Oakland Raiders: Takeaways from Raiders 19-14 loss to the Jets

The Raiders lost a game that was within their grasp. However, problems on both sides of the ball gave the Jets the opportunity to literally run away with the game. While there was some glimmers of hope for what this team could be, they still have a long way to go. Here are my takeaways from the game.

Derek Carr looked solid.

Solid is a good word for Carr’s performance today. Carr was 20-32 for 2 TDs and 151 yards. He looked confident and poised in the first quarter looked confused and to some even scared at some point. As a rookie in his first start, Carr did well. Of course, he has many things to work on. He will continue to grow throughout the rest of the season based on his debut and not playing Rex Ryan’s defense every week should help.

Defense still needs work.

Many of the stars had a quiet day. There were too many missed tackles. Chris Ivory should not have been able to make a 71 yard touchdown run on the “star-studded” defense that was aided by bringing in Justin Tuck along with LaMarr Woodley. They were getting burned down the field. Geno Smith said they wanted to take advantage of the “old guys” and they sure looked old. Charles Woodson, who may be the oldest player on the team however, had a good game coming away with an interception. Oakland managed to keep the Jets from scoring up until Ivory’s run save for the late first half drive from Geno Smith but they need to finish the game. Oakland need to get offenses off the field to give Carr and the offense more opportunities to score. This defense needs to get it together.

Offensive line needs to block better.

There were hardly any big throws or runs this week.The offensive line did not block long enough for Carr to throw the ball at times. Even worse, did not block the running backs well enough as the Raiders gained very little in the running game. There were too many three and outs and not enough first downs. Carr was sacked twice and he had to throw the ball away a few times. This line needs to protect Carr so he can throw, the receivers need to catch the ball, and everyone who is supposed be blocking needs to be blocking as the team’s overall performance on offense was hampered by a lack of time to work in the passing game and a lack of holes to run through in the running game.

OC Greg Olson needs to stop being so conservative.

The Raiders coaching staff is very defensive. Head Coach Allen has a defensive background. The last few years, defense has been what makes or breaks the game. Offensive Coordinator Olson played a very conservative game on Sunday and because of that the defense once again had too much pressure on them to win the game for the Raiders. Most of the plays involved short throws and runs. There were hardly any passes down the field. During Carr’s preseason performance against the Seahawks, he threw for 143 yards in just about half of a game., only 8 yards fewer than what he threw today in a full game. Why is that? Because of all those short passes were for barely any gains against the Jets tackling. OC Olson needs to take some chances and call some plays down the field, especially with the tandem of Denarius Moore and Derek Carr that looked promising in the preseason.

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