Gruden prepares for Steelers’ blitzes
Raiders head coach Jon Gruden offered a hunch Friday about the defensive tendencies of this Sunday’s opponent, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I bet if you look at Pro Football Focus, they blitz more than any team in the league,” he said.
Gruden, the analytics group PFF later confirmed, was right. Through Week 13, the Steelers had brought blitzes on 43 percent of pass plays this season, the highest rate in the NFL.
It’s one reason Pittsburgh leads the league in sacks with 41. It’s also why bringing running back C.J. Anderson up to speed with the Raiders’ offense this week has focused largely on pass protections.
“That’s a challenge for a running back,” Gruden said. “Because usually those guys are very, very involved in these (blitz) pickups.”
Gruden said Anderson has been a “quick learner” since the Raiders signed him Wednesday as a possible emergency replacement for lead back Doug Martin.
It remains unclear whether Martin will play Sunday. Martin was a full participant in practice all week but had a brace on his left knee Friday and is listed as questionable.
“He’s going to tell you he’s playing no matter what,” Gruden said. “But he has to check out with the trainers, and he’s certainly got to come in here Saturday and make sure that we’re all doing the right thing.”
The Raiders’ pass protection could take another hit if Pro Bowl left guard Kelechi Osemele can’t play Sunday. Osemele did not practice Friday because of a toe injury and also is listed as questionable.
The Raiders have allowed the fifth most sacks in the league this season (39). No fooling: Gruden gave a candid answer when asked why the Raiders haven’t run playaction passes very often this season. According to Football Outsiders, the Raiders have used play-action on just 17 percent of passing plays this season, the third lowest rate in the league.
“I just don’t believe in playaction pass against teams that are playing man-to-man coverage,” Gruden said. “Who are you fooling? You see a team that plays a lot of zone coverage, you fake the ball and you fool the underneath coverage and throw the ball in behind them. But when you’re playing teams that play a high percentage of manto-man coverage, the corner’s covering his guy, the safety’s covering his guy, and he’s not peeking in the backfield.
“Sometimes it’s the front, sometimes the pass protection isn’t worth a damn, either. And that has been part of it. But we’ve been pretty good, we’re getting better at our play actions. I would like to use some more down the stretch.” Game status: Along with Martin and Osemele, defensive tackle Maurice Hurst (ankle), linebacker Kyle Wilber (hamstring), cornerback Daryl Worley (shoulder) and receiver Seth Roberts (concussion) are questionable for Sunday. Gruden indicated he does not believe Wilber will play. Roberts was in concussion protocol Friday.