Oakland Raiders: The Solution To Their Passing Woes

The most effective strategy in any battle is playing to your strengths. When I examine the passing game of the Oakland Raider, there are three glaring issues that present themselves:

1) The offensive line is suspect at best, particularly at the Center position and the right guard and tackle positions. Watch the footage of the Campbell sack against Dallas in the Pre-season opener.

2) Chaz Schilen, arguably the best among the receivers, has constant nagging health issues that continue to sideline him. DHB, as shown in the preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys, continues to struggle getting separation from DBs, and when he does, he continues to drop the ball. Louis Murphy seems to be the one dependable receiver, however, in his sophomore year, is he experienced enough to lead this lackluster receiving group?

3) Zach Miller: Teams will load up in passing situation against Miller—well because he is the only established pass-catcher on the Raiders roster.

The Solutions:

Jason Campbell, an excellent small-ball quarterback: Hue Jackson, the offensive coordinator, needs to take into consideration Campbell’s small-ball skills when game planning. With the pass-protection weaknesses, it is a must to design plays with safety valves which means short dump-offs to RBs.

The Oakland Running backs, I believe, have better matchups against linebackers than the WRs have against more experienced DBs. In addition, this strategy will give Campbell added protection against blitzes and keep defenses honest in coverage against Miller.

Screen passes will off-set the pass-protection issues and take advantage of the Raiders speed and Campbell’s excellent small-ball skills.

Zach Miller: Miller needs specific plays drawn up for him. With his ability to create separation from linebackers, it is imperative that ideal matchups be charted beforehand to assure that Miller is put into the right situations for success. 

If these strategies are implemented, the Raiders passing-game will have immediate success. Raiders Nation, thoughts please!