Alright so welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders-Jets game, where the Raiders still come up empty in the East Coast time zone. 2nd trip to MetLife Stadium and the Raiders still couldn't get it done.
This game was just a trainwreck to watch from the beginning. The Raider offense started heating up in the 2nd half, but the defense couldn't get the job done giving the offense another chance to cut deep into the Jets lead.
Some of the positives: Marcel Reece. Reece finished with 19 carries on 123 yards, connecting on a 63 yard rushing TD and finished with 2 receptions on 38 yards. All season, Reece has been the invisible man in the offense and with Rashad Jennings and Darren McFadden out this game, the playbook just blew up for him. Give the ball to Reece, like I said early, there's a reason he's nicknamed the "matchup nightmare." You utilize him in the offense, good things happened. Another positive, Rod Streater, targeted 10 times, finished with 7 receptions on 130 yards and he's joined Andre Holmes and Denarius Moore as one of our receivers to have 100+ yard receiving game. I said during Thanksgiving, Holmes was the first 100+ yard in a game, but I was wrong. Denarius Moore had a 100+ yard game in week 3 vs. Denver. So Streater joins both of them and we have a chance to develop that trio of receivers, but doesn't erase our need for a proven go to play maker at the wide receiver position. Matt McGloin, had a rough going early, but heated up, finishing with 18 of 31 completed passes, 245 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT and rushed twice for 20 yards and I thought he played a good game in the midst of some controversy.
Onto the negatives, 3rd down defense has been a story of our season. No pass rush. The secondary can cover, cover all they want, but when there's no defensive linemen to put pressure on the quarterback, coverage is out of reach and gives the quarterback plenty of time to find a receiver. Special teams, another negative; allowing a blocked punt, missed 52 yard FG by Sebass, and could not recover the onside kick (even though it didn't matter already). But the biggest negative of all, coaching and management. Pulling out McGloin for Pryor early in the 1st quarter was one of the worst decisions I seen from a coaching staff since Tom Cable making the decision to start Bruce Gradkowski against the Dolphins after one bad game from Jason Campbell. McGloin deserved better, Pryor deserved better, just premature decision making by Dennis Allen and the coaching staff. It's obvious Pryor deserves another shot, but not this way as it did during the game. The season's out of reach, but the dysfunction is still there.
Record is 4-9, season's out of reach, but we're still mathematically in the playoff hunt. The last AFC wild card spot this season is a joke and expect a one and done on whoever gets that spot. But any given Sunday still applies, so an upset does loom on the home field division winners. The last 3 games are against division rivals, let's try to win out and head into the end of the season with something positive. Stay tuned for tonight because I will be doing Q-by-Q, halftime post, and full recap of the Lakers' game against the Raptors in anticipation for Kobe Bryant's return to the court. So hang around the blog because I'll be back at 6:30 PM.
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