Oakland Raiders: Week 2 Grades

September 20, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper (89) runs against Baltimore Ravens inside linebacker Daryl Smith (51) during the fourth quarter at O.co Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Ravens 37-33. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Rory Anderson 

Quarterbacks: B+

As badly as I want to give Carr an A or higher I simply cannot with his missed throws and truly poor interception. He threw some tremendous passes and a perfect game winner, so he had a fantastic game while doing his job in guiding the team to a game-winning drive. His inner Brett Favre was front and center in the win and fans should be pleased that Carr showed the type of leadership needed to guide this team to upsets in games they aren’t supposed to win on paper.

Running Backs: B+

Murray may not have had a huge game, but he ran the ball extremely well. Taiwan Jones also made some plays and Reece was on point catching passes. They also had solid pass protection when asked.

Tight Ends: B+

Although limited in production, Mychal Rivera did have a couple clutch catches and Lee Smith is a monster blocker.

Wide Receivers: A+

Two receivers over 100 yards, Cooper’s first touchdown, and Seth Roberts catches the winning touchdown were amongst the highlights in a dominant performance for the Raiders wideouts. Truly a great game by this group and they were stupendous all game. I don’t have enough superlatives for the performance.

Offensive Line: A-

Carr threw a lot of passes and outside of a couple designed rollouts he was given a ton of time. Even plays he took hits on came after long stints in the pocket. In the run game the Raiders averaged over four yards a carry. Solid day.

Defensive Line: B-

The run defense was relatively solid even though late in the game the Raiders struggled with Taliaferro. Although the pass rush was limited in the first half it did pick up later in the game and both Smith and Mack had near strip sacks. The issue for me is the line play is still simplistic. I expect the numbers will come long term.

Linebackers: B

Curtis Lofton had a great game. Smith was solid in coverage and had an interception called back by a weak penalty.

Defensive Backs: B+

Hayden did a great job in some very tight situations. The corners also forced both turnovers one to start the game and one to end it. The safeties did fine although they did struggle time to time.

Head Coach: B+

Del Rio had very good clock management at the end of the game and did a great job managing Carr helping him settle down.

Offensive Coordinator: A

Nearly perfect game plan and adjustments by Bill Musgrave, who had the Raiders scoring points all game with a varied attack of passing and running plays.

Defensive Coordinator: C+

His first half was really poor but the half time adjustments were solid. There are still serious issues with some simplistic concepts in the pass rush, but the changes made at half time were the right ones.

Next: JBB Week 2 Grades: Matthew Lorscheider