Raiders Fall to Jets in Opener; East Coast Jinx Continues

Alright, welcome in to your NFL regular season opener of the full recap here at the True Raider Laker blog between the Raiders and the New York Jets where the Raiders fell short to snatch an East Coast win over the Jets 14-19.

It's no surprise that we start the season, 0-1, I've been used to that a lot as a Raider fan. It's always frustrating to start out the season with a loss. From what I've seen this game, this should've been a dominant win by the Jets. Wipe out all the penalties that the Jets committed this game, wipe out all the mistakes, and you could see that the Jets thoroughly dominated us in the ground game and in the passing game on the offensive side and their run defense played lights out. There's nothing you can say about it, but mistakes happen which is why the score is closer than it should've been.

The Positives

Derek Carr, 20 of 32, 151 passing yards, 2 passing TDs. This is the big storyline this game, how will Derek Carr fare against a Rex Ryan-oriented Jets defense considering Ryan has an impressive record against rookie QBs? From what I've seen, Derek Carr had a decent game, he did not have an amazing game. He recorded his first touchdown to Rod Streater after a Woodson interception and threw a 30 yard bomb to James Jones when time was literally out for the Raiders. He'll learn from this game and continue to grow. At the beginning of the game, he looked really sharp and then the Jets defense pretty much turned up by blitzing the O-line more and that prevented Carr from having a very impressive rookie debut during the regular season. Like I said, Carr will learn, he's not going to hang his head down this game.

The Negatives

There are a lot of negatives all over the place.

Dropped passes. There were a lot of dropped passes in this game, which is one of the primary reasons Derek Carr didn't put up stellar numbers as a starter. When Carr was making a play on 1st down, 3rd down throws, the receivers weren't there to haul in his passes. I mean some of them were covered well and some of them should've been catchable balls.

Running game. MJD and DMC, 26 rushing yards on a total of 13 carries. Not the start you want to see for a potential deadly 2 back tandem. Credit where it's due, the Jets run defense contained them for the majority of the game and they couldn't get anything going. You know a team's run defense is a bulwark when they completely shut out two of the most dynamic running backs in the game when 100%..

Defense. The defense was a huge letdown this game. The Raiders added a lot of well known players on the defensive line, yet the Jets were able to motion their offense with ease over the defense. The defense gave up a total of 402 yards this game. The Jets running game contributed 212 rushing yards out of those total yards of offense and they did make the Raiders' run defense look silly. Passing game-wise, with the way Geno Smith played early, he still managed to rack up 200+ passing yards over our suspect secondary. I'm going to have a watchful eye on that secondary the whole season. The defensive line doesn't have to worry about a dual threat QB until they face Russell Wilson in Seattle and then later Kaepernick in the season, but the secondary is going to be on watch the whole time, especially on 3rd down, where they have been really vulnerable dating back to last season's final stretch. The front seven gets a pass this game, but if they still can't generate pressure especially against a traditional pocket passer these next few games, it's going to be a long season.

Conclusion

Overall, the experts stand corrected to put the Raiders dead last in their power rankings with this loss. The schedule is a steep mountain to climb, but it's not an impossible mountain climb. The Raiders , they gotta win at some point in the East Coast and they get two more tries at New England and at London in a "home" game against the Dolphins. Derek Carr will get better from here, the supporting cast has to get better with him on the offense. The defense has a pink slip in my book and they have a chance to prove what they're made of against the Texans facing a pure pocket passer. I'll see you guys next week for that game. Until then, enjoy the rest of the opening Sunday of the NFL season. Stay classy guys.

Week 1 East Coast Opener: RAIDERS @ New York Jets Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

Score: OAK 14 NYJ 19

The Jets gave a lot of opportunities to the Raiders, but the Raiders couldn't capitalize. Credit where credit is due, the Jets were much more physical, they didn't give us any room to run the ball down their throats and Rex Ryan and the Jets D do what they do best to rookie quarterbacks, give them a rude awakening in the NFL. Overall, Carr did good, he didn't do great, there's a lot to learn from this. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: OAK 7 NYJ 13

I couldn't recall how many times the Raiders received the opening kickoff in the 2nd half and they couldn't put together a good drive. The Jets defense are starting to bring the heat on Derek Carr, they have completely shut down our running game. Raiders are still down by 6, but the Jets have the momentum all on their side to close this out and that does not bode well.

Q2:

Score: OAK 7 NYJ 10

The Jets offense, despite all the penalties, they got it going at the end of that quarter. I thought that's a partial momentum killer right there for the Raiders and also Latavius Murray's almost muffed kickoff return despite the fact the Raiders played mistake free. Would've been good to go into the locker room up 6, but the Raiders are just down by 3 and have the ball after deferring. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

Score: OAK 7 NYJ 3

Old man Woodson, still making circus plays in his 17th season. That was a big interception to set up Derek Carr's first official TD to Rod Streater. Aside from that, 3rd down is still problem. The secondary is being exposed big time giving up a big passing play one 3rd down after another. Luckily, the Jets are gift wrapping penalties on offense, which is why it's 7-3, but they are still threatening after the end of this quarter.

RAIDERS @ Jets Halftime Post

Score: OAK 7 NYJ 10

Alright welcome in to the first official halftime post of 2014 NFL Season of the Raiders-Jets game where the Jets gain the lead 7-10 in the winding seconds of the 2nd quarter.

The Positives

Derek Carr, 9 of 12 passes, 59 yards, 1 passing TD. Derek Carr is going to have a hard time they said, Rex Ryan will surprise him with a lot of packages they said. For the most part, D.C. was calm and cool in the pocket. Credit to where it's due with the offensive line, they blocked well for the rookie, allowing 0 sacks for the Jets defense. Other than that, D.C. is handling this Jets defense pretty well, almost had one INT thrown to Calvin Pryor, but he did well so far.

Charles Woodson, 4 solo tackles, 1 INT. 37 years of age, C-Wood is still playing like one of the best defensive players in the league. I mean, aside from all the negatives that the defense is putting this game, Woodson so far is the only positive. He's active, embracing that role as the last line of defense and made a crucial INT to give the offense some breathing room to work with.

Rod Streater, 4 receptions, 41 yards, 1 TD. Less time to work with and D.C. is starting to make Streater his #1 go to guy. Streater almost went 1,000 yards in receptions last year despite the quarterback carousel, with that position stable, he's due for a breakout and he's starting that against the Jets today.

The Negatives

Secondary. A lot of open receivers, especially on 3rd down. I said in my preview that the secondary is going to be a concern and boy are the Jets exploiting that pretty good with all these big 3rd down conversions in the passing game.

Defensive line/pressure. 0 pressure on Geno Smith, ZERO. It's starting to feel like last year again where the Raiders had no answer for a pass rush and despite bringing guys like Tuck, Woodley, and Antonio Smith, they haven't done much to rattle Smith or put pressure on him and it's another reason why the defense is giving one big play on defense one 3rd down after another.

Bottom Line

Raiders have the ball. They need to put together a good opening drive in the 2nd half to regain some momentum. For the defense, they need start pressuring and get themselves off the field.

2014 Fantasy Football Team

Team name: GUTZ

QB: Matt Ryan (Falcons)
WR1: Julio Jones (Falcons)
WR2: Vincent Jackson (Bucs)
WR3: T.Y. Hilton (Colts)
RB1: Eddie Lacy (Packers)
RB2: Alfred Morris (Washington)
TE: Antonio Gates (Chargers)
K: Justin Tucker (Ravens)
DEF: New England

Bench:

MAURICE JONES-DREW
Heath Miller (Steelers)
Martellus Bennett (Bears)
Andy Dalton (Bengals)
Doug Baldwin (Seahawks)
JAMES JONES

Raiders 2014 Regular Season Preview: Make or Break for Dennis Allen and Staff, Last Season in Oakland?

Alright Raider Nation, welcome in to your 2014 regular season preview for the Oakland Raiders presented by yours truly. All 4 preseason games are in the books and a lot is on the line heading into season 3 of the McKenzie-Allen era. The way the Raiders headed into the offseason, they added a lot of guys that display veteran leadership, what it takes to win, and motivation to prove they have something left at the tail end of their careers, then in the draft they focused on building towards the future and selecting the best player available that can help them now. During the first three preseason games, the Raiders didn't look like they were ready enough to face the difficult schedule ahead of them, but after last night's win over the defending Super Bowl champs might've boosted some confidence that hey the team doesn't care if the opposing team is one of the NFL's elite, Super Bowl contender, or Super Bowl champ, they will compete their hearts out to prove experts wrong.

Let's look at the Raiders' offense. A much better QB situation, healthy, bigger offensive line, potential dynamic running back duo, and solid receiving corps. The way the offensive line was built displayed the identity on offense that the Raiders are going to be a run first team and they will run it until the defense can stop them. Yes, the loss of Jared Veldheer still hurts because Donald Penn is known for his run blocking rather than his pass protection; let's not forget Penn gave up a high number of sacks for the first time in his career, but he's only a short term solution. It's obvious this team is grooming Menelik Watson to play that left tackle spot in the future and rookie guard Gabe Jackson is an absolute steal and I'm hoping he beat out Barnes for that left guard spot. Overall, the O-line is a lot better than last season to say the least. At the QB spot, man even though it's better, it's a tough decision for DA to decide who the starting QB is, but the way I saw it in the preseason, it should come down between Derek Carr and Matt McGloin. Yeah we traded for Matt Schaub, but Schaub hasn't done much in the preseason to convince us that he has his confidence back, he hasn't even thrown his first TD as a Raider yet, but Carr has and that's saying something. Looking at Carr's performance last night, I think out of the QBs in this draft class, he's more ready based on his drive to win and his leadership around the offense. I think being passed up in the first round and being unfairly compared to his brother David is going to give Derek the job because the way I saw him play against the Seahawks looked like he has something to prove, he wants to prove he can help the Raiders win now rather than later. Moving on to the running backs, MJD, DMC; almost 4 years ago, these two put on a rushing clinic in Jacksonville and when healthy, they can be a deadly 1-2 tandem. Out of the two, DMC has a lot more on his shoulder. 1 year contract, maybe the last time they'll let him don the S&B, injury-plagued seasons, MJD taking away his spot, no excuses for McFadden to injure himself and stay off the field for a long period of time or he can kiss his 2nd string position goodbye to Latavius Murray. Receiving corps-wise, they say the Raiders need a primary go to guy. I say look at the Saints offense or the Packers offense, they don't revolve around a #1 receiver, sure Brees has Graham, sure Rodgers has Nelson, but they distribute the ball evenly to each receiver in the passing game. Streater, D. Moore, Jones, Holmes, Butler/Little, and Rivera and hopefully Ausberry as security blankets, the receiving corps will be fine.

On the defensive side: pass rushers, pass rushers everywhere, in and out secondary. Losing Lamarr Houston was a big loss definitely, but the Raiders replaced him with three proven pass rushers in Justin Tuck, LaMarr Woodley, Antonio Smith, drafted a stud in Khalil Mack, moved Sio Moore to the weak side. Lack of pass rushing was a big concern last season, but that's what Reggie McKenzie emphasized on when retooling this front seven. On paper the front seven is great, Tuck, Sims, Smith, Woodley, Moore, Roach, Mack, I like that front seven. If the Raiders had this front seven and mixed it with last year's secondary, they would've been a top 10 defense for sure. And this brings me to the next topic, the secondary. The most concerning position in the secondary is definitely the cornerback position. D.J. Hayden, out for who knows how many games, Tarell Brown, got burned many times this preseason against first team offenses. Neiko Thorpe, T.J. Carrie will they make the team? Should the Keith McGill project speed up? Let's rewind back to D.J. Hayden. I'm not saying I'm completely giving up on the D.J. Hayden experiment, he's just on a trend of bad luck injuries since his heart trauma, but it's McKenzie's biggest reach to take him in the 1st round when the Raiders needed to fill more important roster holes. Unless Hayden comes back and becomes the shut down corner they drafted with little memorization of the playbook, he's been a disappointment so far and the depth the Raiders have in the cornerback position is putting big smiles on Rivers, Manning, Smith and their receivers' face because they know that the cornerback position is vulnerable and C-Wood and Tyvon Branch cannot guarantee safety help on time.

Onto the regular season schedule, I'm not going to sugarcoat it, that schedule probably came from Hell itself. From an expert view, the most possible wins are Cleveland and Buffalo and the rest of the schedule is all losses. From my view, this Raider team is competitive enough to snatch a few wins among the elite. The past Raider teams from the last decade would probably pack it in, call it quits, and lock on that top pick if they had a schedule like that, but this team has a lot of winning veterans on this roster and they will give the team a reason to not be afraid and keep playing their hearts out. It is a given Denver is still the AFC West king, but I am not scared of the Chiefs, they haven't done much this offseason, I am not scared of the Chargers, the Raiders proved they could hang with them. The NFC West is definitely a scary conference, but the Rams lost Sam Bradford, history has shown that Carson Palmer doesn't have a good track record against the Raiders, the last preseason game against the Seahawks is a confidence booster heading in to face them again with the 12th man, and Week 14 is a potential trap game for the Niners because both Seahawks games are sandwiched in between the Battle of the Bay game. Overall the schedule is difficult, but it is not impossible to overcome.

In conclusion, I believe in this team, the Raider Nation believes in this team. Reggie McKenzie has done a great job giving us hope with his offseason moves and draft strategy this year and now it's time for Dennis Allen to do the same. 4-12, double digit losses is not an option anymore. I'd say at best in order for DA to save his job, he needs to take the Raiders to a 7-9 or 8-8 record to clearly show that progress is being made under the new regime. I think we have a competitive Raiders team, we just need a few more pieces to even talk playoffs or the Super Bowl, but that's just my realistic point of view. This is potentially the last season in Oakland considering the Raiders one year lease at the coliseum. If the Raiders are seriously considering shocking the football world this season after nearly 12 years of futility and frustration among us fans and give the city of Oakland a lasting memory, they need to compete their hearts out and they need to, above all else, "just win baby." GO RAIDERS! ALL IN!

Week 1 @ NY Jets, Q-by-Q reaction, Halftime Post, and Full Recap on Sunday, September 7, 10:00 AM Pacific Time

Raiders Squander Starting Lineup Dress Rehearsal vs. Packers

Alright welcome in to a preseason special of the full recap between the Raiders and the Packers. Charles Woodson, James Jones, and C.J. Wilson return to Lambeau Field to face their former teammates and it seemed that the Packers didn't seem to miss them at all as they beat the Raiders 21-31.

First off it's great to be back covering some football. I mean I too am in preseason mode, there's a random thick grey bar hanging around in the Q1 section of the Q-by-Q reaction and the halftime posts are still a tad late to beat the start of the 2nd half. You know me, I like to get these things done on the blog in real time, so this was a great way to shake off some cob webs. As for the game itself, the first team, great opening drive, but later in the game, they got outplayed not just by the first stringers, but also the second stringers. Not counting the 2nd team or 3rd team snaps, the way I saw the first team offense against Green Bay's second team defense, it looks like they're not ready to face what's ahead of them in the tough schedule.

The Positives

Maurice Jones-Drew, 3 carries, 45 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD. Highlight of the night for the Raiders was MJD's 40 yard rushing TD to the house on a 3rd down conversion. He made a lot of tacklers whiff and it caused him to go down hill on the open field. He's shown so far in the preseason that he's still Maurice Jones-Drew and he's still deadly if you underestimate his size or allow him to be so open in the backfield.

Khalil Mack, 4 solo tackles, 1 assist tackle, 1 INT. The Big Mack Attack has showcased what he's got against a top-tier team. Yes, he's been a disappointment the last two preseason games as a lot was expected of him to make a Von Miller or Clay Matthews-esque impact right now. Understandably, he's still a rookie, adjusting to the pro level style, but this game should be a barometer for the Mack Daddy to see where he's at because he placed his stamp on why he's the 5th overall pick in this year's draft this game.

Brice Butler 3 receptions, 60 receiving yards, 2 receiving TD. Literally, Brice Butler is a dark horse to overthrow Greg Little and Juron Criner off to be that 5th receiver on the depth chart and make the final 53 man roster. His chemistry with McGloin is great and they've done this last preseason when they were still rookies, the trust was there even if it is against 2nd and 3rd team players. Don't sleep on Butler because he shows his stuff late in the preseason to convince coaches to keep him on the team.

The Negatives

Penalties. To be completely frank, it is not worth talking negatives about the Raiders unless you bring up penalties. Even though Green Bay committed more penalties, the Raiders committed penalties that hurt them the most. On first team, you had a chance to get them off on their opening drive on 3rd down and then you had two great defensive stops on 3rd down and you just kill them with idiotic extracurricular penalties. Sometimes when players get into their heads, they just got to know when to let it go (Frozen reference). I see Antonio Smith jawing at somebody even though C-Wood was trying to calm him down, Kaelin Burnett jawing at another player and then tapping his helmet hard. You can't do that when you successfully executed on all 3 downs on defense and DA has got to be livid about that.

1st team passing game. Embarrassing that the Raiders' 1st team offense were getting beat by the Packers' 2nd team defense every time in the passing game. I honestly don't know what's going on, you could blame it on Schaub getting the ball out too late or the O-line clamping down, but the receivers were dropping catchable balls and they weren't trying to fight for the ball against the defensive man in front of them or trying to outmaneuver them in their routs. I sincerely hate the media saying that this team doesn't have a go to guy, the receivers have talent, they just have to find a way to get rid of the man in front of them and burn them for a big, explosive play.

Conclusion

Overall, the first team didn't leave a lasting impression during the 3rd game of the preseason. The question for DA is do you keep playing the first team or give them a rest for the final preseason game to get ready for week 1 against the Jets? Most likely they'll pull them out because usually the fourth preseason game is for remaining 2nd string and 3rd string players on the roster to scratch and claw their way in. However, the last preseason game is another good test, getting the defending champion Seahawks at home because they're going to see them again up in Seattle going up against the deafening 12th man. I won't cover that game, but I will post my regular season preview for the Raiders after. Be sure to check out my collaborations with my good friend Stillmattic on his blog: http://bleachzealot.blogspot.com we're just about to wrap up our Bleach Kombat fight night posts collab. I've been working with him on his blog since the end of the NBA regular season in April. If you guys are also into Bleach or Anime/Manga in general, my friend bust his @$$ to provide you with some entertaining content and some of his own in depth perspective on Bleach. He's more dedicated to his blog than me if you ask. Other than that, I'll see you guys again for Week 1 against the Jets. I'm out.

Dress Rehearsal Preseason Week 3: RAIDERS @ Green Bay Packers Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

Score: OAK 21 GB 31

Score in garbage time always tries to cover up how terrible the game went. McGloin and Butler, they've been cooking it up last preseason and they're doing it again this preseason, just fantastic chemistry even if they're playing against a 3rd string defense. Good to see GAIII run it up for the two point conversion doing his daddy proud carrying on that legacy in the S&B. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: OAK 7 GB 25

Schaub needed that TD from James Jones to give the Raider Nation a reason to have trust in him and didn't happen after the score was reversed after the review. The 2nd-3rd stringers took over this quarter, little scoring was expected. Usually heading into the 4th, both stringers want to go guns blazing to secure a spot on the roster.

Q2:

Score: OAK 7 GB 22

Arguably the story of the quarter, Sio Moore's neck injury. You don't want to see a stud of a player like Moore be carted off on a stretcher in the preseason. Overall, rough first half, passing game has been extraneous so far, and penalties are killing the team yet again. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

Score: OAK 7 GB 8


Both teams engaging each other in a chest match with both scoring on their opening drives. MJD showed a vintage big run in the opening drive for the Raiders. Didn't like how the Raiders ended the quarter on two penalties for 15 yards because they were doing a great job on defense and special teams. Two dumb penalties have marred the Raiders' impressive sequences on defense after they allowed a score on the Packers' opening drive. You can't do that, especially against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, even if it is preseason.