Oakland Raiders: Jon Gruden shows he is a mastermind in the red zone

Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden is known for being an offensive mastermind. Yesterday’s preseason win against the Cardinals showed off the coach’s abilities as a play caller.

Part of the reason the Oakland Raiders hired Jon Gruden (both times) is because he is an offensive guru. However, last season the Raiders only averaged 18.1 points per game, which ranked 28th in the NFL.

The offense seemed very vanilla and some people have questioned whether the head coach can adapt his scheme to fit the modern version of the league. In reality, the offense struggled due to the offensive line, which battled inconsistency, and injuries all season long, leading Derek Carr to be sacked 51 times.

While it’s just the preseason, “Chucky” has been proving the doubters wrong. Oakland’s offense put up 31 points against the Cardinals and a large reason for that was Gruden’s play calling, especially in the red zone. The Raiders finally have some special weapons on offense, and Gruden is utilizing them perfectly this summer.

Throughout the game there were plenty of examples of this, but the two touchdowns below really stood out to me.