Las Vegas is off to a disappointing 2-6 start as most people around Raiders nation thought they would be a playoff team following their offseason moves. Unfortunately, that has yet to be the case so far this season. The Raiders have blown three 17 or more-point leads and haven’t played consistently at any point this season. Las Vegas needs help in a variety of places, but they must improve in these areas if they have any hope of turning their season around.
The Offensive Line Needs to Play Better
The Raiders’ offensive line had been playing better of late, but then regressed badly over the past two weeks. Last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, quarterback Derek Carr was pressured on 56% of his passes.
One of the things the Raiders can do to improve their o-line play is move Dylan Parham back to right guard, where he showed some promise. Parham has struggled at left guard and flipping him back to the other side of the line could boost his confidence. Alex Bars is currently the team’s right guard and gave up seven pressures against Jacksonville Sunday.
With Parham back to right guard, the Raiders could let John Simpson or Lester Cotton play the left side. At this point, the Raiders need to try anything; they have to get this offensive line playing better and they’re quickly running out of time.
Pressure the Quarterback
Edge rusher Maxx Crosby leads the Raiders with six sacks, and the next person on the list has one sack, and that’s cornerback Nate Hobbs. Las Vegas’s lack of pass rush hurts their struggling secondary. The Raiders added Chandler Jones as a free agent, thinking he and Crosby would be a good tandem, but Jones has only accumulated 0.5 sacks through 8 weeks and has struggled to generate any kind of consistent pressure.
The Raiders also lack a push from the middle. Rookie Neil Ferrell Jr has gotten more playing time and has started to play well. Hopefully this translates to the d-line generating some push up the middle for the Raiders. Jones needs to step up for Vegas as pressure will help the Raiders’ currently beleaguered defense.
However they generate pressure, it’s going to likely fall on the defensive line to do it as Vegas’ linebacking corps just took another hit with Blake Martinez’s abrupt mid-season retirement. After leading the team with 11 tackles vs. the Jags (8 solo, 3 ast), Martinez announced he would be hanging up his cleats for good.
This now leaves a rather uninspiring trio of Luke Masterson, Denzel Perryman, and Jayon Brown to shoulder the load in the middle of the field. The already thin group isn’t helped by the fact that Micah Kiser, and Divine Deablo are both on IR while Darien Butler and Perryman are both dealing with a variety of nicks and bruises and currently sport questionable tags heading into the weekend.
Coaching
Head coach Josh McDaniels needs to get his weapons outside of Davante Adams involved in the offense. Last season Renfrow caught 103 passes and was a huge asset for the Raiders, but looks lost out there in 2022. The Raiders’ offense was supposed to be unstoppable, but it’s struggled due to injuries, inconsistency, and poor offensive line play.
There have been times when the Raiders’ offense has played well, but they have yet to maintain it for the whole game. Against the Jaguars, the Raiders jumped out to a 17-0 lead, as Carr and Davante Adams torched the Jacksonville secondary. Adams had nine catches for over 100 yards and two touchdowns. However, in the second half, the Raiders went conservative and ended up losing the game.
With Renfrow out for at least the next 4 weeks with an oblique injury, and Darren Waller joining him on the IR with hamstring issues, a glut of targets just opened up for Foster Moreau and Mack Hollins. If McDaniels can’t find a way to somehow get them involved, they may as well start preparing for a top 5 draft pick next spring.
And if that’s the case, let’s hope they use that pick more wisely than previous regimes with the Raiders have when they selected Johnathan Abram (2019, cut), Damon Arnette (2020, cut), Henry Ruggs III (2020, cut) and Alex Leatherwood (2021, cut).
Carr Must do More
We all know the Raiders’ offensive line isn’t good, but there are things Carr could do to help them out. Like moving in the pocket and using legs to run. At times Carr looks scared in the pocket and refuses to extend plays with his feet. He has the athletic ability to make plays, he just needs to use it.
Carr’s also developing a habit of giving up on plays too quickly and opting to check down too fast. More often than not this leads to minimal gains and frustrated receivers open down field. The Raiders’ season could turn around if Carr can make these adjustments.
Vegas has games vs. the Colts, Broncos, Seahawks, Chargers, Rams, Patriots, Steelers, 49ers and Chiefs remaining on their schedule. Some of those are very winnable games. That being said, if they hope to have any chance of a late season push to the playoffs, one has to figure they’ll need to go 7-2 or better down the stretch. And it all starts this weekend with the Indianapolis Colts and their new (literally) head coach Jeff Saturday at home.
-LaMarr Fields
Twitter: @raiderway83
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