Good times end too soon for Raiders
Like old days, Gruden’s recipe heavy on vanilla
There was your official re-introduction to Raiders football under Jon Gruden.
Like it or not.
An excruciating 20-19 road loss to the Denver Broncos Sunday contained many of the elements of a Gruden-coached team, and probably more than a few fans had memories of his four-year run from 1998 to 2001.
Again, like it or not. Determined to keep a potentially devastating Denver pass rush from taking over the game, Gruden had Derek Carr throwing the ball quickly, interspersed with enough running plays to further take the steam out of Von Miller and Co.
Carr was on point, completing 29 of 32 passes for 288 yards and a 10-yard strike to Seth Roberts that gave the Raiders a 19-7 lead they would ultimately surrender.
This is the way Gruden wanted to play on offense, much the way the Raiders did with Rich
Gannon at quarterback. Lost amid the hoopla of Gruden’s return is that he got his share of criticism from fans and media for being too conservative, a guy who would manage a game and bleed the clock rather than go for the jugular.
Anyone who believes Gruden will be overtaken by regret about the way it ended and change the way he coaches has badly misjudged him. He wasn’t apologizing during a postgame media session that was curt and direct.
“We did take some shots, we hit a couple in the second half,” Gruden said. “We had one called back for pass interference. You can’t hold the ball very long when they’re blitzing with the rushers they have.
“We had balance today. I don’t know what Derek was throwing the ball but he didn’t have very many incompletions and ones that were incomplete hit our receivers in the hands. I think he could have hit every pass.”
Here is what the anticonservative movement will remember about how the Raiders faded in the 90-degree heat and mile high altitude:
• A third-and-8 play where Carr threw a 3-yard slant to Martavis Bryant, well shy of the first down marker, forcing a punt that Johnny Townsend kicked into the end zone so the Broncos opened at the 20-yard line for their game-winning drive.
• The final play of the game, where Carr threw over the middle for what amounted to a stat-padding final catch for Cooper. Where was the Hail Mary designed to draw a pass interference flag and perhaps a gamewinning field goal? (Chance of success? Minuscule).
• A pass rush on defense that failed to generate late pressure. Gruden’s domain is offense, but it was his call to send some guy who used to wear No. 52 to the Chicago Bears in exchange for a pair of first-round picks that at the moment can’t rush the passer.
There is an element of truth to all of that because the final score says so.
Yet the game plan Gruden put together, and the way the Raiders executed it, did bring to mind the team that won a pair of AFC West titles before he left.
The Raiders’ ability to get first downs (even with a 3-for-10 showing on third down) helped amass a 20:32 to 9:28 time of possession advantage in a 12-0 first half. There were 19 pass plays and 15 rushes.
Those rushes brought back play-action, which was largely absent against the Rams, and loosened up the coverage so Carr could find any one of a number of receivers.
And even with the defense (playing with a pair of newly signed defensive tackles) on fumes for much of the second half, the Raiders did enough to win the game in terms of how it was coached on both sides of the ball.
A screaming pass rush from around left end is one way to finish off a team, but there are others as well, and there were four second-half errors that cost the Raiders dearly.
On the opening drive of the second half, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Bruce Irvin turned a potential field goal attempt into a first down, with the Broncos eventually going in for their first touchdown.
With the Raiders up 1910 three plays in to the fourth quarter, the conservative coach got bold and went for it on fourthand-1 with 13:11 to play with the ball on the Denver 33 rather than have Mike Nugent attempt a 50-yard field goal.
Carr play-faked, rolled to his right and had Keith Smith open. It would have been a first down and Smith had some running room. He dropped it.
The Broncos responded with a 14-play, 67-yard touchdown drive.
On the Raiders’ next possession, a deep shot to Cooper (nine receptions for 116 yards) for a 29yard gain drew flags on both the receiver and cornerback Bradley Roby. A rare cop-out double interference call. No play.
Later, with secondand-4 at the Denver 48, tight end Jared Cook didn’t get into stance in time and was called for a false start. That was the drive that ended in the three-year completion on third-and-8.
Throw in a blocked extra point attempt by Nugent in the first half, and the Raiders made just enough mistakes to lose a game they otherwise had played well enough to win.
Like it or not.