that seems to be the norm this season across many teams. And our O, while still needing improvement,  has shown this season that they can move the chains. We’ve faved some tough Ds so far this year - including the Browns, who have been above average - amd ate able to rack up points to stay within reach.

Carr’s deep ball is just gone, but he’s a solid and smart QB doing well with a brand new and highly complex system. Lynch has found a fountain of youth. Cooper looked solid. And we’re getting contributions from unexpected places - lookin’ at you, Cook. *thumbs up*

Let’s drink it in knowing that’s it’s only a win in what looks like another lost season. But it’s a win nonetheless.

Love that my week will be a little rosier than otherwise. 

 
Browns definitely got jobbed.  Raiders should not have won that game yesterday, but they should have won at least one of the first three.  So 1-3 with Chargers and Seahawks up next is not the end of the world.  Team does not look very good, but if they got to 3-3 there could be something to make of this season.

 
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The hits just keep coming. Penn placed on IR. They will be going forward with two rookie tackles. I'm pretty confident in Miller (one of the few early positives) but Parker may struggle. If Derek survives this season I'll be shocked. 

 
Bruno2 said:
The hits just keep coming. Penn placed on IR. They will be going forward with two rookie tackles. I'm pretty confident in Miller (one of the few early positives) but Parker may struggle. If Derek survives this season I'll be shocked. 
Miller will be ok but Parker is not ready for this.  

 
Miller will be ok but Parker is not ready for this.  
Sucks to lose Penn, he's a Raider through and through, and timetable is such that we may see him before EOY; although it's not Penn was lighting the world on fire this year -- was one of the most poorly graded tackles in the NFL 

Miller will be more than OK -- he's played all snaps at the position and has only allowed 1 sack, and allowed QB pressure on just 5% of dropbacks -- against elite units with Von Miller/Bradley Chubb, Donald/Brockers/Suh, and Myles Garrett.

Parker has his work cut out for him, but he has flashed occasionally, even when Garrett lined up on his side last week. I'm glad we resigned Silberman for depth -- he's just a journeyman, but can provide some veteran depth and maybe some guidance to Parker.

 
“Rodney Hudson,” Gruden said postgame. “Rodney Hudson is my player of the game today. People have no idea what the center does, Cleveland was blitzing from every corner, every possible look known to man. Rodney Hudson put our offensive line, our backs, [and our team] in position to at least have a chance to drop back and throw it. Those are hard blitzes to pick up and I give our captain today a lot of credit

 
So Martavis Bryant *is* getting suspended this year, right? Hasn't that been the narrative? Sorry if this has been covered but I haven't heard anything new. Has there been any actual confirmation that he failed a test, or otherwise ####ed up? Just curious. If he plays I think he still has value in my best ball dynasty league, but I thought I heard something about him getting suspended in season. 

 
So Martavis Bryant *is* getting suspended this year, right? Hasn't that been the narrative? Sorry if this has been covered but I haven't heard anything new. Has there been any actual confirmation that he failed a test, or otherwise ####ed up? Just curious. If he plays I think he still has value in my best ball dynasty league, but I thought I heard something about him getting suspended in season. 
I'd be more worried about his QB being able to get him the ball at this point.

 
So Martavis Bryant *is* getting suspended this year, right? Hasn't that been the narrative? Sorry if this has been covered but I haven't heard anything new. Has there been any actual confirmation that he failed a test, or otherwise ####ed up? Just curious. If he plays I think he still has value in my best ball dynasty league, but I thought I heard something about him getting suspended in season. 
Who knows, I believe the due process is still continuing, and haven't heard a lick since around mid-Sept. when the NFL said they'd allow him to play as the appeal was reviewed, for which the timetable was "a couple of weeks". We're past that point, but not past the ever-dragging-of-the-feet of the NFL brass so who knows how long until we'll hear about this conclusively.

I do hope this means that they are giving this matter deep and thoughtful considerations -- until then, he plays (and apparently is paid, according to the article cited) week-to-week.

 
This is the curse of being a Raiders fan. Against all wisdom having your hopes raised...only to have them dashed again and again and again and again and....
Isn’t that the definition of insanity? ?

At some point you should ask yourself why bother with being a fan when you are constantly disappointed? Life is too short to subject yourself to this type of frustration.

 
The two aspects that bothered me most today...

Carr with another bone headed mistake at a crucial moment. It's who he is.

No urgency at all when down big, but not yet out in 2nd half. WTF

 
That was brutal.  Poor play calling, worse execution, and bone headed penalties to top it all off. 

The only good news for me at the moment is that I'm 3 hours shy of 3 full weeks away from being able to watch another full Raider game.  Family commitment next week, bye week following.

 
Isn’t that the definition of insanity? ?

At some point you should ask yourself why bother with being a fan when you are constantly disappointed? Life is too short to subject yourself to this type of frustration.
Also the definition of being a fanatic in sports.

Totally get what you are saying. But feel free to drop them as your team if it's too frustrating. I get it, and wouldn't blame you.

But this is my team. Good or bad or continuously ugly/terrible/hopeless, will still bleed Silver and Black. 

You've been a stalwart and solid contributor in these threads and have earned my respect as a poster in this thread and others not concerning the Raiders. But don't try and convince me to change stripes. Don't even mention it. IMHO it's folly to post in a team thread sentiments like "This team is too bad for you to be a fan of" -- taking the crap with the gold is part of being a fan.

 
Nothing positive to take from today.  Zero.

Team was basically going through the motions it seemed.

Poor play calling - Give Lynch the ball on first and goal - Twice did not do that and twice did not score a TD.

Horrible decision making - That was just a brutal interception.

Penalties.

No pass rush.

Poor tackling.

No sense of urgency when trailing in the second half.

One target for Amari - ONE???????????

Forced no turnovers.

Did I miss anything?  

 
Nothing positive to take from today.  Zero.

Poor play calling - Give Lynch the ball on first and goal - Twice did not do that and twice did not score a TD.
This. Twice. Someone mentioned the definition of insanity up above. Another definition is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

The first time Gruden took the ball out of Lynch's hands at the goal line earlier this season and the FB got stuffed, Lynch got a chance later and basically jumped over everybody to score. Did Gruden learn anything from that? Nope.

He says he's watched all this film for 10 years while being away from coaching. I really doubt that. Or he must have been watching high school and college ball. If he'd been watching pro ball, he'd know Lynch is money at the goal line (any idiot knows that so an idiot making $10 million a year should too) and he wouldn't have traded Mack. Sorry...

 
This whole organization is a joke! Today they had the rare opportunity to play an away game that felt like a home game and they played like they didn't want to be there. 

When they made the decision to trade Mack, the season was over before it started. I don't care what anyone says, that deflated the locker room and killed any morale that team had. 

The Raiders... Commitment to rebuild every year. What a ####show! 

 
Speaking of Cooper, what the heck is going on? How does he only get 1 target when game flow was favorablefor throwing? There is something more going on than simply a match up issue. 

 
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Gruden is a joke. Said it from day one. Anyone else think he’s  is a washed up has been, wind bag..yet??  Our defense is so old, it’s comical.  Play calling is as vanilla as it gets. No fire. No urgency. It’s embarrassing. 

 
As soon as they sent Mack to Chicago this season was over. Players are human too. Its natural to feel shock and disbelief in losing a friend, leader and teammate. Especially the way it all went down, can you blame them? Cooper knows hes gone after this season too. Dallas sounds pretty good to him right about now. Or anywhere, anywhere but Oakland. We will get watch him flourish in a properly run and coached organization. Just like Mack. Shame on Davis and Gruden. They knew they weren't going to keep Mack months ago. We wait months for the season to start, getting amped up for free agency, the draft, training camp yada yada. For what? To watch a bunch of old guys cashing their last paychecks before they call it quits? They strung us fans along, all the while knowing they weren't going to try to win this year. 

As a loyal fan for over 40 years, enough is enough.  This is the most poorly run team in the league by far. It's been that way for almost 20 years. It amazes me that this poor excuse for an NFL team still has a fanbase. Honestly. Who trades away their best player, leader and fan favorite for a couple mid-to-late first round picks? The Raiders that's who... The same team that finally has a winner and then fires their OC who did great working with Carr and keeps the lousy HC and DC. They finally drafted a couple studs and then a couple years later, one is gone and the other has completely lost all his confidence. The only thing this organization is good at is screwing things up.

Just Rebuild Baby!!!

 
Cooper knows hes gone after this season too. Dallas sounds pretty good to him right about now. Or anywhere, anywhere but Oakland. We will get watch him flourish in a properly run and coached organization. Just like Mack.
As a Raider fan and Cooper owner in FF, I was thinking this same thing last night.  Cooper is going to be great next season on a different team.  I don't care where he goes, he will be in a better environment and flourish.  There is no fire in the players in Oakland and Cooper wears those emotions on his sleeve more than anyone.  Gruden has already lost the team and this season may get really ugly.   

 
As a Raider fan and Cooper owner in FF, I was thinking this same thing last night.  Cooper is going to be great next season on a different team.  I don't care where he goes, he will be in a better environment and flourish.  There is no fire in the players in Oakland and Cooper wears those emotions on his sleeve more than anyone.  Gruden has already lost the team and this season may get really ugly.   
Agree 100%. But I believe Gruden lost the team when he traded the soul of the team before the season started. It's like buying a Dodge and ripping out the Hemi and replacing it with a lawnmower motor. How did we honestly think this would go? It's a disaster. And Davis and Gruden knew it would be. This is what happens when you give a HC 10 years and 100 mil to coach. It's too much time and way too much money. He has no pressure to win for at least 5 years, and by then he'll probably be burned out again and quit, leaving a path of destruction in his wake. I bet there are maybe only 4 or 5 players on this team right now that will even make it to Las Vegas. If this circus ever turns it around, it'll with a group of players who aren't even on the team right now. So why bother supporting a bunch of place holders? It's an insult to the fans.

 
#Raiders allowing 7.0 yards per play, the most after 5 games since the 1970 merger per @pfref

If only they could get an impact player on defense...

 

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