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

Ryan Grant 13-yard touchdown

Here we see Gruden utilizing a rub or pick route concept. What makes this play somewhat unique is the depth of Tyrell Williams’ route (wide receiver on the far right). Typically rub routes utilize shallow routes like a slant, but since the corner is playing off the line of scrimmage a slant won’t work.

Luckily Williams is running an in here, which takes away the corner’s cushion and forces the defender to follow Williams inside. Combining this with J.J. Nelson’s (middle receiver on the right) slant leaves the flat wide open for Ryan Grant, and he can basically walk into the end zone.

While this is excellent execution by all players involved, Gruden’s play design and call are the primary reasons the team scores.