Busters
HC Josh McDaniels
It’s got to be difficult to have confidence in yourself as a team when your head coach consistently makes decisions that show a complete lack of faith in you. It has happened a few times this season that McDaniels has opted for a non-aggressive decision and he was at it again in this one. It’s often referred to as playing not to lose rather than playing to win.
The first time we saw it in this game was near the end of the first half. The Raiders defense made the stop to force at punt with around a minute and a half on the clock. That’s a pretty good amount of time for the Raiders to try and make a long drive to try and extend their 10-3 lead.
They just need the head coach to call timeout to preserve it. And in order for that to happen, your head coach has to believe the offense will go out there and put together a long drive. Which, it seems, is why McDaniels opted to let the Packers run time off the clock there, giving his offense just 55 seconds once they got the ball.
The offense would string together a drive into scoring range. But with time running out, they had to waste a play with a spike. Two plays later, in fourth and three, Daniel Carlson was brought out to try a 53-yard field goal that was blocked.
The other time in this game was far more egregious, but still spoke volumes about McDaniels’s confidence in his offense. With a 17-13 lead, sitting in 4th and two at the Green Bay 35, with two minutes left, they had a decision to make. A first down ends the game. A field goal puts them up seven. Either way, the Packers need a touchdown.
So, in actuality attempting the field goal would show a lack of faith in the offense AND the defense, because it says you think the most likely scenario is the Raiders would fail to convert and the Packers would drive for a touchdown. So, of course, he opted for the field goal.
And for the offensive genius’s team to not break 18 points in any of the team’s five games this season is a pretty glaring indictment on his coaching abilities.
QB Jimmy Garoppolo
After the game, Davante Adams said essentially there is no excuse for him not to be getting the ball. The Packers were doubling him a lot, but as he put it — and he’s absolutely right — if he only got the ball when he was in single coverage, he’d have like 20 catches on the year. So, why was it, after nearly three full quarters, Adams had just one catch? Unacceptable.
The fourth play of the second half would’ve been one of those times Adams should’ve gotten the ball. Garoppolo had Adams and Jakobi Meyers both running slants to the left. Adams appeared to be breaking open deep in single coverage, but Garoppolo opted to throw the shorter route to Meyers. He also threw it behind Meyers and it was picked off. From potential big play to turnover.
The very next pass by Garoppolo saw him escape out right where he had a wide open Michael Mayer. But he saw him late and then threw an ugly duck pass that Mayer was unable to get to despite laying out for it. Two plays later, Garoppolo rolled out left, reset and then threw a pass out of bounds while getting smacked on the rush. If you’re going to take a hit like that, it needs to be for a better throw than that.
And lo and behold, late in the third quarter, when he made Adams a part of the offense again, the Raiders were able to drive for a touchdown. Funny how getting your All Pro receiver involved can lead to good things.
LT Kolton Miller
There was a lot of bad play among the Raiders’ linemen, let’s be clear. But Miller had an especially bad day. the Raiders’ first two possessions ended with a sack. Miller gave up the second one.
Robert Spillane’s interception gave the Raiders the ball in first and goal at the seven-yard-line. And on the first play, Miller got Josh Jacobs tackles for a loss. They would go three-and-out and settle for a field goal off the turnover.
The third play of the third quarter, Miller didn’t block Kingsley Enagbare to get Josh Jacobs stopped for a three-yard loss. The next play Garoppolo was intercepted.