Oakland Raiders Must Use Bye Week to Soothe Offensive Growing Pains

The Oakland Raiders have a full week off to iron out the wrinkles on offense. The process begins with expanding the playbook near or in the red zone.

Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave attacks opposing defenses with a variety of creative designs for a versatile quarterback in Derek Carr who shows functional mobility.

In the first four games, Carr showed the ability to throw accurately inside and outside of the pocket. Unfortunately, Musgrave fails make use of those attributes when approaching the end zone.

On Sunday, Musgrave’s conservative approach hurt the Raiders' chances of finishing off drives and potentially stymied a comeback rally. 

Oakland controlled the football for nearly seven minutes on one particular drive in the first quarter and came away with zero points.

Musgrave isn’t accountable for Sebastian Janikowski’s failed field-goal attempt, but the offensive coordinator took his foot off the gas pedal in the red zone:

Time	Down	Field Position	Play	Result
4:46	1st-and-15	Denver 19-yard line	Run	2-yard run
4:09	2nd-and-13	Denver 17-yard line	Run	2-yard run
3:30	3rd-and-11	Denver 15-yard line	Pass	5 yards lost
2:49	4th-and-16	Denver 20-yard line	Field Goal	Blocked

After guard Gabe Jackson’s false start, running back Latavius Murray took two carries for four yards, which set Carr up for 3rd-and-11. Denver Broncos defensive end Malik Jackson registered a sack on the following predictable pass play.

The Raiders had already ventured into field-goal range, and the offense made one throwing attempt to reach the end zone through the air.

At this point, Carr made smart decisions with the ball. He could've thrown it away or rifled an incomplete pass through the back of the end zone if faced with a threatening pass rush. Instead, Musgrave played it safe and settled for a long third-down conversion.

He made a similar mistake against the Chicago Bears in Week 4. In Week 5, Janikowski failed to convert on the consolation points.

Head coach Jack Del Rio’s decision not to comment on the four-yard pass to Marcel Reece, that ultimately sealed the Raiders' fate, speaks volumes, per San Jose Mercury News writer Jimmy Durkin.

Reece catches passes with sure hands, but he’s not the speedy target to quickly pick up 15 yards on an underneath route with the game on the line.

Commitment to Excellence

The Raiders offense has bright spots. Prior to Week 5, Oakland's passing attack ranked seventh in the league.

Unlike past offensive coordinators, Musgrave values Reece’s skill set. In most scenarios, he’s positioned out in the flat as a pitch-and-catch target.

He currently leads the team in receiving touchdowns and provides an outlet for Carr when he moves the pocket.

Bay Area News Group writer Marcus Thompson made note of the clear upside in acclimating Reece within the offense:

Good things happened early for the Raiders when Carr connected with the H-back on a well-designed play-action pass three yards away from the end zone, provided by Nick Hjeltness via Twitter:

The Raiders offense alternated run and pass plays on the preceding downs in that particular series leading to the touchdown. Good things can happen when coaching to score six and not settle for three.

Silver Lining

On Sunday, Carr reverted to an inexperienced quarterback unable to handle a ferocious pass rush late in the fourth quarter.

That’s not to say he regressed career-wise, but like any normal quarterback, pressure affected his decision-making. Sunday’s pick-six resembled an earlier interception converted into a touchdown when the games didn’t count:

In both plays, the defense brought pressure through the middle. Carr either panicked or showed too much confidence in his arm, which led to poor decisions. He’ll learn to either take a safe dive or throw those passes away when possible.

Carr typically throws well under pressure. At times, that confidence gets him in trouble. According to Pro Football Focus, he completes 60 percent of his passes, threw two touchdowns and one interception under duress.

A young, confident quarterback will make plays but also learn lessons along with the way. Carr mentioned a key word in his postgame press conference—growth.

Statistically, he outplayed quarterback Peyton Manning for three-and-a-half quarters while facing the No. 1 defense in the league. Next time, he’ll learn to tuck his arm and give his team another down to win the game.

Black Cloud

Del Rio didn’t expound on the decision to keep running back Latavius Murray on the sideline, but he didn’t sound pleased in the succinct answer given after the game.

Initially, Murray seemed to fit the role of a workhorse back when considering the backups slotted behind him on the depth chart. Roy Helu makes an impact more as a receiver out of the backfield. Taiwan Jones fits the mold of a quicker tailback taking occasional carries as a change-of-pace rusher.

Musgrave may experiment with delegating more carries to Helu and Jones when he returns to the field.

It’s not an easy task climbing out of Del Rio’s doghouse. Murray will have to find a way to redeem fourth-quarter snaps.

In the last two games, he’s averaged less than 3.3 yards per carry. The coaching staff expects a lot more from him as the featured back.

Oakland certainly needs his production to balance the offense and keep defenses on edge. His response to adversity will determine his role for the near future.

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All statistics are provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com and Pro Football Focus unless otherwise noted.

Week 5 statistics and play-by-play analysis provided by NFL.com.