Las Vegas Raiders Week 15 Studs and Duds: Mariota shines

Raiders Duds: Jon Gruden

Jon Gruden was dealt a difficult hand on Thursday night, as he lost his starting quarterback in the first quarter, and was still able to put together a solid output from his offense as they battled until the very end. He was aggressive in plenty of moments and went for it enough times on fourth down to keep the Raiders in it, but there were still some moments when his decision making was suspect.

One obvious example was his decision to challenge a reception on first down that went just two yards. Sure, the play was overturned and the Raiders ending up winning the challenge, but why risk the challenge on a play where the net gain was so minimal, especially considering the Chargers got the first down on the very next play anyway.

Another example was his decision to be conservative in the two-minute drill to end the first half. Marcus Mariota had just put together an incredible touchdown drive and looked like he was feeling it, but when the Raiders got the ball 1:52 and three timeouts, Gruden opted to be conservative and not go for a score. The end result was the Chargers getting the ball back on a short field and scoring a touchdown to end the half.

His worst decision, however, came in overtime where the Raiders got the ball first and drove all the way down to inside the 5-yard line. Two runs and a baffling play call later, Gruden kicked the field goal and handed the ball right back to the Chargers and their hot quarterback. The play calling was awful at the goal line and the decision to not go for it on fourth to end the game was even worse.

Gruden coaches like he has a competent defense on the other side of the ball and it continually bites him in the behind because they can’t be trusted to get stops. Just like we expected, the Chargers went down the field and won the game in overtime because the Raiders’ defense could not stop them.