The Oakland Raiders are fresh off a 1-2 start to the 2019 season after losing big in back to back weeks to Kansas City and Minnesota. After watching the game on NFL Game Pass and watching the coaching film, here are some takeaways.
The Minnesota Vikings just outplayed the Oakland Raiders in Week 3 on both sides of the ball. Rewatching the game in a condensed fashion, which takes about 30 minutes, you can see the difference in playing by both teams. Minnesota played like a playoff-bound team, whereas Oakland played as a rebuilding team looking at a top-5 draft pick in 2020.
However bad they played, there were some bright spots, too.
Darren Waller continues to be an asset to this team. He’s a matchup nightmare for defenses as he’s too fast for a linebacker or safety to cover, but he’s too big for a cornerback to cover man-to-man. Not only is his a great catcher, but he’s also an asset in the running game. His run-blocking continues to improve and he looks to be the No. 1 target on this team so far.
Richie Incognito played very well and the offensive line needed his help playing against the Vikings front seven. It was his first game of the season, after missing the first two due to a suspension.
What’s more important is the holes in the run defense. The Oakland front seven is aggressive in the passing game but lacks patience in the running game. The team didn’t adjust to the counters or to the cutback lanes.
However, they did a good job on zone-blocking plays where it was an off-tackle run, containing the running back and keeping him inside for Tahir Whitehead and Vontaze Burfict to wrap up.
Ultimately, the defense and the offense made plays but couldn’t keep the momentum in their favor for the remainder of the game leading to a tough loss to a tough opponent.