Monday Morning Observations: Raiders Get Their First Win Of 2018 NFL Season

Jeff Spiegel
Jeff Spiegel
4 Min Read
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Excuse the Thursday morning edition of the Monday Morning Observations — the Oakland Raiders won on Sunday and I’m not really sure I was prepared to handle that. Regardless, here we are: the Raiders are 1-3 and the 2018 NFL season is inching towards the removal of life support thanks to Sunday’s 45-42 overtime win of the Browns.

With a game as thrilling as that, here are my five takeaways:

Jon Gruden, the play caller, is for real

Say what you want about Gruden as a talent evaluator and general manager, but the Raiders offense has been explosive this season thanks to his schemes. If not for a Derek Carr underthrow to Jordy Nelson early and a Martavis Bryant drop late, the offense may have looked even better — but the point remains: offense will not be the issue this season.

Defense needs some help

There were times when watching this unit play was painful, to be honest. The linebackers and safeties have to be among the league’s worst — and it showed throughout the game.

To be fair, the defense did get some stops in the second half and overtime (and finally forced some turnovers), but there needs to be improvement for Oakland’s season to stay on the right track.

Prove it time for Gareon Conley

The former first round draft pick has gotten all sorts of time to recover from injuries, etc. and it’s time for him to start playing like the player he was drafted to be. On Sunday, he got a pick-six early in the game, but beyond that, the play was inconsistent. He’s still young so there’s still time, but when I say Oakland’s defense needs some help, Conley is the first player I’m looking at.

Beast Mode

Is it possible that Marshawn Lynch is one of the best five running backs in football right now? While his role in the passing game is basically non-existent, as far as a player running the football I’m not sure there are many folks ahead of him (he’s currently fourth in the league in rushing yards). He’s also established himself as the heart and soul of this team and so seeing him bust through tackles and earn extra yards gave the team a big lift on Sunday.

Kickin’ it

Hard to judge undrafted rookie Matthew McCrane when he’s kicking off the dirt and yet, that’s the reality of being a Raiders kicker. The good news? He made the one that counted to finish the game and didn’t miss any extra points. All in all, I think McCrane earned himself another week in Oakland and who knows, with no real definitive long-term plan at kicker in place, maybe McCrane takes advantage of this opportunity.

Follow @RaidersNationCom on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Information

Jeff Spiegel was raised in California but currently resides in Portland, Oregon. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he worked in sports before entering journalism full time — first as a Sports Reporter and then as the Associate Editor of a small newspaper. Online, he has been writing about both the Raiders and Dodgers since 2012 — having written for DodgersNation.com and SBNation.com prior to joining both DodgerBlue.com and RaidersNewswire.com. He left full-time journalism in 2012 to become a pastor. Jeff can be found on Twitter at @JeffSpiegel. Favorite Raider This one is an easy one for me: Charles Woodson. When the Raiders drafted him, there was nothing to dislike about the guy — he was exciting and he was freaking good. Unfortunately, of course, he left after eight seasons — but when he returned in 2013 it was one of the better Raider moments of my lifetime. At that point, I didn't care how washed he was (and he wasn't!) — I just liked having him back in the silver and black. Obviously Tim Brown is another guy that was easy to love, but Woodson is the all-timer for me. As far as current, I'm still a believer in Derek Carr and think he's going to figure this all out. Favorite Raider Moment I think I'll go with the two weeks leading up to the 2001 Super Bowl. As a kid, I remember getting the newspaper every morning to read what they were talking about, clipping out the articles to keep for later. It was obviously far more exciting than the Super Bowl itself, but I'll never forget those moments of hope leading up to the Super Bowl. I referenced it above, but second to that was probably the return of Charles Woodson in 2013 — I just loved the guy, and never dreamed he'd actually come back.