It was a glorious week for Raiders fans with a huge upset victory that put the league on notice. The Raiders handled a super bowl favorite pretty efficiently, beating the New Orleans Saints 34-23.
Let’s dive into the numbers that stood out for Week 2
Carr dominated against the blitz
The Saints came in with a gameplan for Derek Carr to beat them through the air going all out to defeat Josh Jacobs. The Saints called heavy blitz packages to create pressure and got burned to allow Carr to have a huge day.
According to PFF, Carr was 12-15 against the blitz for 127 yards and 8.5 YPA with two touchdowns on the day. The Raiders quarterback was able to calm down after a slow start when the Saints sent more than four rushers. He started to lean on Waller and helped convert first down after first down helping the Raiders score 34 points.
Carr, against Blitz, has been his best attribute during his career. Last year he was number one in ESPN’s QBR metric against the Blitz, which looks to continue this season. This is the type of play from the former Fresno State QB fans have been waiting to see.
Run blocking a sign of concern
With the success of Josh Jacobs, the public perception of the Raiders offensive line in the run game is a dominant force. The numbers say otherwise, and it is matched with the tape that this offensive line needs to improve it’s run blocking.
The Raiders rank 25th in ESPN’s new run block win rate metric, only winning their run blocks 66% of the time. It was indeed on display this week where the Raiders had five runs that went minus two yards or more. Jacobs can make up for it on the first watch with his ability to create, but there is only so much he can accomplish.
Hopefully, this can change in the next few weeks, but it does display a concern if Jacobs were ever to go down. The Raiders can’t depend on a running back to make defenders miss for them to have positive yards and need be better upfront.
The defense is off to a slow start
While the Raiders could hold the Saints on a few drives, they still didn’t put together a strong showing allowing 7.4 yards per play. It’s been the same ole story for this defense for the best past 15 years, and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
The defense has exhibited sloppy play against the pass and the run. The Raiders have missed 23 tackles in two games adding on 12 against the Saints, according to PFF. That stat has helped them appear third in YAC allowed with 339 yards, which are dreadful and a severe cause for concern.
The Raiders were a good run defense last season as well but are struggling to start 2020. They are allowing 4.96 YPC and are fifth-worst in first down percentage at 31%, according to Sports Info Solutions. It’s not good all around for Paul Guenther’s third year in his tenure, and his seat gets hotter every week.
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