Musgrave has new, young QB to tutor
The Broncos’ squad the Raiders face Sunday will have both a different quarterback and offensive coordinator from what it did in the teams’ Week 4 meeting in Denver.
One is unfamiliar to Oakland and most of the league. The other the Raiders know very well.
Paxton Lynch, Denver’s first-round pick in 2016, will make his first start of the season (and third of his career) at the Coliseum. Denver head coach Vance Joseph, whose team has lost six games in a row and will be trying its third starting quarterback of the season (Trevor Siemian made
seven starts and Brock Osweiler three), said on a conference call Wednesday that it seemed a “perfect” time to start Lynch with the team also firing coordinator Mike McCoy and replacing him with Bill Musgrave.
“That’s why we hired Bill Musgrave,” Joseph said, “because of his experience working with young quarterbacks.”
In 2015 and ’16, Musgrave’s young quarterback was Derek Carr. Under Musgrave, who arrived in Oakland along with head coach Jack Del Rio, the Raiders went from last in the NFL in total offense in 2014 to 24th in 2015, and to sixth last season as the team went 12-4.
The Raiders, though, opted not to bring back Musgrave this season, replacing him at coordinator with Todd Downing. Oakland did pour resources into its offense, signing tight end Jared Cook, wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson and tackle Marshall Newhouse in free agency, adding Marshawn Lynch and inking Carr to a five-year, $125 million extension.
But despite those moves, the Raiders (4-6) enter Sunday’s game ranked 21st in total offense and are averaging 20.4 points per game. That’s down from 26 points a game last year, a mathematical representation of the notion that as a whole, the unit has taken a step backward.
Downing has become a lightning rod for criticism from fans and analysts alike. In October, ESPN’s Louis Riddick on Twitter called Oakland’s passing game “simplistic/predictable.” Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner also criticized the Raiders’ scheme Tuesday on social media.
“Not… a… fan… of… Raiders… offense !!!!! (But love @derekcarrqb & feel for him),” Warner tweeted.
Carr, for his part, said the basic concepts of the Raiders’ offense have not changed all that much from last season.
“Honestly, tweak-wise, there’s not a lot of tweaks,” Carr said Wednesday. “Game-planwise and things, we do things a little different. We call things differently now obviously because (Musgrave’s) in the division. But route-concept-wise and things like that, we do a lot of the same similar stuff.”
Asked if changes are to blame for the decline in production, Carr said: “Absolutely not. Nope.”
Carr has a strong relationship with Downing, who was promoted from quarterbacks coach to coordinator, but disputed the idea that he did not have a good relationship with Musgrave in their two seasons together.
“I went to two Pro Bowls with coach Musgrave,” Carr said. “He’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever been around. … That’s definitely the farthest thing from the truth that me and coach Musgrave didn’t like each other.”
Musgrave gave a measured answer when asked by the Denver media about returning to Oakland.
“Probably no expectations,” Musgrave said. “It’s definitely the opponent this week. And we’ve got a lot of work to do. That’s the understatement of the year.”
Musgrave is inheriting an offense that has committed 15 turnovers in its past six games. Lynch, the 26th overall pick in last year’s draft, was active for the first time last Sunday coming back from a preseason shoulder sprain. He played in three games as a rookie, completing 49 of 83 passes for 497 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Scheming against Musgrave this week was John Pagano, who took over play-calling duties after the Raiders on Tuesday fired defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. He and Musgrave matched wits four times the previous two years while Pagano was defensive coordinator of the Chargers.
“You have to be prepared for everything,” Pagano said. “He does a great job and he always has those guys ready to play, and there’s always going to be something new.”