Oakland Raiders Film Room: Week 7 (ARI)

Oct 19, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) throws a pass against the Arizona Cardinals at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

For many in Raider Nation last Sunday’s loss was a return to despair. After a very impressive showing against San Diego, Oakland lost to Arizona without as many of the spectacular plays featured the previous week. Oakland still has a zero in the win column. Injuries are killing the team, especially the defensive backfield now looking to start their 3rd strong safety against Cleveland after losing Tyvon Branch and Usama Young for the season. In the short-term picture things do not look good, especially considering Oakland still faces some of the toughest teams in the league coming up.

Long term is a different story. Anyone that’s not excited about the young talent on this team is missing the major point of this entire reconstruction project. Derek Carr is getting better and better as his comfort grows with this offense and the receivers around him. Khalil Mack is man-handling NFL vets in run defense and coming up with huge tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage regularly. Sio Moore is already a serviceable NFL starter and on stands to get better. TJ Carrie, Brice Butler, Gabe Jackson, etc. All are guys making big plays showing us that they just might have a very bright future.

There are obviously still some issues with the team regarding the fundamentals (catching the ball, tackling), but there is also much to get excited about from this game against Arizona. The game film gives clues about the long term strengths and weaknesses of this team. As long term strengths are developing, many of the weaknesses are correctable errors. As these players gather more experience and chemistry we should see the errors progress toward the mean and hurt the team less while the strengths become an ever-increasing presence on the field.

Onto the game film!