PFF Grades Not Kind to Oakland Raiders Performance in Loss to Seahawks

The Oakland Raiders blew an opportunity to upset the Super Bowl champions on the road with a list of miscues that at the end of the game came back to haunt them as several missed big plays as well as two interceptions from Derek Carr allowed the Seattle Seahawks to escape with a 30-24 win to move to 5-3 on the season. From poor run blocking, dropped interceptions, and Carr’s first half miscues there was plenty of things that could have been better for the Raiders on Sunday which makes it no surprise that the graders at PFF were fairly harsh on Oakland’s performance in the loss.

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D.J. Hayden, Derek Carr, Austin Howard and Menelik Watson all drew the wrath of PFF in their Seahawks-Raiders ReFocused grades column following the game, with Hayden drawing the least criticism over his two penalties and INT drops while the pass blocking as well as Carr’s miscues were rightly criticized by PFF who were not a fan of the effort of the offensive line against Seattle’s strong defensive front. Watson and Howard combined for a -8.7 while Carr earned one of his worst PFF grades of his career with a -4.9 thanks to two poor throws that were intercepted by Bruce Irvin and Richard Sherman in the first half.

Here is what PFF had to say of Hayden, Carr and Howard/Watson:

"Oakland Raiders – Performances of NoteD.J Hayden, CB: -1.7Breakdown: After logging five snaps in his season debut a week ago, Hayden played 71 snaps against Seattle with mixed results. Almost came away with two interceptions, but held onto neither as he allowed just two catches for 25 yards in seven targets. However, both catches gained first down yardage and he was out of positon on two others but benefitted from offensive errors. Further bringing down his grade was a missed tackle in run defense and a pair of penalties (pass interference and taunting).Signature Play: 3Q, 14:07. Made a great break on the ball, but unable to catch the potential pick-six, merely forcing a punt on the play.Derek Carr, QB: -4.9Breakdown: Accuracy was an issue as Carr completed just three passes over 10 yards in the air (compared to two for Russell Wilson), and just couldn’t move the Oakland offense consistently. Fumbled and threw two interceptions, and almost had a third on what might have been his worst play of the game at 2:00 of the fourth when LB Kevin Pierre-Louis couldn’t haul in what would likely would have been a pick-six.Signature Stat: Carr finished with one completion and a 2.3 YPA when blitzed.Austin Howard and Menelik Watson, OL: -8.7Breakdown: It also makes it difficult to play quarterback when the offensive line doesn’t provide much support, and that was the case, particularly on the right side with neither Watson nor Howard having any answers for Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett.Signature Play: 3Q, 7:42. Howard whiffed on his attempt to block Avril as the Seahawk got inside to drop Darren McFadden for a 2-yard loss."

It is hard not to argue with PFF grades except for with Hayden, as his two dropped INT’s were not as awful as some made it out to be with the near Pick-6 coming on an extremely quick break to the ball that had him running far too fast to cleanly catch the pass that he made an excellent read on while his second INT drop came at the hands of a video review on a shoestring grab. Take way the ticky-tack PI/taunting penalties and Hayden probably ends up with a quality grade in his first game with extended snaps in 2014. As for Carr and Austin/Howard, you have to agree with the assessment that all three had poor performances that went hand in hand with the Raiders offense struggling for large portions of a difficult game against the best defensive team in football which should have been expected going in.

Agree with PFF’s grades on Hayden, Carr, and Watson/Howard? Disagree? Let us know in the comments.

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