The Las Vegas Raiders struggled tremendously on the offensive side of the football when they took on the Denver Broncos in Week 10 on Thursday Night Football. They weren't alone in this, as the Broncos boast one of the league's best defenses, but scoring just seven points is a losing formula.
When the Raiders took on their AFC West foe again in Week 14, this time at home, things were supposed to be better. After all, they fired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who they deemed to be the problem, and replaced him with Greg Olson, the quarterbacks coach and a longtime play-caller.
While Las Vegas did score more points against Denver than last time, they still lost 24-17, and at the end of the day, points are the only thing that matters for winning and losing. But when evaluating this team and all its pieces in a lost season, a mere increase in points is not the only important thing.
Charles Davis called out Raiders' poor play-calling vs. Broncos
The product that the Raiders put on the field matters a great deal. In the first half, especially, it seemed like more of the same. CBS Sports analyst Jason McCourty even noted at halftime that Las Vegas had failed to establish the run or utilize Brock Bowers fully, even though he had early success.
"Getting this football, can they continue to get the run game going with [Ashton] Jeanty (and) stick to it?" McCourty asked. Then, when they go play-action, can they find Brock Bowers?"
McCourty's counterpart, Charles Davis, echoed his sentiment. But Davis also took things a bit deeper, and when evaluating what he said, it is actually quite the indictment of both Olson and quarterback Geno Smith.
"Yeah, I agree with everything you said," Davis said. "But I also think that some of these play-actions have to be shot plays. You gotta find a way to get bigger chunks of yardage. Being methodical is one thing, but against this Denver defense, you gotta be able to stick 'em downfield."
On the surface, this seems like a mere bit of advice from the longtime broadcaster. But when looking at the numbers, it feels more like Davis is pointing out either the lack of trust that Olson seemingly has in Smith, or that Smith has in himself or his teammates.
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In the first half, the Raiders only had four plays of 10 or more yards, with a 15-yard touchdown by Bowers being the longest. In the third quarter, they managed just two more plays of 10-plus yards for a total of 131 yards and just seven points.
However, in the final quarter of the game, Kenny Pickett led the same Las Vegas offense to four plays of 15 or more yards, which included two plays of 25 and 26 yards, the former of which went for a score. They had 96 net yards in the fourth quarter and scored 10 points, which is a drastic difference.
There is clearly a disconnect here because either Pickett simply trusted his teammates more and played more freely in the fourth quarter, which led to a higher rate of big plays and offensive success. Or, Olson opened up the playbook more for Pickett, which is another problem altogether.
To be fair, the Broncos did drop into more of a prevent defense with a two-score lead late in the game, but Pickett still made a handful of tight-window throws in the red zone where Denver wasn't able to drop as deep.
Davis noticed that the Raiders hadn't had much success downfield, but Pickett was immediately able to find chunk plays against the same players on the Broncos' defense, with the same players beside him on the Las Vegas offense. This is an indictment of either Olson or Smith, but perhaps both.