Oakland Raiders: 3 big stats from the first quarter of the season

3rd down conversion percentage

You have to excel in critical situations during a game, and third-down ranks pretty high on the list.

The Raiders on offense have done a pretty decent job converting on third down as they rank eighth in the league at 47.06%. This is a stat that will have a little more weight as we progress through the season because week one where the Raiders went 10-14 is a significant outlier. However, it is something to watch because of how the Raiders play offense. They will need to be great on third down to preserve their methodical drives.

Derek Carr has answered the bell on third down this season going 26-36 with a passer rating of 125.3, so hopefully, he can sustain that.

Defensively, it seems like the Raiders have been bad on 3rd down forever, and they aren’t off to a good start in 2019. They are allowing teams to convert 48% of their 3rd down plays, which is 27th in the league. The Raiders are top ten in opponent’s third downs per game, so they are doing a solid job forcing these situations but simply can’t finish. Their inability to create pressure could be playing a big factor in this high conversion rate. For example, in the Chiefs game, the Raiders forced Patrick Mahomes into a couple third and longs, yet they converted 8-14. That simply can’t happen in these next stretch of games given the quarterbacks they will face.