Raiders Hold Off Titans' Surge for Win #2

Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders Week 3 road matchup vs. the Tennessee Titans where the defense wins the game in the final seconds against Marcus Mariota, DeMarco Murray and the rest of the Titans, preserving a 17-10 victory for the Silver and Black.

Week 1, won by one point. Week 2 lost by a touchdown. Week 3 won by a touchdown. Raider Nation, this is some roller coaster ride we've embarked on to open up the 2016 season. But, nonetheless, it would've be nice to go 3-0, but going 2-1 is a better option than going down 1-2. This game was a tale of two halves. In the first half, I thought the Raiders were sharp on both sides of the ball, despite the slow start by the defense and a couple of three and outs by the offense after putting up a touchdown on the first drive. The 2nd half, the Raiders put their foot off the pedal, setting up a possible comeback from the Titans. Whew, there's still lot of things to clean up, but they got the W.

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Defensive turnovers. Man was this critical for the victory. We gotta get more of these, if the defense can't sack the QB. Bruce Irvin recorded a forced fumble on Mariota. Reggie Nelson and Sean Smith each picked off Mariota once. Raiders' defense stood tall. Albeit, they gave up chunks of yardage both on the ground and through the air, they forced turnovers when it was needed the most. If the defense can't get the sack, they should try making a play on the ball and that's exactly what they did this game.

Michael Crabtree, 8 receptions, 102 yards. King Crab has some glue on those hands and great concentration on those feet. We're glad to have him for four more years. No other receiver has stepped up in the clutch more than Crabtree has since he came to Oakland. Two weeks ago, he caught the game-winning 2 point catch. This week, he caught a jump ball on a busted play in the 3rd quarter and he showed great concentration staying in bounds on a clutch 3rd catch to move the chains in the 4th. Crab is clutch. Nothing else needs to be said.

DeAndre Washington, 6 carries, 57 yards. I'd say this is a semi-breakout for Washington. I absolutely love our RBBC lineup because they have a lot of different traits displayed on the field. "D-Dub" showed off the power and elusiveness in the 2nd quarter to help set up the Raiders' 2nd touchdown. He made guys missed and found the right holes opened up by the O-line. Solid game on the ground from Washington

Karl Joseph, 10 tackles, 6 solo tackles. Sometimes, tackles is a misleading stat in the NFL, but it's one way to get yourself recognized. We finally see a glimpse of this year's 1st round pick, Karl Joseph and he showed no signs of rust. I can't remember the exact plays where Karl Joseph made tackles, but 10 tackles? Not too shabby rookie. That's what the Raiders brought him in for: tackle and also lay a hit on someone.

Sean Smith, 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 Pass defense. Sean Smith came under fire from us after being burned the last two games. But, we have to remember he's going up against the best young receivers in the game (Brandin Cooks) and one of the best receivers in the league (Julio Jones) the first two weeks. This week, he wasn't matched up against a top-tier receiver and he did his job. Smith's stat line, it's not too much to woo back the Nation, but it's a step forward.

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Run Defense. This is where the Raiders are missing the presence of Mario Edwards, Jr. and Aldon Smith. DeMarco Murray's stat line: 16 carries, 114 yards, and a TD. He was making the defense miss big time and he was able to find some running lanes off the edge out of the backfield. I'll tell you if the Raiders' had MEJ and Aldon about now, there's no way the opposition's ground game will get 100+ yards against the defense. With those two gone, they know to run away from Mack. Not making excuses, but the run defense will continue to be tested as long as Mario and Aldon are out.

Dropped balls. The offense should've had more points on the board, but look for these three things that we'll derail the offense this season: 1) pre-snap penalties, 2) holding penalties, 3) dropped balls. Seth Roberts had a couple of drops. Despite the TD, he did not have a good game. Walford had a drop. Cooper, in the most crucial moment, had a drop. Carr, despite the INT in the 4th, was putting money on his throws, it's just that the receivers need to do their part

MVP

Michael Crabtree, 8 receptions, 102 yards

This was a no-brainer on who my MVP of this game was. Like I said, Crabtree pulls through in critical moments and this game is one of the many examples on how valuable he is for Derek Carr.




Conclusion

Overall, this was a solid bounce back game for the Raiders. After playing sloppy on your home opener, there is no other way to get back up by getting a win on the road. If we can make inferences, this team plays with more edge on the road than they do at home. This dates back to last season. Hopefully, when they return home for a divisional matchup against the Chargers week 5, they can play much better. But, now is not the time to worry about that. Next week, the Raiders are on the road again to take on the Baltimore Ravens. The Raiders and Ravens are taking parallel paths. They've been through a lot of close games, the Ravens won another close one this week vs. Jacksonville. The only difference is that the Ravens are 3-0 and the Raiders are 2-1 and they have most of their key pieces on defense back like Terrell Suggs. Expect to see another close, competitive game on that one. I'll see you guys next week for that game.

Week 3: RAIDERS @ Tennessee Titans 2nd Half Open Thread and Discussion

The 2nd half discussion of the Raiders-Titans matchup.

Q4

OAK 17 TEN 10

No more. Please no more last minute victories. But in the end, despite all the penalties, it came down to who was more undisciplined on the last drive. The Titans committed some critical penalties on that last drive. Nonetheless, the Raiders get the win. The 2nd half was pretty ugly. Nothing went the Raiders way, but the end result is they're 2-1 for the season. Good win on the road. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3

OAK 17 TEN 10

This quarter was a representation of how the last two games were to start the season. Just when we thought, the defense was improving, they let the Titans walk right into the end zone to make this a one score game. Awful execution on both sides of the ball and they are just letting the momentum swing big time in favor of the Titans. The Raiders have to figure it out and close the game in the 4th because this quarter was just terrible.

Week 3: RAIDERS @ Tennessee Titans 1st Half Open Thread and Discussion

Welcome in to the 1st half open thread of the Raiders' Week 3 road matchup vs. the Tennessee Titans.


Q2

OAK 17 TEN 3

Well, what a weird turn of events to end the quarter. The Titans had two timeouts and they didn't utilize them and just called a couple of silly plays to run the clock out. On that Reggie Nelson INT to end the quarter, I thought I heard a ref blow a whistle when Nelson looked like he stepped out of bounds. He could've taken it all the way, but I think that inadvertent whistle threw him off. Nonetheless, great quarter from the Raiders. Still a lot of things to fixed, but we're seeing a well-balanced game plan put into place for this game.

You want to talk improvement? The defense held the Titans to just 3 points. They showed the same problems they had early on in the first two games against the Saints and Falcons, but with a couple of necessary adjustments, they are just playing lights out so far. Two takeaways, a fumble forced by Bruce Irvin and a INT by Reggie Nelson. We need more of those turnovers. The offense started fast, but I didn't like some of the 3 and outs after the Murray TD. The Raiders could've had more with that Walford TD, but penalties continued to play a factor for that. Like I said, the only thing that's going to derail the offense from fully taking off is the pre-snap and holding penalties. They need to clean that up in order for the offense to seriously take off. Aside from the Murray's TD, DeAndre Washington also stood out in the RBBC (Running Back by Committee). D-Dub was able to exploit some holes and he's easy to miss in the backfield. He helped set up the last touchdown drive the Raiders were able to put together. The Raiders have to keep the gas pedaling. Tennessee is beatable and they just have to continue to put the clamps on them. The 2nd half thread will open up shortly.

Q1

OAK 7 TEN 3

It is essential that the Raiders start fast this game. The offense pretty much set the tone and did what they were supposed to do. Take advantage of the field position. Derek Carr's 25 yard pass to Amari Cooper was a tone-setter. They had a couple of drops after, but Jalen Richard redeemed the whole offense on a screen play, setting up Tay Train's 22 yard touchdown. Good start, but we need more. Defense showed its problems once more, but they are starting to pick it up, hopefully.

Raiders-Falcons Blog Coverage Cancelled

I'm sorry if this is a few hours before game time, but today's open thread of the Raiders' Week 2 matchup vs. the Atlanta Falcons on the blog is cancelled. I'm currently recovering from an illness that I got this weekend and in the process, it's putting me behind schedule for a college paper I have to finish up. This is a decision I really regret, but it's for the best. I'll still keep track of the score and watch as much as and here's to another Raiders victory. Let's go 2-0. Just win baby! I'll see you guys next week.

Raiders Overcome Brees, Saints in the Big Easy for 1st Win

Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders-Saints game where the Raiders overcame a 400+ passing yards day from Drew Brees and the Saints to rally and win 35-34 on the road in New Orleans.

1-0 baby! It has been awhile since we can rejoice for an opening win to start the season. It wasn't easy though. The Raiders had to earn it in front of a very hostile crowd and they just grinded it out. My voice is hurting, my heart was beating so fast on the last drive, but what a win. This is what football season is about.

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O-line adjustments by Mike Tice. This won't show up in the stats book, but think about the situation the Raiders' O-line was in during this game. Menelik Watson goes down. Matt McCants goes down. Austin Howard is inactive. We were losing right tackles. Tice made some gutsy adjustments shifting K.O. to left tackle, Jon Feliciano to left guard, Donald Penn to right tackle. All of a sudden to O-line played much better, opening up holes in the running game and giving Carr a lot of time to throw. All I can say is thank goodness we signed Kelechi Osemele in the offseason and shored up depth on the O-line with versatility.

Michael Crabtree, 7 receptions, 87 yards. The two-point conversion for the win at the end of the game was the reason why we kept Crabtree for four more years. He got off to a slow start during the game, but he kept his head in the game and made a couple of clutch catches. The two-point conversion was one of them, but the other catch before that was huge. It looked like Derek Carr was going to throw it away, but Crabtree somehow made the catch to move the chains. But, there's no denying his catch for the win was huge to put the Raiders past the Saints.

Jalen Richard, 3 carries, 84 yards, 1 TD, 2 catches, 11 yards. I gotta say, I love how deep the running back position is for the Raiders: Murray, Washington, and Richard. Murray scored early, but he struggled the majority game, causing the Raiders to play running back roulette. The explosive run by Richard midway through the 4th quarter was huge, allowing the Raiders to get back into the game. Just one hole and he was gone to the house for the Raiders to pull within two before Coop was able to tie it up.

Amari Cooper, 6 receptions, 137 yards. A nagging foot injury bothered Coop last season and it costed him a couple of drops and a Rookie of the Year season. But, this game, Cooper was back. Yes, the drops at the end bothered me, but he had some nice catches from Derek Carr to help set up the Raiders into the Saints' own territory. It would've been nice if he capped off this game with a TD, he had a chance, but the Saints did a good job covering him in the end zone. At least, he caught one of two critical two-point conversions. To be honest, I was scared that he was going to drop that catch, but he held on and helped tie up the game at 27.

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Penalties. "Pass interference, defense #25, at the spot of the foul, automatic first down." For every P.I. penalty that D.J. Hayden committed, I just wanted to kick something on the spot. If I may recall, the Raiders committed 12-13 penalties this game and most of it was on the defense. That's the reason why this game was what it is because the defense was allowing Drew Brees and the Saints' offense on the field for too long when they should be off the field after a good stop. But, penalties plus the secondary giving up a couple of explosive plays to Brandin Cooks and Willie Snead were recipes for disaster.

MVP

Jalen Richard, 95 total yards, 1 TD.

It was an impressive debut for the undrafted rookie. Not to mention, Louisiana was the state in which Richard was born in and coming back had to be special for him. His 75 yard run to the house was, in my opinion, the game-changing play as it helped the Raiders get back into the game.


Conclusion

I said in my preview that this game should be a statement game for the Raiders. They're on the road, playing in the Eastern time zone, inside a dome where it's really loud, and they made one heck of a statement by notching a win against the Saints. It wasn't pretty though, there's still a lot of things that need to be worked on, particularly the secondary still needs a lot of work and the playcalling on offense has to allow the offense to start fast rather start slow and come back. But still, this is a confidence builder for this young Raiders team that a lot of people are putting high expectations on them and they delivered. This is not the same old Raiders anymore and it looks like they've put the league on notice with this early big win. Next week, the Raiders return home for another NFC South showdown with the Falcons. Most definitely, Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and Devonta Freeman are going to provide yet another stiff test for the defense, but the Falcons are beatable. Also, they are not a very good road team so the Raiders have to maximize the advantage on that weakness. I'll see you guys next week for that game.

Week 1 - Opener: RAIDERS @ New Orleans Saints 2nd Half Open Thread and Discussion

Welcome in to the open thread discussion for the 2nd half of the Raiders-Saints matchup. As usual leave some comments below this post on your take for the game.

Q4

OAK 35 NO 34

I may need some pills to control my heart rate after this quarter. What a game, what a comeback. Brees and the Saints' offense will give you heart attack. The defense gave up a lot explosive plays, but the Raiders somehow, they just kept fighting. That last drive by Carr, that took a lot of guts. Going for the 2-point conversion for the win, I couldn't tell if that was Carr's call or Jack Del Rio's call, but what a call. Crabtree, best hands, makes the catch. Zone coverage at the end almost gave me a heart attack, but the Saints' kicker hooks it wide left. A lot of things went wrong, but as Al Davis used to say: Just Win Baby! And the Raiders did just that to begin the 2016 season. Stay tuned for the full postgame recap.

Q3

OAK 13 NO 24

What this game is telling me late is that there's still a lot of things that need to gel for this Raiders team. They're still not out yet, but the revamped secondary is not doing too good. They gave up a 98 yard play to Brandin Cooks when the Saints are backed into their own end zone. Sean Smith and Reggie Nelson got burned big time. In other news, the Raiders had the ball to start, but quick 3 and out and to make matters worse, they're super thin at right tackle.

Week 1 - Opener: RAIDERS @ New Orleans Saints 1st Half Open Thread and Discussion

Welcome in to the open thread discussion for the 1st half of the Raiders' road matchup vs. the New Orleans Saints. Leave some comments at the bottom of the post.

Q2

OAK 10 NO 17

What a luxury for the Saints to have someone like Drew Brees. The secondary is posing the same problems as last years. They're in soft coverage and it's allowing the Saints to hit on their short and hitch routes and of course, you have the explosive plays from Brandin Cooks and Willie Snead, which put the defense to the brink. 

The Raiders offense early on, they had a slow start. Quick 3 and outs with uninspiring playcalling is not how you want to start on the road. We know how potent the Saints offense is with Brees, Ingram, and Cooks, but holding them to 17 points despite playing a couple bend-but-don't-break defense is a job well done. But like I said, the secondary is starting to get exposed out there and Mack and Irvin are being neutralized out there. Probably the only positive I can see out there is the AC/DC connection. Derek Carr found Amari Cooper for a couple of big plays to set up Latavius Murray's touchdown. Carr had a highlight for himself in the 2nd quarter with a good scramble and a flip out of bounds to extend his arm for the first down. We need to see Carr do that more because we know he has the mobility to flush out of the pocket. Michael Crabtree was cold, only catching 1 pass for 8 yards. A couple of those throws, he should've had, but it's rare to see Crab drop a couple of balls since he has the best hands in the world. What can we expect from the 2nd half? The Raiders have the ball, I expect the offensive playbook to open up more. They need to utilize Washington and Walford, use all the weapons the Raiders have. This offense has too much talent to have some soft playcalling fed to them. Let's see what happens. I will open up the 2nd half thread now.

Q1

OAK 10 NO 3

Well, not the start that I expected, but it's still good enough. The defense set the tone on the first drive of the game. They were not letting Brees have his way, but Bruce Irvin with the strip sack gave the Raiders some good field position to start. However, I didn't like the way the playcalling went on offense and it lead to a quick three and out. During the Saints' second drive, I was thinking to myself: "well, here comes Brees." But once again, the defense held their own out there. I really liked the way how the Raiders responded on their second drive deep within their own territory. AC/DC lit it up with two big plays during that drive to set up Tay Train's TD.

Changes to Game Day Posts

Good afternoon guys. 3 years ago, I started to change the way I post here on the blog by announcing that I was going to cover the games in real time. I provided quarter-by-quarter reaction, halftime, and full recap posts. Since my coverage of the 2016 NBA Finals, I kept thinking about shaking up the game day posts a little bit with the purpose of making them a little more interactive. There are a ton of Raider and Laker fans in the world out there. I don't want to just provide my take, I want to hear your guys' opinions. How we view sports is subjective, everybody has different views on how we see the games and who performed and who didn't perform up to standards. It's okay to agree to disagree. That is the purpose of coming up with these new changes to how I cover the games here on the blog.

So, on with the new changes. The quarter-by-quarter reaction threads will be split into two posts: one post representing the first half and the other representing the second half. Simple isn't it? They will take the form in an open thread/open discussion forum. Which means you can comment your thoughts during the the game and after a quarter ends. I'll tag along in the comments section too because I have to summarize in a few sentences on my reaction and my take on how the game is going after each quarter. I'll search around your comments and reply to as many as I can. As a result of this change, I am discontinuing the halftime posts on my blog. I realize how much of a hassle it is provide my reaction in the 2nd quarter and start over a new post to analyze the 1st half as a whole. Regarding that, 2nd quarter reaction on the 1st half open thread discussions are likely going to be a little more extensive than the other three quarters.

The Full Postgame Recap posts will retain the same format as usual. I quickly summarize the final score, give my reaction on the win/loss, provide the positives and negatives, and the conclusion to set up the next game I'm going to cover. However, the slight change I'm going to implement in the full recap posts is that I'm going to name my MVP of the game. In big letters, I'm going to reveal my MVP, his stats, and just a few sentences why I picked him. I'll add a picture of MVP as a plus. The MVP section will probably go in between the negative and conclusion section of the full recap posts.

Both the open thread posts and the full postgame recaps will be available on my Facebook page as well. So, if you guys are Facebook-dependent to keep track of the games, I'll post them on my page as well. Tomorrow should be a good test for these new changes since the Raiders begin their NFL Season tomorrow in New Orleans. The NBA Season is still a couple of weeks away, so I'll provide more details in terms of covering games for the Lakers later in October.

*Raiders @ New Orleans Saints, tomorrow 10 A.M. Pacific Time, TV: FOX*

2016 Oakland Raiders Preview - Playoff Bound?

Raider Nation it has been awhile. Now that I've enjoyed my little sabbatical off this blog, it's time to talk football again. Welcome in to the regular season preview post for the Oakland Raiders' 2016 regular season campaign. Like last year, I will divide some potential headlines into sections, discuss the schedule, and give my prediction. Keep in mind, this is opinionated and I'll provide my take on all of them.

AC/DC and the Offense Year 2

Last year, we saw glimpses of how good the Raiders' offense can be during the Baltimore, Cleveland, San Diego, New York, and Pittsburgh games. This offense was able to score at will as long as Bill Musgrave opens up the playbook and the offensive line remains in tact. This year, the Raiders added two more running backs in Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington to bolster the running back position since poor Tay Train (Latavius Murray) was getting all the work load. They bolstered the O-line even more by adding Kelechi Osemele from the Ravens and re-signing Donald Penn. With KO, Penn, Hudson, Jackson, and Watson, the O-line has the makings of being elite. Combined with the growth of Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree, Clive Walford, and others, this offense has great potential to explode. Most definitely, the growth of Amari Cooper and Derek Carr (AC/DC) will be crucial. They showed great promise last year and the tandem will continue to get better and hopefully they add more explosive plays to their arsenal. Probably the biggest concern is the running game. I was not impressed with the running game this preseason, particularly with the way Murray was struggling finding running lanes behind a stout O-line. Unless they're holding something back, then I could understand. Well, it's the preseason, you shouldn't show your cards, but I'd say if Murray performs like he did in the preseason, he could be sitting behind Washington or Richard when it's all said and done. On the plus side, Bill Musgrave will give Derek Carr a lot of freedom to change up plays on the line of scrimmage (whew). In the preseason, it was pretty encouraging to see Carr channel his inner-Peyton Manning and audible some plays and protection schemes. The sky is the limit for the offense and they can be more dangerous than they were last season.

Khalil Mack DPOY Candidate?

Khalil Mack is a beast, let's just leave it at that. No post necessary. Jokes aside, last season, we saw what Mack is able to do. He made a huge leap from 4 sacks in his rookie season to 15 sacks in his 2nd year en route to a Pro Bowl and 1st team honors as an outside linebacker and defensive end. The scary part is that he's still growing as a potent pass rusher. The talent on defense is there for Mack to terrorize QBs at will. The Raiders solidified the secondary by adding Sean Smith, Reggie Nelson, and Karl Joseph and they brought in Bruce Irvin to be Mack's partner-in-crime while Aldon Smith serves his lengthy suspension. Obviously, Mario Edwards' hip injury is deflating because he helps set Mack free by eating up blocks, but likely Denico Autry and Jihad Ward are going to fill in quite well. An upgraded secondary and a deep D-line should propel Mack to put up some Lawrence Taylor-esque sack numbers and possibly dethrone J.J. Watt in the Defensive Player of the Year running.

The "Mike" Hole

If you don't know "football-speak," "the Mike" is another name for the Middle Linebacker position in football. Reggie McKenzie and the Raiders are rolling the dice on Ben Heeney to be their long-term answer at Middle Linebacker and backing him up is a project in Cory James. If there's any position that is the most concerning heading into the 2016 season, it would most definitely be the Middle Linebacker position. Running back is arguable, but it's a deep position for the Raiders. I love Heeney's motor and his nose for the football, but his preseason play has us re-thinking whether or not he can be the guy to quarterback the defense. He struggled in coverage over the middle and he couldn't shed blocks when stopping the run (look at the preseason tape vs. Green Bay). This is a position of concern that we need to keep an eye on as this season progresses.


Viva Las Vegas?

We keep hearing about this all over the media: are the Raiders moving to Las Vegas? It is going to be a distraction with all this relocation talk and it could derail the Raiders from fully taking off this season.This team is poised to bring the franchise back from the ashes of futility and they can't let this relocation talk distract them. In fact, the team and the fans alike shouldn't worry about this, they need to focus on now. Let me say right now, these are the Oakland Raiders. They play in the city of Oakland. Until Las Vegas is set in stone, they'll remain the Oakland Raiders until further notice. Nothing more to be said. Rather than starting a civil war within the Raider Nation about this whole move or stay arguments, this season is the time to unite the Raider Nation and rally around this team that potentially has all the tools to break our 13 year drought of postseason Raiders football.

Schedule

The 2016 schedule is arguably the most favorable schedule the Raiders have had in years' past. They're playing the AFC South and the NFC South and both of them were pathetic last season. Yes, they have an unfavorable East Coast road schedule to start and they have to give up a home game to play in Mexico City. Those are going to be the major hurdles for the Raiders. However, the first half of the schedule before their bye week in week 10, probably 80% of those games are against beatable teams (Saints, Falcons, Titans, Ravens, Chargers, Jags, Bucs). It is essential that the Raiders take advantage of those matchups and get off to a good start, despite the road hurdles. In terms of division rivals, I'm going to be bold and say that the Raiders can sweep San Diego and split with Denver and Kansas City with each team winning in their respective home field.

Conclusion

OK, the Raiders added a couple of top-tier free agents, they had a solid 2016 draft with a full load of draft picks, the coaching staff remains in tact. I see the Raiders taking the last Wild Card spot in the AFC. I think that's a realistic prediction. The talent is there. The coaching staff is there. The schedule is favorable. As long as they put the work in, build chemistry, and execute game in and game out, the sky is the limit for this team. They need to be locked in and dominate for a full 60 minutes. No more going aggressive in the 1st half and being conservative in the 2nd half. Take no prisoners! This Sunday should be a statement game. They're on the road in New Orleans, the Big Easy, going up against Drew Brees, Sean Payton, and the ever hostile Superdome crowd. However, one name who the Saints have justifies that the opening game is a "must win" game for the Raiders: Dennis Allen. "Um, uh, you know at the end of the day uh..." The Raiders offense must show up big time and blitzkrieg the heck out of the Saints defense to make DA look like a fool! We've been waiting too long for playoff football. It's time for this young team to make the Oakland Raiders great again. Go Raiders! #ReturntoGreatness


*Announcement to be made before Sunday regarding changes in game day posts*