There’s commitment to your craft and to your readers, and then there’s forcing yourself to rewatch the Oakland Raiders’ humiliating 34-3 loss against the lowly New York Jets. But alas, here we are.
If you read my preview for the game ahead of time, you’d know I was concerned about a few things heading into it — the time of game, the weather, the distance from home, etc. (Of course, because I’m an idiot I still picked the Raiders to win). One other note I made was that this game would be the litmus test I needed to see how far Jon Gruden and the Raiders had come.
Could this team establish their will against a lesser team, on the road in adverse conditions? Or were they closer to the Raiders of recent memory than their record may indicate? Unfortunately, the answer on Sunday was the latter. It’s not to say this team is destined for an under .500 season for sure, but just that the hope of the playoffs — or even a playoff win — might have to wait at least one more year.
But before we move on to the Kansas City Chiefs, some things of note from Sunday’s game…
Gruden sums it up perfectly
“We dropped passes. Hell, we dropped four center-quarterback exchanges in the second half. We missed tackles. We missed field goals. We missed the opportunity to show fans who came out today what kind of football team we are. I’m really disappointed in it. I take credit for all that went wrong,” he said post-game.
Tyrell Williams with a “what-might-have-been” play
It was Oakland’s second drive, and with the game tied 3-3, Derek Carr hit Tyrell Williams right in the chest on third-and-13, but unfortunately, it clanked off his pads. Had Williams caught it, he would have had plenty of room to run for what might have been a 25-yard gain (at least). That would have put the Raiders inside the Jets’ 40 with a brand new set of downs. Instead, he drops it and the Raiders punt.
Special Teams Not So Special
I won’t diss Daniel Carlson too much because the field goal he missed looked good until taking a hard left in the wind — but for some reason, one thing that jumped out at me was how pathetic Oakland’s return game was.
Trevor Davis attempted four returns and averaged just 17.5 yards per return — leaving the Raiders with terrible field position every single time. Admittedly I think kick returns are hard plays to assign blame on (did someone miss a block or did Davis miss a lane?), but in a game in which the Oakland offense needed a spark, Davis and Co. couldn’t produce one.
Of note: among qualified kick returners (must be averaging one return per game), Davis is last in the NFL in return average (22.3 yards per return).
Raider Run Game Sputters
Coming in we knew the Oakland rushing attack would be the matchup to watch, and it’s safe to say the Jets’ run defense did their part. Josh Jacobs had his worst game of the season — netting just 34 rushing yards on 10 carries. To be fair to Jacobs, the offensive line was being pushed back into the backfield all morning — leaving him scrapping just to gain one or two yards most of the game.
