Taking Stock of Oakland Raiders at Halfway Point of Season
After an embarrassing 34-14 loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Oakland Raiders have dropped five of the past six games. The same team that pulled off a thrilling victory over the Kansas City Chiefs took a major step back in Buffalo on Sunday.
We're at the midpoint of the season. How can we summarize the first half of the Raiders' 2017 campaign? There's one word: inconsistent. It's the perfect adjective to attach to quarterback Derek Carr, the offense as a unit and the team's overall performance. The 3-5 record says it all. You can use terms such as "erratic" and "unreliable" as well.
The Raiders have a Week 9 Sunday Night Football showdown against the Miami Dolphins, who are also going in off a terrible Week 8 loss. Before discussing the upcoming matchup, we will go through some major takeaways from Oakland's first eight gameweeks of the 2017 NFL season.
The coaching staff should address the following discussion points during the Week 10 bye if there's any chance at going on an improbable run for a playoff spot.
Going Through Growing Pains with Todd Downing
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Everyone who saw the Raiders field the seventh-best scoring offense that also ranked sixth in yards under Bill Musgrave during the previous year know this unit could perform a lot better under rookie offensive coordinator Todd Downing.
Barring an abrupt firing, the Raiders will have to live with Downing's growing pains as a first-year play-caller. Though Musgrave wouldn't strike anyone as a coordinator with innovative designs like Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan or Josh McDaniels, the former Raiders offensive assistant's experience served as a vital component to Carr's development.
Carr doesn't look the same with Downing in his ear—even before he suffered a transverse process fracture in his back. He looked out of sorts against the Washington Redskins in Week 3 and didn't exhibit the same rapport with wideout Amari Cooper, who has experienced struggles with drops.
The Raiders kept 80 percent of their offensive line intact and picked up a running back who is fit to run in between the tackles. However, the offensive results have significantly plummeted. It's fair to place the spotlight on Downing as the culprit.
The decision to pass the keys to a rookie play-caller to develop an ascending quarterback has caused a regression. There was value in Musgrave's experience as a coordinator that went underappreciated. While he's not a hot name among assistants, the Raiders offense ran smoothly under his direction.
For the near future, Oakland will have to deal with the inconsistencies. You will have some games that look like the victory against Kansas City and others that will resemble the loss to Buffalo until Downing figures everything out.
Amari Cooper Limited as a Deep Threat in New Offense
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Under Downing, there's one limiting factor that hurts the Raiders offense across the board. Cooper is registering a career-low in yards per reception at 11.8. Naturally, he's a big playmaker who can open the field for fellow pass-catchers.
Despite the drops, he still possesses the potential to sway defenders away from secondary options in the passing attack. The offense has only featured Cooper's big-play ability in two games. Most recently, we saw him beat the Chiefs downfield or draw pass-interference calls as a target 20 yards out.
Now, Cooper runs slants and short outs that could set up big plays later on but instead lead to more short dink-and-dunk receptions. His drops shouldn't dissuade more deep shots downfield. The third-year wideout's playmaking ability makes him special. This year, the offensive design has limited him to being an average asset.
Marshawn Lynch's Light Workload
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Even though he's 31, most expected running back Marshawn Lynch to carry a heavier workload. Before his ejection in the previous outing, he averaged nearly 12 carries per game. While that sounds like a decent share, the offensive brain trust refuses to give him more rushing attempts when he's moving the chains.
In Weeks 5 and 6, he averaged approximately 3.6 yards per carry or more but only logged 12 and 13 rush attempts, respectively. The Raiders fought for the lead late in both contests, so there's no explanation to abandon a productive ground attack in either scenario.
The Raiders need a featured back to handle the majority of carries with DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard as complementary tailbacks. In the previous outing, each second-year ball-carrier recorded one run of 10 yards or more. They also fumbled in the rainy conditions. Lynch hasn't fumbled in his past 14 appearances.
Many will say Lynch doesn't have the same step after the handoff, but Washington and Richard average at least one yard per carry less compared to the previous season.
When Beast Mode moves the ball at 3.5 yards per carry, he's setting up a 2nd-and-7, which gives the offense options on the following downs. His threat to run through people's faces also opens up the passing lanes for Carr. It's best to feed Lynch when he's effective even in spurts.
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The Secondary Needs a Playmaker to Force Takeaways
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Through eight games, the Raiders list as the only team without a takeaway interception. Free safety Reggie Nelson led the club in that category with five in the previous campaign. On several occasions, he's slow with help over the top.
It took an injury to insert safety Shalom Luani into the starting lineup in Week 8. He nearly picked off a throw but settled for the pass breakup.
You can't blame the coaching staff for long-term injuries to potential playmakers Gareon Conley and safety Obi Melifonwu.
However, Luani's instinctive play should have helped him earn reps on defense. Until the previous game, he took five snaps on the defensive side of the ball. It's an inexcusable oversight to keep Nelson, who's underperforming, in the starting role.
Del Rio's training camp mantra about competition and earning roster spots faded when it came to Nelson, and it's hurt the pass defense. It's worth noting Luani played well in Karl Joseph's place and should line up alongside him at safety when he returns to action.
Raiders' Non-Existent Pass-Rush
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The Raiders rank in the bottom five in sacks, with 12 for the season. Coaches will tell you taking down the quarterback doesn't tell the whole story. However, it makes the ending sound a lot better.
Oakland has a secondary that lacks playmakers, with starters struggling to defend downfield. To cover those deficiencies, it helps to flash an aggressive pass rush.
The Raiders don't field a unit that's constantly pressuring the quarterback aside from Khalil Mack, who leads the team with 4.5 sacks. Bruce Irvin hasn't been as effective rushing off the edge when compared to the previous year.
Where is defensive assistant John Pagano's influence? What effect has he brought to the defense? It's all a big question mark.
Without playmakers on the back end or a pass rush on the front end, offenses will continue to gash the Raiders consistently or on critical third downs.
Raiders Need to Shift into High Gear to Save Playoff Hopes
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At 3-5, the Raiders' playoff hopes look as thin as the running lanes for their ball-carriers.
The AFC South has strong wild-card contenders, with their arrows pointing up in terms of momentum. Despite their loss Sunday, the Houston Texans showed they can hang with an NFC powerhouse in the Seattle Seahawks. If running back Leonard Fournette stays healthy, the Jacksonville Jaguars defense can help the club clinch a playoff berth.
In the AFC East, most would expect the New England Patriots to reach the postseason. The Bills just served a 20-point beatdown on the Raiders as the No. 2 squad in the division.
When looking at its own division, the AFC West, Oakland ranks last with a hill to climb just to reach second place because of their losses to the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos.
Furthermore, the schedule goes through a rough patch after the Week 10 bye. The Raiders will play division opponents or playoff-caliber teams in six of their final seven games.
As the Raiders stumble into Miami with an erratic offense and a defense that barely bites, they have to shift into high gear or return to a top-10 spot in the draft order.
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