Jacksonville Jaguars at Oakland Raiders: 3 things we learned

Great start, stagnant finish

As the Raiders embarked on the first offensive drive of the game, the CBS broadcast crew hit the nail on the head as Oakland’s early game-script worked like a charm. Derek Carr hit Tyrell Williams for a 40-yard touchdown to put the Raiders up 7-0 early. But we’ve seen this movie before: Oakland comes out hot right out the gate, only to falter and fail to accomplish much else for the remaining three quarters.

Sunday against Jacksonville proved to be the case once again, as the Raiders followed up with just nine points thereafter, three Daniel Carlson field goals to be exact. Perhaps more alarming, all three field goals came before halftime, where Oakland led 16-3. In the second half? Oakland was completely shut out, including back to back missed field goals from Carlson.

Jon Gruden has been brilliant with this opening drives and early game-scripting, but anything thereafter has left much to be desired. Yes, the Raiders still need a playmaker on the outside, yes the offensive line was hobbled as was Josh Jacobs, but three field goals simply does not cut it. More creativity and production is needed from Gruden’s 100 million dollar playcalling.