Defense better, but still giving up big plays
After the Raiders edged the Browns in overtime Sunday, Jon Gruden said his first win as a head coach since 2008 felt more “like my first win in 100 years.”
The process of moving on took considerably less time.
“Pretty much ready to go,” Gruden said Monday. “You start seeing the Chargers and you see Philip Rivers, it’s hard to rejoice in your victories for very long.”
The Raiders’ late comeback in their 45-42 win over Cleveland bucked an earlyseason trend of faltering in the second half and allowed Gruden a long-awaited exhalation in his return to coaching. Still, the Raiders are 1-3 heading into a game against a divisional opponent and have, Gruden said, “work to do.”
Reflected in Sunday’s roller-coaster game was the play of the Raiders’ defense. A unit that had just one takeaway in the first three weeks secured four against the Browns — two interceptions and two fumble recoveries — but again proved susceptible to the big play.
In four games, the Raiders have allowed 23 plays (19 pass, four rush) of 20-plus yards and have allowed a league-high seven plays of 40-plus yards.
On Sunday, the Browns scored touchdowns on a 63-yard run by Nick Chubb, a 49-yard pass by Baker Mayfield to tight end Darren Fells and a 41-yard run by Chubb. Mayfield also had a 59-yard pass to receiver Antonio Callaway that set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Carlos Hyde.
“We’ve got to eliminate these big plays,” Gruden said. “I think Chubb had three carries for 105 yards. I’ve never seen that. We had a breakdown in coverage one time, a huge pass play that should never happen in the coverage that we were in.
“We’ve just got to eliminate the five or six plays per game that are dearly costing us. That’s very uncharacteristic of our style of defense. We’ve got to tackle better when we are in one-on-one situations and we’ve got to eliminate these big plays.”
The Raiders rotated Marcus Gilchrist (67 of 82 defensive snaps), Reggie Nelson (55) and Erik Harris (35) at safety Sunday, with Nelson playing a lower percentage of snaps than in previous weeks. Gruden was asked Monday if the Raiders — also burned in Miami by fast receivers Albert Wilson and Jakeem Grant — have enough speed in the deep secondary to deal with fast receivers.
“I don’t know if anybody’s fast enough on the back end if some of these guys get loose,” Gruden said. “We can’t let these guys get loose. It’s a combination of things. But acceleration and speed shows up in the open field sometimes when guys get clean into your secondary.”
A positive for the Raiders, meanwhile, has been the acceleration of their running back.
Marshawn Lynch had 130 yards on 20 carries Sunday, including a season-long 52yard run, and ranks fourth in the league with 300 rushing yards. The 32-year-old is averaging 4.4 yards per carry and continues to gain many of his yards after contact: According to Pro Football Focus, Lynch has forced a league-high 20 missed tackles this season on 78 touches.
With Oakland’s offense on the field for 92 snaps Sunday, Lynch played 50 snaps, equaling his most in a game with the Raiders, and recorded his most rushing yards in a game since 2014.
“If that’s not a Hall of Fame back, I don’t know what is,” Gruden said. “What he did (Sunday), what he’s done since he’s been here, is incredible. He wants the ball more and more and more. We’ve got a good back over there, Doug Martin, that’s ready to roll. And Doug can’t get on the field. This guy (Lynch) does not want to come off the field.”
Gruden questioned a “quick whistle” on a secondquarter carry by Lynch, who gained 6 yards on the play but was fighting for more. Lynch kicked the ball away in frustration after the play.
“Why would you have a quick whistle with Marshawn Lynch?” Gruden said.
It was not the only argued call in Sunday’s game. The Raiders were unhappy with a roughing-the-passer flag on rookie Arden Key and an initial flag thrown against cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie on a big hit that was picked up. The Browns disputed a late replay review that overturned a first down and an apparent fumble by Derek Carr that was whistled dead.
There are “a lot of judgment calls out there,” Gruden said. “There are a lot of bang-bang plays out there that are hard to officiate. Just happy we won a game.”