Welcome to the primary portion of the program. There was a lot more bad news in this one than good. In fact, it wasn’t all that easy to find anything good to say about this performance by the Raiders.
So, let’s not belabor the point any longer.
Busters
OC Luke Getsy
Run, run, pass. Run, run, pass. Run, run, pass. Sensing a pattern? Yeah? Well, you’re not alone. The Raiders opponents do too. Perhaps Getsy thinks it’s like a pendulum that will lull opposing defenses to sleep because that is his approach so often, it’s downright maddening.
If this were a situation where the Raiders were having some success, it would be one thing. But they’re not. For whatever reason they are not running the ball at an NFL level. And you have to wonder if it’s the scheme that’s the problem because this wasn’t the case last season. Quite the contrary actually, they were the best running team in the league the final four games of last season. Now they’re the worst.
Four times on the first three drives of this game the Raiders started a series with consecutive runs. One of those they did three straight runs. Only once did they get a first down on the ground. And it wasn’t the one where they ran it three straight times! That one they went for it on fourth down and didn’t pick it up. The defensive backfield literally stood in a line three yards off the line and all the Raiders’ receivers ran that far. Minshew threw for Brock Bowers and it was knocked down easily. Terrible play call against the defense designed to stop that very thing.
Down 21-7 going into the third quarter, and you’ll never guess what they did then. Run. Run. Pass. Punt. So, they were down 24-7 before they finally stopped doing that.
This is a replay of the first two games. They bang their heads against a wall for three quarters and then try to make a late comeback. The defense was able to keep them in it the first two weeks. That didn’t happen this time. And it should never have to happen that way.
Something needs to change right now because right now their run game is broken. Whether it’s moving away from zone blocking, leaning more on the passing game, or just mixing things up a bit more to keep the defense honest.
QB Gardner Minshew
Whatever he found in the fourth quarter in Baltimore he lost again. Too often in this game he seemed gun shy, pulling his passes back, dancing around the pocket, and bouncing off his linemen like a pinball before either getting sacked or throwing it away.
Through three quarters — remember that’s when the game ended for all intents and purposes — he had completed 10 passes for 127 yards and no touchdowns. Most of his yards came on one completion to Tre Tucker for 54 yards. That was one of just four first downs he had through the air.
WR Davante Adams
Adams wasn’t helping things much. He had two drive killing drops in the second quarter alone. The first one came on third and short to end the drive. The second one took them out of field goal range and Daniel Carlson just missed the 57-yard attempt wide left at the half.
CB Nate Hobbs, CB Jakorian Bennett, CB Jack Jones
A week ago we were celebrating their work on the outside. Not so much this week. This week Andy Dalton made burnt toast out of them all.
The first drive Hobbs gave up a 17-yard catch and the touchdown catch from six yards out.
Second drive, Bennett gave up a 24-yard catch on third-and-14, Tre’von Moehrig gave up a 35-yard catch and run, and Jones gave up the touchdown on third-and-goal from the five.
Their third touchdown drive saw Hobbs give up a catch to Diontae Johnson, then try to chase him down only to whiff on the tackle for a 35-yard play. The next play Jones gave up a 31-yard touchdown catch to Adam Thielan.
The final touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter started with Bennett giving up an 11-yard catch. Then Jones missed a tackle on a 14-yard run, Bennett missed a tackle on a five-yard run, and on third down, Bennett was flagged for pass interference in the end zone to put the Panthers in first and goal from the one. They punched it in two plays later to go up 33-7.
Jones added to his poor day when he didn’t bother to try and make the tackle on a ten-yard run that led many to accuse him of being the player Antonio Pierce was referring to when he said players were making “business decisions” in the game.
RB Zamir White
I don’t know if he’s just trying to stick with what he thinks he’s trying to do or what. But there were so many times he just seemed to run right into a tackle or right in to the back of his own lineman. One of those times was the second play for the offense when he landed on the legs of Thayer Munford, causing him to leave the game with an injury and not return.
He was having much more success late last season. Now he looks like the least effective running back on this team. He’s averaging just 3.2 yards per carry and despite his size and apparent strength, they don’t even use him at the goal line. They give it to Alexander Mattison who has two touchdowns this season as a result.
LG Cody Whitehair, C Andre James
They’re just not getting any push up the middle. They aren’t creating any running lanes. The Raiders went for it on fourth down twice in the first three quarters. The first time Whitehair was driven back into Minshew’s lap as he threw. The other time it was a QB keeper that James got no push. Both attempts failed.
DT John Jenkins
You know who was getting push? The Panthers offensive line. Often times it was Jenkins who was getting pushed around. Jenkins had one tackle in the first three quarters. It was on a six-yard first down run. He also gave up the Panthers’ final touchdown from one yard out.