Offensive coordinator Olson explains fourth-down failures
With the benefit of hindsight and some distance, Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson gave frank explanations Thursday of two key failed fourth-down plays against the Chargers on Sunday.
One came on the Raiders’ opening drive, on 4th-and-goal from the 1, when the Raiders ran a jet sweep to receiver Dwayne Harris for no gain.
“It was execution,” Olson said. The Chargers “lined up incorrectly, and at the last second, one of their defenders tried to run to get lined up correctly and that’s where our lack of execution occurred. They had three men; we anticipated two men to be to the side.”
The other occurred with 4:15 left in the game, when on 4thand-5 from the Chargers’ 19, Derek Carr threw at Jalen Richard’s feet rather than attempting to extend the play.
“I think, especially in that situation, in a fourth-down situation, you try to keep the play alive as long as you can, whether you sprint out and scramble and try to get it with your feet or reverse direction,” Olson said. “But try to put the ball in play to somebody.”
It was a different tone than ones taken this week by Carr and head coach Jon Gruden toward the play.
Gruden said the play was a “terrible call by me” and did not criticize Carr’s decision. On Wednesday, Carr said he wished he could have eluded defensive end Melvin Ingram, who was in pursuit, but that there “wasn’t a lot of time to try to make something happen.”
It was another instance in an ongoing theme this season of Carr’s on-field decisions being called into question. At times, even, he has seemed to receive different messages from the same source.
In Week 1, for example, Gruden indicated Carr could have been more aggressive trying to throw deep to receiver Amari Cooper instead of tight end Jared Cook for a shorter gain. Two weeks later, Gruden said Carr had been “too aggressive” on a throw to Martavis Bryant in the end zone that was intercepted.
On Wednesday, Carr said an early rash of interceptions this season contributed to his being more careful about taking shots downfield. Carr has not thrown an interception in his past four games after throwing eight in his first five games. However, his four lowest passing yardage totals have come in the past four games.
“Turning the ball over is worse for our team than me checking the ball down if it’s not completely open,” Carr said. “Also, in the games, there have been a couple of weeks now where we’ve had some open shots and we go to throw them and for whatever reason, we weren’t able to get to them.”
Left unsaid by Carr is that, in recent weeks, pass protection has been a serious issue. Of the 28 sacks Carr has taken — three shy of his career high for a season — 17 have come in the past four games, as the Raiders have dealt with injuries on their offensive line and started rookies at both tackle spots.
Although that perhaps has not allowed Carr to let plays develop at times, Olson said Thursday that he still wants Carr to “remain aggressive.”
“We’ve all got to get better, whether it be from the playcalling to the protections up front ... the route running, the execution at the quarterback position” Olson said. “I just think we can all get better.”
According to Pro Football Focus, Carr attempted just two passes of 20 or more yards downfield Sunday, completing one for a 31-yard gain to Cook. Carr’s 55.6 completion rate on deep throws ranks fourth-best in the NFL, per PFF, but just 8.5 percent of his throws have been deep targets, which ranks 31st.
Carr said he’ll question his decisions sometimes on video, “but on the whole season, there have probably been four or five plays where you’re just like, ‘This is completely wrong.’ ”
“Those were early ... where I’m trying to figure things out on the fly,” Carr said. “For the most part, it’s really just little stuff like, ‘This matchup, that matchup. You could have worked this one. You could have done it that way.’ ”