Tag: reasons for optimism

5 Reasons for Optimism for Raiders Week 7 vs Rams

It may seem like every team the Raiders face is in better shape than them. But that isn’t always the case. In fact, the Raiders actually have a better record than their next opponent. The Raiders are at 2-4 on the season, while the Rams are 1-4. So, …

It may seem like every team the Raiders face is in better shape than them. But that isn’t always the case. In fact, the Raiders actually have a better record than their next opponent. The Raiders are at 2-4 on the season, while the Rams are 1-4. So, while there are certainly causes for concern, you probably don’t have to look too far to find some reasons for optimism. Here’s a few.

Each week since Crosby missed his first career game, he has looked better and better. Last week in the loss to the Steelers, he was racking up the pressures and only Justin Fields’s supreme athleticism and quick decisions kept him from getting blown up by Crosby. Matt Stafford is not nearly that fleet of foot and is more likely to stay in the pocket than Fields was, opening up the possibility of Crosby getting home a few times.

These days the closest the Raiders have to a number one receiver would appear to be Bowers. He had nine catches last week and leads the team in targets (46), receptions (37) and yards (384). He leads the league in receiving among tight ends, and has him on pace to surpass 1000 yards on the season. Not to mention when he gets the ball his hands, he is among the league leaders in yards after catch. The Raiders will continue to feed him so long as defenses fail to stop it.

Currently the Raiders have the second worst rushing offense in the league. But this week they will go against the very worst run defense, so maybe they can get something going? The Raiders had the worst rush offense while Zamir W/hite was the feature back, so his potential return doesn’t necessarily mean a whole lot. But it can only help to have one more healthy back in the stable along with Alexander Mattison whose four combined touchdowns leads the team.

Looking at the kind of points the Rams have given up had me doing a double take. They have given up at least 24 points in all five games this season. Even the win. And they gave up 41 points to the Rams. The Raiders, on the other hand, have only scored more than 24 points once this season (26). So, maybe the Rams defense is bad enough that the Raiders offense can actually put some points on the board.

SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Raiders’ home away from home. In fact, when they play the Chargers in LA, they get their best crowd of the season. Rams fans represent better than the Chargers, but even still, LA is Raiders country. And for that reason, the crowd is expected to be about 60-40 in favor of the Raiders. Which is about what you get at Allegiant on a good day. That should help the Raiders feel more welcome as well as keep down the noise when they’re on offense.

3 Reasons for optimism as Raiders face off against Broncos

There are some reasons for optimism as Raiders face off against Broncos

Things may seem bleak at the moment for the Raiders. But their next opponent is plenty beatable. In fact, in many ways, these two teams are very similar. They even have the same record (2-2). So while there are some causes for concern, there are reasons for optimism as well.

Bo Nix still finding his way

Nix is a rookie starter and he’s has plenty of issues finding his footing in the NFL. He has thrown all of ONE touchdown pass all season to go with four interceptions. That ain’t great.

Last week the Broncos beat the Jets, but it wasn’t on Nix’s arm. He had just 12 completions in the game. He did throw is lone touchdown pass in the game, but it was to a wide open Courtland Sutton and his pass made the catch a lot harder than it had to be. The defense is carrying this team right now, but the Raiders just beat a team whose strength is defense, but whose QB lost the game for them.

Maxx Crosby might play

While we lament the sheer number of injuries on this Raiders team — and there are a lot of them — the most important player on the team returned to practice Friday and has a chance to play. His return to the lineup would be huge for this Raiders defense that were blown out by the Panthers when Crosby was hobbled and in and out the game with his high ankle sprain.

Crosby is officially Questionable for the game. And in the immortal words of Lloyd Christmas “So, you’re telling me there’s a chance!”

Figuring out the ground game

Last week against the Browns, the Raiders seemed to figure some things out. They ended up eclipsing their entire season total rushing yards over the first three games. They did it in two ways — first by spreading the defense out with sweeps and reverses and second by handing the ball to Alexander Mattison.

This week they were making the change to giving Mattison the bulk of the carries anyway, but Zamir White and his three yards per carry aren’t even available.

Mattison put up 60 yards on five carries last week (12 yards per carry). It will be interesting to see what he can do with feature back carries. And if the Raiders can continue to be creative to keep the defense from stacking the box, they could be in business.