YEAH, I’M BACK
After nine years in the broadcast booth, Jon Gruden once again roams the sideline
Former and current Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden gives “that look” — Chucky? — Monday night before his team’s season opener against the Los Angeles Rams at the Coliseum in Oakland. The Gruden 2.0 era begins as the Raiders try to bounce back from a disappointing 6-10 record last year. The game also features California-bred quarterbacks Derek Carr (Fresno State) and Jared Goff (Cal). For the result and more,
>>Two consecutive plays midway through the fourth quarter captured Derek Carr in a nutshell.
The first, a 32-yard missile over the middle to Jared Cook for a first down. The second, a cringeworthy interception lobbed down the left side that landed in the hands of linebacker Cory Littleton with no Raiders in the vicinity.
Carr began his 2018 almost flawlessly, completing 12 of his first 13 passes for 145 yards. Then came an interception in the end
zone, and far more unraveling from there. Like 2017, Carr flashed brilliance but more incompetence. That trend echoed Monday night, and the end result was the same as 10 times a year ago.
Carr finished 26-for-37 with 260 yards and three interceptions, including a game-sealing Marcus Peters pick-six inside two minutes left to put the Rams up three scores.
The Carr stalled on
Monday night, alright, and it led to the Raiders’ (0-1) demise in a 33-13 seasonopening loss to the Rams (1-0) at the Coliseum.
Here are other takeaways from the game.
SO, ABOUT THAT TRADE... >> Alright, let’s address the elephant in the room.
Without Khalil Mack, the Raiders’ pass rush was almost non-existent. Aside from a Bruce Irvin firsthalf strip-sack, the Raiders registered only one other QB hit.
Tank Carradine went from first-teamer all preseason to inactive, and the Raiders were left with rookie Arden Key and veteran Frostee Rucker. Key struggled to get by right tackle Rob Havenstein, and fellow rookies Mo Hurst and P.J. Hall hardly generated any push up the middle.
We knew the Raiders would miss Mack on the defensive line and that it might take some time to overcome that loss with
the unit’s inexperience. Going against a rising young quarterback, a solid offensive line and a MVP-caliber running back doesn’t help either.
Even so, the Raiders left plenty to be desired from a pressure standpoint up front.
FLURRY OF FIRST-HALF PENALTIES SLOW RAIDERS DOWN >> At halftime, the Raiders were on pace to break the NFL singlegame record for most penalty yards. They had committed 10 infractions for 145 yards, including four holding calls on starting offensive linemen (two on Kelechi Osemele, one on Kolton Miller and Gabe Jackson). Both Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Rashaan Melvin were flagged for defensive pass interference on deep balls to Brandin Cooks, too, because they didn’t turn their heads around in time.
The Raiders miraculously only committed a single penalty in the second half that cost them 10 yards, but they played substantially better when yellow flags flew all over the place.
So it makes you think: how much better could the Raiders have played on both sides in the first half without all those penalties? Would it have mattered in the end?
JARED COOK A RARE BRIGHT SPOT >> Cook almost bested his top single-game performance from a season ago in the first half Monday night. With Peters keeping Amari Cooper quiet and Aqib Talib holding Jordy Nelson in check, Cook saw more opportunities with his receiver-like speed.
Right off the bat, he caught a short pass over the middle and took it 45 yards to set up Marshawn Lynch’s touchdown run. The tight end finished the first half with six catches for 113 yards, just shy of his eight-catch, 126-yard showing against the Dolphins in Week 9 last year.
.A 32-yard grab in the fourth quarter pushed him over that 126-yard mark, and the Raiders’ top passcatcher in 2017 finished with a game-high nine catches for 180 yards EMERGENCY LONG SNAPPER SUFFICES >> Andrew DePaola, the Raiders’ long
snapper and the highest-paid player at his position in the league, suffered a knee injury in the first quarter and missed the rest of the game. Tight end Lee Smith and reserve guard/center Jon Feliciano practiced long snapping on the sideline, and Smith got the call.
He snapped cleanly on a 24-yard Mike Nugent chip shot and later a 48-yard Nugent make off the infield dirt. Smith’s first punt snap drifted a tad high of Johnny Townsend, but the rookie corralled it before a 45-yard punt pinned the Rams inside their own 20yard line.
The last time Oakland used an emergency long snapper was Sept. 11, 2012, when Jon Condo suffered a head injury early in the game. Linebacker Travis Goethel took over, and three errant snaps led to nine Chargers points in a 22-14 San Diego win.
Luckily for the Raiders, the same debacle almost six years later to the day didn’t end in the same disaster. However, it wouldn’t have mattered one bit.