Jon Gruden seems to be setting goals of unpredictability. At least with regards to his lineups. How they perform has been somewhat more predictable. There were a couple of unexpected lineup changes for the Raiders this week. The secondary has been a game of ‘who’s one first’ all season. That continued this week with Rashaan Melvin and Reggie Nelson unexpectedly inactive and Gareon Conley http://www.raiderscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-marcus-gilchrist-jersey , Daryl Worley, and Erik Harris getting the start. But this week the biggest surprise was Brandon LaFell, who went from inactive without a catch this season to starting at receiver and leading the receiving corps in snaps as the team’s replacement for Amari Cooper.In his 46 snaps (92%) LaFell had three catches, including a touchdown. Martavis Bryant seemed like the logical next man up to replace Cooper who was traded to the Cowboys last week, but Bryant saw just just 7 snaps (14%) which is pretty much on par with what he has had each game this season.LaFell’s touchdown in his first start matches Amari Cooper’s touchdown total in six starts this season.Week 8 snap counts..Offense.Defense.Spec Tms...Offense.Defense.Spec Tms.Follow @LeviDamienTell The Truth: Yippee Raiders season opener The Oakland Raiders lost their season opener to the Rams 33-13. What’s important to note is head coach Jon Gruden suggesting the score was not indicative of the game played. He may be right as this was a game the Raiders had every opportunity to win, so it’s time to tell the truth. The Good HalfThe Raiders started out fast in front of an impassioned Coliseum crowd. The pads were cracking as the hits were coming hard and heavy. Jared Cook would produce a career night and a record breaking performance for all Raiders tight ends with 9 receptions for 180 yards. Derek Carr was granted the autonomy over the line of scrimmage and was making changes to the play at the line of scrimmage early and often as the Raiders took the opening kickoff and drove straight down the field to score a touchdown. It was a marvel to see, in an atmosphere that will truly be missed. Statistically speaking, the Raiders came out and did what they had to do nearly across the board. They were focused, and the important columns all slanted in the Raiders directions. Time of Possession 31:31 Raiders 28:29 Rams, total yards 395 Raiders 365 Rams, and penalties 11/155 yards Raiders 8/70 yards Rams; however, lost the two that weigh most heavily: points and turnovers. Paul Guenther and his defense came out like gangbusters and showed how much better this defense will be this season. At the halftime break the Raiders defense had only allowed 98 yards. Carr had completed 20 of 24 passes for 199 yards with one interception, tight end Jared Cook was destroying Rams linebackers having caught 6 passes for 113 yards in the first half. Running back Marshawn Lynch carried [literally carried on his back] half of the Rams defense into the endzone on a 10-yard draw to end the first drive. The Raiders entered halftime with a 13-10 lead. The X-factors and beginning of the endStop me if you’ve heard this before. Penalties, and Carr’s three interceptions cost the Raiders this football game. There it is, out in the open, calling a spade a spade. The Raiders had the momentum, the crowd Donald Penn Jersey , and the lead, but couldn’t get it done. Why? Because the defense had two monumental lapses in technique which proved pivotal in leading to points, and three interceptions including a pick-six were thrown by a quarterback who appears to have a not-so-slight case of the yips.Rashaan Melvin and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie have both got to turn their heads around and locate the football in the air. It’s plain and simple. In today’s NFL throwing a flag for defensive pass interference for face-guarding is automatic and they both know better. Sadly, both of these gentlemen had a chance to make plays on poorly thrown footballs, even after having been burned, and ran into the receiver. Giving the Rams field flipping penalty yardage.Carr threw three interceptions which can be categorized as bad, wtf, and good gosh no. In his own words Carr “under threw a pass to Cook [intercepted by Johnson in the endzone] which was a bad throw.” This was a drive killer and seriously sapped nearly all the momentum from the team. One foot more on that pass and we could be talking touchdown Raiders, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. W.hen T.hat F.eeling hits you, is the tragic version of when keeping it real goes wrong. Carr’s explanation of this moment went, ‘checked the right side didn’t see anything came back to the left which i shouldn’t have done and decided to throw it away but tried to leave my receiver on the bench route an opportunity.’ What resulted was a three-flies up looking, come and get me, dying duck falling out of the sky pass, which dropped right into the arms of an unseen defender. The first interception was forgivable and excusable for a quarterback trying to be aggressive, but this second one was a game killer. It sucked all the life out of the team. Good Gosh no, is the final insult added to the injury. Down 13 with minutes in the fourth quarter Carr is throwing 5-7 yard crossing routes because the defense isn’t allowing the deep pass. Throwing into a heavily defensively populated area of the football, Marcus Peters was able to step in front of Cook and intercept the pass take it 50 yards the other way to thehouse and jump in the endzone for the final nail in the coffin. Yip Yip YippeeCarr had a very bad second half of football. It is becoming an alarming trend from Carr that he gets happy feet after being pressured and or hit. Carr’s toughness is unquestioned Kelechi Osemele Jersey , but he has broken four bones in the last two years. At some point that has to weigh on his mind and he may even be unaware of it. In this game, as evidenced in the lead photo, he took a low hit early when Aaron Donald threw guard Kelechi Osemele out of his way like he was an annoying fly, and dove into Carr’s knee folding him up and taking him down. It was such a play that Carr actually had some words after the play, watching the replay it was a scary looking twist. Carr’s brain is an overpowered quantum processor which can diagnose pre-snap reads and calculate probability and risk. Carr appears to be finalizing his decisions at the line of scrimmage, which in effect is allowing the defense to dictate what plays he runs. To his credit Carr gets it right more often than not. But when he’s fooled at the line of scrimmage it is a bad look. When things break down around Carr, he has a nasty habit of looking at the rush. His process speeds up and he starts eliminating receiving options before the play has a chance to develop. Against the Rams, Carr shaved off nearly a half a second off his snap to throw average time of 2.7 seconds to a blistering 2.2 seconds. I mean Carr is getting the snap and throwing the ball so fast his receivers didn’t have time to finish their routes. Really who is getting open in 2.2 seconds? what kind of routes? Only a specific set of route combinations will allow him to get rid of the football that fast. Carr needs to work on his pocket awareness and for the love of all that is holy keep his eyes down the field and allow his receivers a chance to be in the game. Carr alternates between throwing up 50/50 balls when he has no pressure, to not even looking his receivers way after he’s been hit or rushed a couple of times. Carr appears to have the yips, he can’t help himself, once he’s been hurt he hears the footsteps and is pressured by ghosts. Forcing himself to get rid of the football when he has time and not going through all of his progressions. It’s been an issue which dates back to his time at Fresno State.Final ThoughtsWeek one was a game the Raiders could have won and it would have set an impressive tone to begin the season. The defense didn’t look like the haphazard unit which was roasted, toasted, and burned to a crisp all last season. The offense appeared capable and even having a plan at times. But here’s the most important thing to realize; good teams don’t beat themselves.The Raiders accrued 8 offensive penalties in the first half alone, effectively gutting their own dominance in the game. They let the Rams hang around until something happened and then the bottom fell out. Carr went from being able to do no wrong, to not being able to see his wide receivers from the moment he broke the huddle. If there is such thing as moral victories in the NFL, perhaps this should be one. Clean up the turnovers and the penalties and they can play with the best the league has to offer.
