The Raiders looked nothing like the team they want to be when they took the field last Sunday versus the Jets in New Jersey. The team wants to be a power run team but ran for a measly 1.7 yards per carry on only 15 carries. The team wants to boast a strong defense, but they were roasted by the Jets offense to the tune of 402 total yards, 212 of those on the ground.
We are only one week into the season and it already feels like the Raiders are behind the 8 ball. Partially this is because the team has a brutal schedule this year, partially it’s because the team looked out of their depth for most of the game last week, but mostly it’s because the Raiders had such a good opportunity to steal a win – and an east coast win at that – and they couldn’t come away with anything but moral victories.
When the Raiders play against the Texans this week, they are already trying to turn the season around- and it’s only week 2! Here is what I will be watching for at 1:25 pm on Sunday:
1. Will Derek Carr improve?
After rewatching every offensive snap this week using NFL Rewind’s coaches film feature, it was clear that Carr left a lot of yards on the field. The Jets got to Carr by using a variety of blitzes and he didn’t recognize when to throw to hot receivers nor which way to roll out to avoid the rush. He also made some poor throws to receivers who could have made a play with a better pass.
None of this is unexpected or even negative, really. Carr looked exactly like what he was: a rookie making his first start in the NFL. He had both positive and negative plays.
Carr was starting, in large part, because he has shown he is ahead of the normal rookie QB learning curve and, as offensive coordinator Greg Olson said, what he needs to learn at this point can only be learned by playing.
And so I will be looking to see if Carr can learn the lessons from the Jets about reading coverages, finding hot receivers, and stretching the field to open up the underneath routes a bit more.
2. Can the Raiders offensive line stop JJ Watt & friends?
Left tackle Donald Penn and left guard Gabe Jackson both had solid games against the Jets – especially Penn, who I had with only one big mistake upon review of the offensive snaps. The left side of the offensive line looked pretty good in both run and pass protection last Sunday.
The right side of the line, however, struggled all day in New Jersey. The player who struggled the most, ironically, was right guard and former Jet Austin Howard, who made the mistake of saying, in the week leading up to the game, that the Jets were able to be pushed around.
Howard had a particularly bad game, getting beat in one on one matchups multiple times against the large Jets defensive line and missing some key blocks – most notably he was supposed to pull and block the outside on the play where Jones-Drew was clotheslined, fumbled, and kicked the ball backwards 10 yards where Carr was able to catch it.
To Howard’s right, Khalif Barnes had an on and off day at right tackle. He was better than Barnes but still wasn’t strong enough to prevent a number of pressures on Carr throughout the day. When Barnes is beat, he lacks the foot speed to recover and he was beat several times this way on Sunday.
The Texans don’t boast a defensive line as deep as the Jets, especially with first overall pick Jadeveon Clowney out with an injury. However, Texans star defensive end JJ Watt is a better individual player than anyone on the Jets’ defensive line and will likely be an ordeal for the Raiders offensive line to block.
The Texans will likely try to us Watt to take advantage of the weaker right side of the Raiders offensive line and so Oakland’s offensive line will need to improve dramatically in protection calls and win their one on one battles this week if they want to keep their first year quarterback upright against Houston’s defenders.
Offensive line coach Tony Sparano put his men through the paces this week in an effort to focus them and make sure they came out ready to be physical and win battles. I will be watching to see if the Raiders OL responds to their down week, last week, and can give Carr a clean pocket and time to throw against Houston.
3. Will the receivers produce?
Carr wasn’t alone with struggling in week one, but at least he has the solid excuse of the game being his first in the NFL. The receiving corps did not have this excuse but they struggled to get separation from the Jets defensive backs, one of whom had converted from playing cornerback from safety a whopping month before the game.
The Raiders receiving corps struggled with getting separation, some drops, and when they did make the catch, the struggled to make any kind of play. Both of Denarius Moore’s receptions, for example, had him one on one with a cornerback on the outside. If he were able to make a play for yards, he could have made a big splash in the game. Instead, he failed to convert on both throws.
Andre Holmes, who had a breakout year last year with the Raiders, was targeted only one time versus the Jets. He is still working his way out of the doghouse after having a number of drops in the preseason and training camp.
Second year tight end Mychal Rivera was responsible for three chain-moving receptions on the Raiders final drive but was a non-factor in the game prior to that drive and, in fact, ended the game with only the three receptions from the final drive. He needs to be more involved this week as he is one of the Raiders better weapons in the passing game.
4. Will the defense be able to get off the field?
The defense looked better than the offense versus the Jets but not substantially better. They were able to create two important turnovers, one of which was almost on the goal line, and this helped keep the score down.
The Jets were able to run almost at will the entire day, however, and ran to the tune of 212 yards on 34 attempts, a 6.2 yard per carry average – the worst in the NFL. Much of that yardage came on a 71 yard TD run by Chris Ivory, who finished the day with 102 yards on 10 carries because of the run.
The Raiders defense was on the field for more of the game than they should have been, however, close to 60% of the time. That’s far too much as defense is harder to play than offense and defenders get tired quicker.
A large part of the reason the defense was on the field was due to the the offense continually going 3 and out. However, the defense also didn’t make many plays aside from the two turnovers. According to Pro Football Focus, for example, starting corner back Carlos Rogers allowed the Jets to complete 7 of the 8 passes that came his direction.
The Jets hardly needed to throw, however, because of their success in the running game and the Raiders looked unable to stop the rush the entire day.
The Texans won last week with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick under center but their offense is shaping up to be inconsistent. Fitzpatrick is the definition of quarterback purgatory – he’s good enough to win some for you but not elite or consistent enough to put the team on his back and lead them to victory on his own.
The Raiders’ first focus will be to shut down the Texans run game and get some pressure on Fitzpatrick. If they can succeed with this, they can take the day and keep their playoff aspirations alive.
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