Oakland Raiders: Red Zone Blues Should End Soon
ย The Oakland Raidersย are ranked number 10 in total offense and tied for second in total defense.
Yet the Raiders are 1-2 and lost to the Arizona Cardinals.
How do theย Raiders rank in the top 10 on both sides of the ball andย have losing record?
Here's a stat that you really won't like.
The Raiders are ranked number 26 in scoring defense and 22 in scoring offense.
The red zone has not been too kind to them.
But it isn't time to panic.
There are a couple of adjustments to be made as well as players they will eventually get back. There are also players that need to step up their level of play.
Turn the page to see what and whoย they are.
Player Coming Back: Robert Gallery
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A healthyย Robert Galleryย moves the Raidersย closer to beingย the "bully" offensive coordinator Hue Jackson wants. Gallery is listed as questionable forย Sunday after missing two weeks with a hamstring pull.
Running on the goal line will be much easier with Gallery in the line up.
It will also allow the Raiders to make a key adjustment you'll see later as well.
Player Coming Back: Michael Bush
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Michael Bushย adds toย Jackson's "bully" movement running the ball near the goal line. Bush played sparingly in Arizona Sunday so he isย now back form his broken thumb.
Bush isn't in football shape now so he has to beย worked back in gradually. But one thing the 245 pound running back can do right away is be a short yardage back.
That is definitely a help on the goal line.
Player Coming Back: Chaz Schilens
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Wouldn't that be great if Chaz Shilens could play this week?
That doesn't seem too likely at this point but Cable did say that he has made good progress.ย When he does come back, the Raider's red zone offense will instantly get 10 times better.
Schilens will go up and get the ball where ever you throw it. He can jump out of a stadium and he has the ability to make a circus catch.
That combination makes him an ultimate red zone threat.
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Adjustment and Player Coming Back: John Henderson
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John Henderson is impossible too move.
I guess that's why the Raiders play their best run defense when he is in the game. Henderson missed the week three game against the Cardinals but his chances look pretty good for playing Sunday.
If he does play, he should start because of his play against the run. But even if he doesn't start, he will help in the red zone as stopping the run is key to being aย successful red zone defense.
We'll see what Cable does with him when he is healthy.
Adjustment: Coverage
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What was coach Tom Cable thinking?
The Raiders are a man coverage team and the Raiders have the best in the world at it.ย I have to question Cable forย running a zone defense against one of the best receivers in the game in the red zone.
Leading to that point, Fitzgerald had only one catch while being targeted five times. You have to love the percentages and most teams are in man coverage in near the goal line anyway.
The Raiders should stay in man coverage in the red zoneย from now on.
Adjustment: Daniel Loper
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Daniel Loper has done a fine job in Gallery's absence.
Put that together with the fact that the Cooper Carlisle has been a weak spot at right guard. I fully expect Tom Cable to reward the 6'6, 320 pound Loper by startingย him at right guard when Gallery comes back.
This will give the Raiders more size inside to run the ball near the goal line.
Doesn't that go with Jackson's "bully" approach?
Adjustment: Zach Miller
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Zach Miller is one of the best tight ends in the game.
Great tight ends are knownย to beย great weapons in the red zone.
So throw him the damn ball!
Miller did have a 22 yard touchdownย catch but that is his onlyย one of the season. He should have more with as many times thatย the Raiders got in the red zone.
Well, the real problem is getting the ball toย Miller in theย red zone.
Inaccurate throws cost Miller two more touchdowns last Sunday.
Adjustment: Louis Murphy
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Louis Murphy has a red zone touch down pass thisย yearย but they should throw to him more down there. The red zoneย pass thrown to Darrius Heward-Bey at the end of the game should have been thrown to Murphy.
Murphy proved to be a money man in the clutch last year.
He showed that he was still that guy in week two against the Rams with a four yardย touchdown catch. The Raider coaches need to win now and turn Heyward-Bey into a star later.
I have no idea why Louis Murphy isn't being used moreย in the red zone. He's tall, athletic, and goes up to get the ball like it belongs to only him.
He also has the speed to separate on crossing routes.
Adjustment: Darren McFadden
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Darren McFadden has caughtย only a few balls in the red zoneย and that isย not enough. I don't think he's been used in the passing game in the red zone in enough different ways either.
I have only seen McFadden make catches on screen plays and in the flats.He should definitely run some wheel routes for a chance to out run and out jump a linebacker in coverage.
He could also run a divide route. (Running back releases out of the back field and runs down the seam) Then there's the angle route. (Running back starts out to run a flat and turns back toward the middle)
Either McFadden or Miller will be open when used in the right route combination.
You still have Murphy and Schilens (hen he's back) outside
Something will have to give.
Step Up: Bruce Gradkowski
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Bruce Gradkowski is the most popular player with the Raiders.
This is a team that has perennial Pro Bowlers Nnamdi Asomugha and Richard Seymour on it. The fans at the Raider's home openerย were screaming forย Gradkowski after Jason Campbell's first incomplete pass.
It was asย if Campbell had to play his way out of Gradkowski'sย legendaryย shadow.
It's time for him to earn the adoration he has in Raider Nation by being more accurate. Accuracy is the key to passing in the red zone and Gradkowski's career passing percentage of 53 percent is no good.
But let's forget about stats because it's all about making plays when they are there. Gradkowsi had many misses in the game but the two that hurt the most is when he missed Miller in the end zone twice.
Those plays would have put the game away and Gradkowski knows it.
Sunday is a good day to improve his accuracy.
Step Up: Darrius Heward-Bey
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Untilย Shilens gets back, Darrius Heyward-Bey has to his play up to help Gradkowski step up.
Everyone wants to give him props for his improvement but it's not good enough in the red zone. He had a pass that could have won the game go through his hands in Arizona.
That play wasn't just about hands as a defender wasย swiping at the ball. Heyward-Bey needs toย useย his body to shield the defender away from where the catch is being made.
That's something he can start doing right away.
He has to in order toย help his quarterback the way Schilensย does.
In Closing
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The Raiders have improved on offense and defense but the scores and results don't show for it. But there's no need to panic because there is so much that the Raidersย can do in the red zone to change things.
On offense, points will be put on the board if these tweaks are made along with the players coming back. The same goes for the defense but I'm not too worried about them as theyย they have beenย good in the red zone the last few years.
This will mean more end zone celebrations and more wins for the Silver and Black.
And hopefully more ticket sales
I hope you enjoyed the slide show.
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