Jaguars Gameday Thread
Well, here we are at midseason and I gotta lower the bar once again on another lost campaign.
Simply put: don't make me run out the Clown Car again, Raiders.
GO RAIDERS!
posted by Raider Take at 1:20 PM
Well, here we are at midseason and I gotta lower the bar once again on another lost campaign.
Simply put: don't make me run out the Clown Car again, Raiders.
GO RAIDERS!
posted by Raider Take at 1:20 PM
23 Comments:
Stupid to throw long on 4th and inches. Even if they hit that it's a low percentage play. Lawrence is a much better QB and Jags have controlled the ball. Raiders still short on brains and talent.
I'm sure some will look at this game and see progress, but you you'll need to explain it to me.
A - Clearly, defenses are reading Smith's passes. They continue to jump routes for INTs.
B - The long pass attempt on 4th and inches makes no sense. The next 2 times the Raiders were 4th and inches, Smith ran it up the middle and they got it both times. Why risk a low percentage pass on a high percentage down and distance? That's insane! Winning teams don't do that. Only desperate teams do that.
C - One other thing that stood out loud and clear, the Raiders continue to use zone blocking at the goal line, where all the defenders are stacked at the line and there's only a split second to make a play. Critics in media have been talking about this mistake all season. It takes too long to push a guard and set up zone blocking. The defense smothers the play every time. Yet Chip Kelly and the Raiders continue to call the same goal line play.
The bar is low. So, we can call this game progress on the sheer fact the Raiders actually had a chance to win. But they continue to demonstrate the same mind set and make the same bad decisions. Even a mouse will eventually learn how to get the cheese.
On a side note, Brock Bowers is a monster.
IMO, the Raiders have enough talent to win, but their coaches are fumbling the ball. Coaching this year is as bad as any recent coaches who were fired. There's nothing to suggest otherwise.
*"pulling guard" in that last post. I type faster than I think sometimes..., like Chip Kelly calling plays faster than he can think.
The other thing that jumps out (and being called out by media) is the lack of running plays called. Jags ran the ball often and controlled the clock. Raiders are incredibly unbalanced and have forced their defense to be on the field way too much the entire season.
Watching other games, you see teams rolling out their QB, running tosses and throwing screens, and other common things that the Raiders just don't do, or do often enough. What is wrong with Chip Kelly? And for that matter, why can't Pete Carroll call Kelly out on these things?
Raiders lost a home game, so at least half the fans went home happy.
No NYR, there was no progress in this loss. If Raiders play like this in Donktown, they will lose 50-0.
But I don't agree with you that the Raiders have the talent to win. They have a bad Qb. A bad 0-line, and a very bad secondary. These area's need to be addressed in the off season.
Maxx Crosby immediately went to X after the game, and this is what he posted:
"Raider Nation I Love Yall With Everything In My Heart & Soul. Yall Deserve Better. Stay As One, It Will Change. "
As a fan, I love this from our top captain and best talent on the team. He sees more than we do behind the scenes. On the other hand, how long have we "fans" heard this line the last 2 1/2 decades? Misery loves company....
Ghost, I respect that, and you're probably right. But I firmly believe changes in scheme and playcalling could have won 1-3 more games this year.
If you look at only one play from Sunday's game, look at the play directly before Bowers last TD, when Jeanty was stuffed by the Jags defense at the goal line. The Raiders guard was pulling and the play was blown up before he got to his assignment. I think it was Alex Cappa. That's another concern, this GM/HC group has no sense of talent. Cappa failed miserably in Cincy last year.
As for Geno Smith, why isn't he being given roll out plays, or screens, or just tosses back to Jeanty in the flat? It's like an entire playbook meant for struggling offensive lines is being ignored. They run up the middle or pass from the pocket. With little exception, that's all they have. It's remarkable how predictable they are.
Smith telegraphs his passes, most notably from yesterday, the INT and the 2-point attempt intended for Lockett. On the 2-pt attempt, the defender stood there with his hands in the air long before Smith threw the ball, but Smith threw it anyway.
The Raiders look the most incompetent I can remember since Shell II.
Put Patrick Graham back upstairs!
Go back to power blocking!
Open the playbook to include more quick reads and routes!
Never throw down field on 4th and inches!
Get the ball to Jeanty in the open field (away from the LOS)!
Seems so friggin' simple!
These coaches only know one way. They are incapable of being dynamic in their approach... and they continue to prove that week after week.
No clown car at least. However, missing an extra point while giving up the longest field goal in NFL history and ultimately losing by one point to drop to 2-6 is kinda on brand, is it not?
Well said RT. That was a typical Raider heartbreak. On a more positive note Bowers is truly one of one and the best player on the field yesterday for either team. Sandy
Bob Raider
Why not ask two guys not 3, to run team. Why is Brady the boss? Carroll and Spytek can't see there needs to be changes or/ and moves? This team IMO...may be tanking- Arch Manning? Fans shouldn't keep going with this, it's not MD, it's a gamble and/ or leap to get elite at QB. This isn't Raiders way and may be a bad or illegal move.
Yes, if they had no bad luck, they'd have no luck at all. Unfortunately, they bring it on themselves. That's what's so horrible about it. I believe it's fixable. But what do I know.
Sandy, I agree. Bowers is a monster. So why didn't Geno Smith look for him on the 2-point attempt? He locked in on Lockett and the defender was right there to knock it down.
It really boggles the mind that the guy who caught 3 TDs in the game and was clearly unstoppable was a decoy on the most important play of the game, and another guy who's been with the team for like three days was the target... and Geno Smith telegraphed the play in a way which was indescribably pathetic.
If you're gonna get beat, get beat throwing your best pitch. Chip Kelly and the Raiders threw a batting practice pitch and act surprised the Jags hit it over the fence. It should be no surprise to anyone it failed. Heck, even if the ball reached Lockett, he still had to catch it. Lockett had zero catches for zero yards in the game prior to that target.
The stupidity of the Raiders is really astounding. This group is so far making Antonio Pierce look like a seasoned veteran head coach.
Bowers was double covered the call was a good one Lockett was wide open and Geno hestitated and double clutched which let the DL guy get his hands up. Pierce a better coach than Caroll? Give me a break that is ridiculous. Sandy
Who else feels like the Doncos are going to kick are teeth in Thursday Night?
Clearly, I did not say that. The fact remains the Raiders are not a well-coached team. I don't know how you can possibly dispute that. The evidence is in every game.
On the 2-pt attempt, it's pretty obvious Bowers was a decoy. He chipped a defender and didn't even turn around until after Smith had thrown the ball. Not sure how you can defend throwing to Lockett who was just signed and hasn't even seen live action with the Raiders until Sunday. Zero targets until that play! They have Bowers, Mayer, Meyers. Meyers recorded zero drops last year in something like 105 targets. Where was he?
The coaches have yet to show us anything... except repeating the same mistakes. Then they seem surprised by the same results.
Geno Smith was much better in Seattle, which seems to point the finger at Chip Kelly for guiding Smith toward having his worst season as a pro.
Raiders traded Jakobi Meyers to the Jaguars
As I said above, Meyers was recorded with zero drops in >100 targets last year. He's young and the Raiders had ample opportunity to extend him. Hard to believe the team wouldn't benefit more from keeping Meyers than trading him for a 4th round pick.
Trading the best WR on the team equals throwing in the towel for 2025.
Tough to know what to make of the Raiders. They have no identity and no definable direction. Pete Carroll wants to win now but Spytek wants to blow it up... leaving almost zero chance Carroll will be involved when or if the Raiders ever figure it out. (I feel like some folks in the exec suites should be scratching their heads over why they hired Carroll in the first place.)
The only thing we know is that Mark Davis will not allow Maxx Crosby to be traded, even though that's probably what Spytek wants to do. Literally everything else is fluid. Geno Smith can't leave fast enough. While Bowers seems safe, the Raiders need a QB more than they need Bowers.
They have youth but, honestly, who looks promising? Jeanty could be great, but not with ZBS, which the Raiders have failed at every time it's been implemented. Look no farther than the ebb of flow of Jacobs tenure with the Raiders. He stalled with ZBS and excelled with power blocking.
Even Kolton Miller might be done with the Raiders. He's probably near retirement and may not want to be part of their losing culture anymore.
The Raiders remain with far more questions than answers. They continue to devolve even when it didn't seem possible. You can raise a family in 23 years but, apparently, it takes longer than that to win a single playoff game. So, we're relegated to brushing it off and assuming the Raiders will figure it out... which they never do.
Meyers is 29 this week, not young and not a wide receiver 1, he was leaving anyway, to get a fourth round pick for him it's a good result, the team is going nowhere this year. Kolton Miller is not going to retire he just signed an extension and was playing fantastic before he got hurt. Sandy
JPJ, Koonce, Wilson, and Butler are all reportedly on the block as well. Let's get rid of all the building blocks for a better team? Doesn't make sense
Meyers was not only the Raiders #1 WR, he was the only Raiders WR capable of starting on another team. He's definitely not "old," as he's coming off his best year (actually two straight years) as a pro.
That aside, perhaps you're not seeing the irony. They traded Meyers for a 4th round pick, on the heels of benching last year's 4th round pick at WR. For that matter, the Raiders have a long history of botching 1st round picks, and getting a 4th round pick wrong is so much easier.
The idea that this is going somewhere has a long way to becoming realty.
Quite simply, the math doesn't work. That's why Carroll wanted to win now. I think everyone knows he's not staying for a full rebuild. Yet, that's clearly the direction Spytek is sending the team.
You know what's eerie my friends? All of our discussions and takes and analyses here all pertain to different players, GMs, coaches and seasons from so many years past, and yet they all ring so familar, too. Forget the Las Vegas and Oakland Raiders, they're the Rinse & Repeat Groundhog Day Raiders.
It's really remarkable, isn't it. Totally immeasurable. I said before, the Raiders need an historian who can help them avoid the kinds of mistakes they continue to make over and over. But it's more than that. They need a mathematician too. Somebody who can count Carroll's age, add for rebuild and divide by number of years left in Carroll's contract.
The math doesn't work. Did Spytek lose his calculator?
When Pete Carroll took over for Antonio Pierce and he brought in Chip Kelly and Geno Smith and drafted Ashton Jeanty, wasn't the baseline expectation that Carroll's Raiders would immediately be better than Pierce's Raiders, then grow into something special by, say, next year or the year after (i.e., the last year of Carroll's contract)?
What happened?
Tonight's game has the potential to further expose the Raiders failures. The Broncos are tied for the league best record and have won 6 in a row. They have a top-5 defense which leads the league with 40 sacks (nearly double the next best team) and they have a baller at QB.
So is it "time to compete" yet?
Can the Raiders field the same scrapy but sometimes sloppy team that played the Jags on Sunday, or do they get their asses handed to them by a better team? Because I think if we're expected to buy into the whole Pete Carroll-can-turn-the-Raiders-around, we should be seeing more of the former and less of the latter, especially now that the season is half over.
Post a Comment
<< Home