Las Vegas Raiders vs Philadelphia Eagles: 3 Surprises from Week 7
By Alex Perl
Las Vegas Raiders vs Philadelphia Eagles: 3 Surprises from Week 7
The Play-Calling
Former head coach Jon Gruden was considered by many to be an offensive play-calling genius. He did, in fact, improve the Raiders year by year under his tutelage, but his play-calling was not one of the key factors.
The complications of his bloated playbook took players years to fully grasp, and although the key players in this franchise did indeed master the playbook, this does not mean this was necessarily a good thing. The play calling had become stale and predictable, as this was surely the case in the Week 4 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, and carried over to the finale (perhaps) of Gruden’s career in the Week 5 loss to the Chicago Bears.
The playbook used an assortment of plays that were either predictable or downright used the wrong players in the system. Offensive coordinator Greg Olson has not only cut down on the number of plays but has also had his best players on the field at all times during the plays.
This has led to success in both games he has called, with the Raiders going for almost 450 total yards in the win over the Eagles. Olson did this without starting tight end Darren Waller and lost starting running back Josh Jacobs in the first half due to injury. If Olson continues to call the plays, the sky is the limit for this offense, and may I dare say a playoff berth in the making.