Chargers Gameday Thread
Overall, a great start to the campaign last week. Soft opponent but they took care of business (which is something we haven't been able to take for granted with the Raiders), Jeanty got moving, just a nice way to kick things off.
The Chargers are going to come in pissed after last week, but last week also showed they're not that great, which makes them beatable. A Raiders win would really send a message. Let's go! RAID-ERRRRS!
posted by Raider Take at 12:13 PM
28 Comments:
Great win. You know what I like? The fact that the Raiders aren't running with scissors. They're just playing solid football and not making you scratch your head. It's refreshing. Announcer said that Cousins is the first Raiders QB to throw three or more TDs in the first two games of a season since Stabler in 1976. Jeanty gotta learn to catch the ball, but at least he's being properly applied in the running game.
Cousins' arm didn't get any stronger over the week, and Jeanty dropped 3 passes. But the Raiders played hard and persevered. Masses looks like a baller. Unlikely Porter gets his job back. Masses with two INTs and White with two TDs. Chinn with another big play, and Crosby forced two points to finish it.
Great win.
On the other side, Chargers might have jumped the shark. Mike McDaniel looks like he wants to get fired. How about the motion play which they snapped the ball into the WR's knee? Yikes!
This team is smart and gritty. Rookies and practice squad role players make big plays in crucial spots. Looking like Spytek and Kubiak know what they’re doing.
Don’t know how many games we’ll wind up winning, but this team is fun to watch and clearly on the right track!
My only head scratcher today is, “What happened to Jeanty’s hands since the Miami game??”
NY, Arm didn't get stronger? Didvyou miss the bomb to Tucker? Sandy
I love it when the Raiders make Herbert cry. Chargers uave and always will be paper champions. Only complaint other than interceptions by Cousins is the lack of touches by Washington. What I love is the Raiders kept grinding on both sides of the ball. RAAAAAAIDEEEERS! JUST WIN, BABY!
Sandy, that's all you have to say about the game? Cousins actually had two long passes to Tucker, but he also threw a duck to wide open Benson that dropped to his feet. No question Cousins is the QB as long as they win. The eventual transition to Mendoza will be interesting. The Raiders will go from softballs to fastballs... and possibly open another dimension to the offense. Meanwhile, Cousins is holding it together and he's 2-0... and his cast of no-name WRs is definitely helping him out.
NY,
I get your point on Cousins, but I'd rather get some more weapons (especially at WR) for Mendoza. I also love how he has his helmet on, standing next to the OC, going over reads, the play call, all of it. It is just going to make him that much better at understanding what he sees when he eventually comes in the game. The only adjustment will be the speed of the game when he comes in.
This is why I am hoping at the end of the season he will see more reps, unless we shock the League and are headed for the post-season. No doubt he will open up a different dynamic to the offense, but I'd rather him do that with understanding of the playbook, defensive reads, and familiarity of the situation; than come in gunslinging and guessing.
Ci,
Wins, a "feel good" story, a big surprise team. But they seem looking to '27. Don't seem to want to try/ make a playoff run. They are focused/ looking at rebuilding. Fans are maybe OK with it
Nate, Mendoza will almost certainly play before the Raiders have an opportunity to resource more quality players, e.g., OL, WR, etc. There's no escaping it. He needs playing time to set up for next season. The only question that remains is, when will it make the most sense to put him in? He's QB2, so Kubiak is ready to put him in immediately if Cousins faulters or can't play for any reason.
Raiders have won two games. That's great but they are probably playing a little beyond themselves. To that point, the Chargers definitely gave them a hand yesterday. I hope Cousins marches them into the playoffs, but how realistic is that? I'll certainly root for that but I fully expect Mendoza to see the field with ample time to grow.
But as long as they are winning, the Raiders must play to win. That goes without saying.
Let's talk about the defense it's nice to have some Playmakers out there besides Mad Maxx. Dean continues to shine he's always been a big playmaker going back to Philly as long as he can stay healthy. ' rough on tight ends trying to block him in the run game. The secondary has looked better than advertised the only thing missing is some real beef up the middle on the defensive line. There's so much parity in the NFL today take Herbert out of the equation and the teams were pretty well evenly matched talon-wise yesterday even without Brock in there. Sandy
Defense has been a pleasant surprise so far. Masses played out of his shoes in a backup role. Laulu actually got some nice pressure up the middle and Koonce had 1.5 sacks after disappearing for the entire preseason. Re: the Chargers, it's Harbaugh's third season. They should be way ahead of Raiders in terms of development. But we all saw the results. Kubiak is making waves and Raiders look inspired.
nyraider
Cousins has been pressured on 36.5% of his dropbacks through two games. In those situations, he has completed 13 of 21 passes (61.9%) for 161 yards, three touchdowns, an interception and a passer rating of 105.6. Against the Chargers, Cousins was pressured on 40.6% of his dropbacks. Yet he still managed to throw for 108 yards and two scores whenever the Chargers brought the heat. -- Ryan McFadden
Cousins has a propensity to hold the ball too long. The progressions and checkdowns develop too slowly. Success over time will require more timing plays with quick release, IMO. Carr was pretty good at that. Mendoza made a living in college with a lot a back shoulder throws to WRs, almost impossible to defend if the coverage is behind the receiver. Of course, like anything, teams see patterns and adjust scheme.
I don't think the Raiders are playing above themselves. I've said these last 10 years that they have the talent to win, its a matter of good coaching and execution. Now we have good coaching that is putting the players in a position to execute. Miami is subpar competition to anyone, but Malik Willis faired better against the Raiders defense than Herbert. We dodged a bullet with Mike McDaniel, btw.
My assessment of the first 2 games: vs Miami, Dolphins focused on stopping the passing game, and the Raiders ran the ball, and ran well. Defense created pressure up front, and kept the Dolphins one-dimensional all game.
vs Chargers, Chargers focused on stopping the run, which opened up play action pass plays. I think the score would have been above 30 had Jeanty caught a few of those dropped passes (he had 3 of 5 dropped passes). Raiders defense were kept on their toes with a balanced attack of run/passes by the Chargers. The Raiders defense were monsters though. Forced 4 fumbles, 2 interceptions, 3 sacks, 9 QB hits, and a safety. The safety came on holding Crosby in the endzone, which I think should also count as a sack, but does not. Joe Alt said he can control Crosby, which Crosby replied with Ctrl-Alt-Delete.
Chargers did a good job double-triple teaming Crosby all game, but that gave Koonce (1.5 sacks), Nakobe Dean (.5 sacks), and Stokes (1 sack) opportunities. Paye, Crosby, Hemingway, Taron Johnson, Jonah Laulu, Koonce, and Dean all had QB hits (Dean and Koonce both had 2). It's good to see more defenders stepping up to create pressure because that pressure led to the Chargers fumbling 6 times, and the Raiders recovering once, and 2 interceptions.
Chargers beat us in Offensive Yards (310-305), QB hits (10-9), TFL (4-3), First downs (17-14), Time of Possession (32:17-27:43), but we won where it mattered Turnovers and Final Score.
The Raiders are playing pretty sound football at all 3 levels, and I think, if they continue, they will just get better as the season goes. I think we beat the Saints this Sunday (another former team of Kubiak), but we take our first loss against the Chiefs. I hate to say it, because Mahomes does not look impressive. A lot of short passes, and their O-Line continues to get away with blatant holds. I do think the Chiefs are a beatable team and I want to see the Raiders mop the floor with them. They just need to prove it with me.
All in al, we need to see how the Raiders respond to a loss. Will a loss cause us to collapse, or rebound? That has been the achilles heel for the Raiders, inability to recover from a loss. JUST PROVE IT, BABY!
"Control-Alt-Delete." Nice! Crosby definitely had Alt off-balance the entire game. The guy is possessed when he's on the field. With double teams and pre-snap penalties, coaches and players are scared of him.
As to the larger issue, the Raiders have squandered their talent with bad coaching and bad decision-making. It's been systemic with them. Two games in and Kubiak has breathed some life into the team and the fans.
But we might also get some answers... maybe we already have. We've spent the better part of 20 years discussing 'the chicken or the egg" theories (i.e., coaches or players). With the coaching so obviously horrible last year and with a noticeable and abrupt turnaround, albeit only two games in, coaching is beginning to look like it crosses the road first. Even the great Pete Carroll could not navigate the Raiders. So far, it looks and feels like the start of a new era. I'm trying not to get too excited because the Raiders have a long history of disappointment... but we are getting dangerously close to being respectable again.
Ci,
Great season 3 games but why a new stadium area? Why not make a playoff run? Mendoza start we hen we could win with Cousins? And why listen bro '27 win talk? A rookie WR, Maxx traded and a team with a history of not making good drafts?
3 Games? Did I miss one?
Crosby did over-pursue a lot vs the Chargers while rushing Herbert. Though he had Alt off balance all day, Alt was able to re-adjust by Crosby's over-pursuit. Crosby has a tendency to drive the rush outside to get behind the QB and surprise him with a sack. But he would get more sacks if he would get even with the QB in the rush, then cut inside straight at QB. It would also cut down his weakness of over-pursuing the play
Do you want to tell him that? He's often double-teamed and getting chipped on the inside rush. Herbert put a move on him on the TD play. That's the only time Crosby got burned... that I saw.
Masses is the AFC defensive player of the week.
That's no small thing. He deserves to start ahead of Porter.
We need a NG and a star/ vet CB, not Masses or Porter, they can be back ups but until we get star talent at DL and CB we can't make a playoff run or a serious one this year. Hey NY! I meant 2-0 but we need to beat good teams. I also meant decent starting NG don't have to be star. Feel good story but they focus on money, not football. They won't spend to win...they could sign vets but won't; and we buy their story
Lol where do you think stars come from? They start out as draft picks. Masses was a baller last week. You have to go back to 2019 for the last time any Raider was name D player if the week... Maxx Crosby.
A rookie CB has a career game by vet CB standards with 2 INTs, tackle for a loss, 2 passes defended and five tackles total and you want to replace him and send him to the bench. Geez! We need to keep you as far away from the decision makers as possible. You can be sure Rob Leonard will be looking for ways to get Masses on the field.
Free agency is done. Raiders spent record money. The roster is set. There's a buzz all over sports media. Nobody is complaining about the Raiders success except you and Chargers fans.
Ci,
Hey NY! Still listening to PR? They are saying- "maybe we win a few games but it's about '27! No playoff run!" Teams with stars usually win! A few have been well coached and disciplined-; A few built up with homegrown talent but we aren't them! They are 2-0 a few stars might boost us to a good team.
Homegrown talent is exactly what the Raiders are trying for. You have yet to explain what is a "star player", and what "star players" are currently available to the Raiders. Instead, you're looking for unicorns.
This is going to be a long season for you.
When they say they are looking to 2027, no playoffs, that is a general assessment based on last season. They came in and didnt think the talent was there based on sleepy Pete's coaching. Klint has been surprised by the ability of the team to catch on and execute. He set the bar for low hanging fruit and is reaching up from there.
I'd say Kubiak set the bar very high and that's partly why we're seeing the results we're seeing. The coaches are tough on the players ("tough love"). They are hands-on and run a tight ship, unlike and even opposite of the Carroll regime.
The statement that the Raiders do not build up homegrown talent is very defensible. But that's only fair to say about Pete Carroll and other past regimes, not Kubiak & Co. Also, signing Linderbaum, Walker, Dean and Paye looks pretty smart so far.
IMO, it's way too early to put a label on this season. But I definitely take exception to the suggestion the Raiders should sign a "star CB" and bench Masses, who was just named AFC defensive player of the week. That's nonsensical and indefensible, and unrealistic given what we've all seen of the current regime.
Raiders can't afford to win too many games this season if they want to draft Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who PFT reported had 4 catches for 123 yards and 2 TDs in first 12 minutes of today's game. That said, I imagine the Raiders will draft best-available player, with very few exceptions, e.g., RB (because there's no way they draft RB first round) and TE (because they just re-signed Mayer).
On the game this week, Saints are the #1 offense after 2 games. Shough is a pocket passer and the Raiders will need to pressure him consistently while also stopping the run. The Ravens weren't good enough and the Lions won in a high-score OT against the Saints.
Game 3 is perhaps when good coaches change up game planning a little and start exploiting tendencies of other teams. Other teams had Pete Carroll's blueprint by Week 2 last year (Chargers beat the Raiders 20-9), then in Week 3 the Commanders crushed them 41-24. Raiders already got some revenge against the Chargers but 3 wins in a row is not only uncharacteristic of the Raiders it screams impossible. Yet here we are...
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