Oakland Raiders at Arizona Cardinals: 3 things we learned
The pass protection is becoming dangerously bad
The Raiders offensive line did some very good things in terms of run blocking as the team rushed for 152 yards on 33 carries. However, pass protection has gotten to the point where Derek Carr is being put in some serious danger behind these guys.
The Cardinals had four sacks, 7 QB hits and who knows how many pressures. Chandler Jones who we highlighted in our matchups piece had two of the sacks.
The rookie tackles are just not NFL caliber at the moment, and Gruden needs to do even more to help them whether it’s chip blocks or just going to max protection.
Brandon Parker is just not ready and doesn’t appear to be improving week to week.
And I know we all want to admire Kolton Miller’s toughness playing through injury, but he has become a liability in both the pass and run game. And as someone Jon Gruden hopes will solidify the left tackle spot for years to come, he needs to think long-term on Miller as well by keeping him on the sideline until he’s fully healthy.
Though in both Miller and Parker’s defense, they are not the only ones struggling as veteran guards Kelechi Osemele and Gabe Jackson have not played well either.
Next. Raiders beat Cardinals on last second field goal. dark
Oakland is facing two excellent defensive lines the next two weeks with Baltimore and Kansas City so if things don’t get adjusted they won’t be able to function on offense.