For Gruden, there’s no place like away
Raiders coach says 6 weeks without a home game will help camaraderie
“That’s the beautiful thing about not having home games for (six) weeks — we get a chance to be together, spend time together,” Gruden said. “I have always felt the only way you get a relationship is to spend time with someone.”
In an abstract way, Gruden was also explaining one of the reasons the unexplainable happened a little more than a year ago: the Raiders trading elite pass rusher Khalil Mack to the Bears for the hope and promise of draft picks.
Gruden has tired of Mack talk this week. After the first four questions in a conference call Wednesday were about Mack, Gruden asked for questions specific to the game. He referenced Mack without using his name after a tuneup practice Friday at The Grove, an 18th-century resort about 45 minutes northwest of London.
Some have speculated that when the Raiders knew they would be tapped for an international home game in England or Mexico, they requested it be against the Bears to ensure Mack wouldn’t return to the Coliseum wearing Bears colors. The theory makes plenty of sense.
When the Raiders hired Gruden in January 2018, he had no intention of shipping off his best player. People in the building told Gruden what a great guy Mack is, using the same kind of praise you hear at Halas Hall: humble, hardworking, leads by example, A-plus teammate.
Gruden absorbed it all and took it to heart, but he wanted to meet Mack and get to know him before the Raiders gave him a new contract. Gruden wanted a relationship. It never happened. Where the blame lies, well, it really doesn’t matter now.
“At least I got to meet Antonio,” Gruden joked last month when the Raiders terminated the contract of troubled wide receiver Antonio Brown. “I never got to meet Khalil.”
The gap between Mack and the Raiders grew wider, and the Bears eventually became the incredibly lucky beneficiaries, opening what they believe is a window to compete for a championship while the Raiders are in the throes of a rebuild, though heartened by a .500 start.
Now the Raiders have to prevent Mack from being a game-wrecker. As much as Gruden does not want to talk about him before the game, imagine how Gruden would feel afterward if Mack leaves his mark all over the Raiders offense.
The Raiders offensive line is solid with mammoth Trent Brown (6-foot-8, 380 pounds) at right tackle and 2018 first-round pick Kolton Miller on the left side. The Raiders held Broncos pass rushers Von Miller and Bradley Chubb without a sack in the opener, a week before the Bears offense accomplished the same feat.
“He’s a tremendous player,“Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson, who was the Bears quarterbacks coach in 2003, said of Mack, “but as you know, their entire front seven has been very impressive. Certainly we’ll have a plan for Khalil Mack, like we have had for the Von Millers and the Bradley Chubbs and the other players that we’ve faced thus far. Overall, defensively, their entire front seven, we’ll have to have a plan for all of them.”
That plan in the Raiders’ 24-16 victory over the Broncos was for Derek
Carr to get rid of the ball quickly. There were scant opportunities for Miller or Chubb to get home, and Carr was efficient, completing 22 of 26 passes for 259 yards and a touchdown.
The challenge this week is the Bears have more stars in their front seven than the Broncos even if you consider Mack and Miller on the same plane and Chubb (now injured) a notch above the Bears’ second-best rusher. The Bears have a better secondary than the Broncos too.
“We see the same thing everyone else sees,” Gruden said. “They have a great rusher everybody talks about. The reason they’re great rushers is they get a lot of at-bats because no one has been able to run the ball. (Eddie) Goldman, no one even talks about him, like he’s not even on the defense. He is the best inside run defender I have seen this year.
“(Akiem) Hicks, goodness gracious. I don’t know who this No. 95 (Roy Robertson-Harris) is, but they have a rotation in there that is very good, and their linebackers, (Danny) Trevathan is a world champion, every-down buzz saw. He’s got great instincts, and if you get a hole, he recovers and makes the tackle immediately. And Roquan Smith is a top-10 pick.
“So good luck. It will be a real challenge running the ball, but we’re a good running team and we get a chance to see where we stack up.”