Tag: Zamir White

Raiders, Broncos Week 5 injury report: Maxx Crosby among 8 Raiders starters missing

Maxx Crosby, Kolton Miller among 8 Raiders starters who missed practice Wednesday

Quite an injury report for the Raiders heading into Week five for the Raiders. In total they were missing ten players, eight of whom are starters.

Among those not practicing for the Raiders are starters WR Davante Adams (hamstring), TE Michael Mayer (personal), T Kolton Miller (knee/shoulder), T Thayer Munford, G Dylan Parham (Achilles), DE Maxx Crosby (ankle), and LB Divine Deablo (oblique).

Limited were RB Zamir White (groin), LB Luke Masterson (knee), and S Isaiah Pola-Mao (personal).

Several of these players missed Sunday’s game against the Browns including Adams, Mayer, Munford, Crosy, and Deablo.

Busters for Raiders Week 4 win over Browns

Busters for Raiders Week 4 win over Browns

We know the heroes for this come-from-behind win over the Browns. But it wasn’t all good in the hood. The Browns were able to stay within striking distance for a reason.

Busters

T Kolton Miller

Myles Garrett has a way of making opponents look silly. But this isn’t about judging the quality of the opponent. And there’s no softening things because of it.

Things started to go badly for Miller on the final drive of the second quarter. The Raiders got the ball with 1:20 left to the half. A 17-yard run on first down had them thinking they might be able to get a score before heading into the locker room. But that hope ended on the next play when Miller gave up the sack. So, they opted to just head for the locker room with a 10-10 tie instead.

The Raiders got the ball first in the second half and on their first third down, Miller gave up a big hit on Gardner Minshew that would have ended the drive if not for Garrett being flagged for roughing the passer. Still not good to get your own QB blown up like that.

To begin the fourth quarter, the Raiders were clinging to a four-point lead after a fumble return for a touchdown by the Browns. They had moved to midfield on their drive when on third and two, Miller gave up another sack to end the threat.

With 4:55 left in the game, the Raiders were hoping to keep possession long enough to drain the clock out. But on the very first play, Miller was late getting to his assignment, causing a tackle for a loss of five yards. It led to a three-and-out and just over a minute and a half off the clock, giving the Browns plenty of time to drive for the winning score, which they very nearly did.

RB Zamir White

While the rest of the offense came out of their running futility funk, White did not. He had a season-high 17 carries and the result was a season worst performance, averaging just 2.8 yards per carry with the team’s only turnover on a fumble that was scooped up and returned for a touchdown.

The team turned to Alexander Mattison after White’s fumble, but when they gave him the ball again, he was promptly stopped in the backfield for a loss of five yards.

In the second half, with the Raiders needing to score and then keep the ball away from the Browns’ offense, White had six carries for a combined four yards and a fumble, giving them their only points in the second half. During that same time frame Mattison had four carries for 36 yards. A change at feature back is forthcoming.

QB Gardner Minshew

14 of 24 for 130 yards and no TD’s with two rushes for negative two yards and two sacks. Yeah, the Raiders got the win, but it wasn’t on the arm or the legs of Minshew.

The first drive was dead in the water, but might have come out of it had Minshew been able to connect with DJ Turner who had gotten behind the defense on what would have been a huge gain. Perhaps even a touchdown. But Minshew overthrew him. Turner is very fast, so that’s not easy to do. The result was the Raiders were down 10-0 before Minshew had completed a pass.

To his credit, he did complete a few passes to help the Raiders tie the game up in the second quarter. But another drive would end with a bad throw to an open receiver. This time is was underthrown into the turf and Daniel Carlson had to connect on a 52-yard field goal as a result.

The first drive of the third quarter only got into scoring range due to a roughing the passer penalty. And it ended two plays later with Minshew overthrowing Jakobi Meyers. The touchdown drive on the next possession featured one completed pass and two overthrows. The final 35 yards came on the ground.

The fourth quarter saw Minshew convert zero third downs with just one first down total through the air.

LB Luke Masterson

The only touchdown drive for the Browns was their first drive of the game. And it had Masterson mistakes all over it. First play he was out of position on a six yard run. A few plays later he would miss a tackle on a five-yard run. They had driven to the 12-yard-line and Masterson gave up a seven-yard catch. Two plays later, he gave up the first down run to put them in first and goal at the one. Two plays after that, he bit hard on the play action to allow a wide open touchdown to the tight end.

The next defensive series hadn’t even started yet and Masterson was already hurting them. He was flagged for being illegally downfield on the punt.

Late in the second quarter, the Browns were driving to try and re-take the lead. And they nearly did it thanks to Masterson giving up two catches for 36 yards.

I counted at least three missed tackles by Masterson, which means he had nearly as many missed tackles as he he solo tackles (4).

T DJ Glaze

Nothing went right on the Raiders first possession of the game. But the worst part was Glaze being flagged for holding on the second play which backed them up to their own eight yard line.

Glaze gave up a hit on Minshew in the third quarter. Then on the first play of the fourth quarter, he was beaten off the snap to get Zamir White smacked in the backfield and White fumbled it away. It was returned for a touchdown to make it a four-point game.

See the Ballers

Raiders to make change at running back

Four games into the season, the Raiders are making change at running back

For the first time this season the Raiders running game got something going. After three games averaging 51 yards rushing per game, they eclipsed their entire total from the first three games in this game alone.

They did it, in part by spreading out the defense sideline to sideline, utilizing sweeps and reverses. But the funny thing was, even with the sudden success they had, it didn’t seem to improve how starting running back Zamir White played.

Take a look at these yards per carry numbers:

DJ Turner — 18 ypc (TD)
Alexander Mattison — 12 ypc
Brock Bowers — 12 ypc
Tyreik McAllister — 5.5 ypc
Tre Tucker — 3 ypc (TD)
Zamir White — 2.8 ypc (fumble)

Coming into this game, the Raiders had the worst yards per carry in the league. They were averaging 2.8 yards per carry…same as White had in this game.

The bulk of the yards gained were by Alexander Mattison. The veteran had three of the top six longest plays of the game on runs of 24, 18, and 16 yards and finished with a team-leading 60 yards on just five carries.

White’s performance remained status quo for him this season. On top of that, he fumbled the ball away that was returned for a touchdown.

Mattison’s numbers may have took a leap in this game, but mainly that’s because he just hasn’t gotten a lot of touches. He got 12 carries combined in the first three games and 19 total touches. Despite his low touches (24), he leads the team in touchdowns (three) and has just one fewer yard from scrimmage than White who has 30 more touches (54).

Monday, Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce acknowledged Mattison’s performance and said a change is coming.

“He’s deserved more reps,” Pierce said of Mattison. “And he’ll get them.”

Pierce said the same of guard Jackson Powers-Johnson last week and then Powers-Johnson started Sunday’s game and played every snap.

Raiders change up run game approach vs Browns, eclipse entire season rushing total

Funny what can happen when you try something other than running into brick walls over and over.

Three games in and the Raiders were averaging 51 yards rushing per game. Their offense was incredibly predictable and going nowhere fast. Something seems to have finally clicked with the coaching staff that starting nearly every set of downs with two runs up the middle was not establishing anything but how terrible the Raiders were at doing it.

So, today, the Raiders tried something new – give the receivers the ball.

And by that, I mean literally hand it to them.

Five times in the game, the Raiders gave it to a receiver either on a sweep or a reverse. The result of those plays was 44 yards and both of the Raiders’ touchdowns.

The first time came late in the first quarter and it went to Brock Bowers who picked up 12 yards on the play. That led out a long touchdown drive. That drive ended with Tyreik McAllister going for ten yards on a sweep and two plays later, Tre Tucker on the reverse for the touchdown from three yards out.

“You call it in the huddle and in my head it’s a touchdown because no one’s running me down. It’s three yards I had to get,” said Tucker. “I bet my life I can get three yards down there, so that’s what I did.”

Plays like that have residual effects.

The next Raiders drive, Tucker caught a pass in the right flat and then turned it into nine yards. The next play, Alexander Mattison got the ball up the middle and took off for the longest run of the season, going for 24 yards. It was a pull block by newly minted starter Jackson Powers-Johnson that helped open up the hole Mattison used.

“Definitely a domino effect,” said Powers-Johnson of one good run leading to another. “You just gain confidence. Sometimes you just need…I mean you look at a pitcher who practices his curve ball. Doesn’t get it right, doesn’t get it right. And then he feels that perfect flick of the wrist and just curves right over. That’s how it is. You see that one pop where pads are popping and you feel that crowd and you’re like, ok let’s go.”

That 24-yarder wasn’t just the longest run of the season. It was TWICE that of their previous longest run of the season. And by halftime the Raiders had 95 yards on the ground, which already nearly doubled their previous yards per game average. It’s no accident it came on the heels of several successful plays on the outside.

“It keeps the defense on their toes and keeps them thinking,” Mattison said of getting the receivers involved in the run game. “They don’t know who’s getting the ball, they don’t know where the ball’s going. So for us to be able to keep them operating and thinking like that, it’s big.”

Come the third quarter, Mattison broke off another big run. This time for 16 yards. And the Raiders used that run to throw the curve ball and hand it to DJ Turner on a sweep. Turner got a nice block from Brock Bowers to get around the edge and another great block from Tre Tucker to finish it off with a touchdown.

Turner has no shortage of speed. But Turner knows even the quickest players need their teammates doing their jobs to turn good gains into paydirt.

“He told me before the game ‘once you get the ball I got you’, Turner said of Tucker. “So I just followed him and it happened.”

“It was awesome,’ Tucker said of the play. “It’s one of those things where I can’t really see what’s going on behind me. I’m just blocking and blocking and next thing I know I’m like I just hear the crowd go crazy. I’m like what happened and DJ’s in the end zone and I’m out of bounds blocking. Like they say that’s a touchdown block.”

With that touchdown run, the Raiders went up 20-10 and led the rest of the way. And by midway through the fourth quarter, they had already surpassed in this game alone, their entire rushing total over the first three games coming in.

Funny what can happen when you stop simply banging your head against the wall over and over.

3 causes for concern as the Raiders face the Browns Sunday

The biggest causes of concern for the Raiders in their Week 4 matchup with the Browns on Sunday.

I know what you’re thinking right now. What about this Raiders team *isn’t* a cause for concern right now? That’s fair. But I suppose some things are more glaring than others. Here are three big ones that come to mind.

Myles Garrett

Antonio Pierce was asked for his thoughts on Myles Garrett and he summed it up with one word – “Scary”. Garrett is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and for good reason. He was in the top ten in sacks (14), tackles for loss (17), and QB hits (30), and pressures (86). Now, you can argue Maxx Crosby was better considering Crosby had better numbers in every one of those categories, but that’s not really the point here.

The point is Garrett is a problem. And the Raiders offensive tackles have not exactly shown the ability to keep even decent pass rushers out of the backfield this season. Even Kolton Miller has been uncharacteristically susceptible to getting beaten. And rookie DJ Glaze will be making his first start on the other side.

Stars injured

No question the Raiders have exactly two stars on their team. Maxx Crosby on defense and Davante Adams on offense. Neither of whom will play Sunday. Crosby is officially listed as Doubtful by Antonio Pierce said Friday Crosby would be OUT. Adams suffered a hamstring injury in practice this week and he’s been ruled OUT.

Even with Crosby playing last week, the defense gave up 36 points because Crosby was hobbled and not destroying the offense’s game plan. Now, to be without him entirely? Yikes.

The only game the Raiders won this season was when Adams was caught nine passes for 110 yards and had some masterful late game heroics. He won’t be an option in the pass game this week.

League worst ground game

Despite Raiders OC Luke Getsy’s laughable comment that the Raiders run game showed some improvement last week, it hasn’t. Their 2.8 rushing yards per attempt is easily the worst in the league. 

And get this, they are ALSO the worst run DEFENSE in the league, giving up a league worst 5.4 yards per carry.

The Browns are decent both in terms of yards per carry on the offense (4.3) and yards per carry allowed by the defense (4.4). Both stats are above league average.

Also see: 3 Reasons for optimism for Raiders vs Browns

Antonio Pierce admits Raiders still in process of ‘learning curve’ of zone blocking scheme

Three games in and the Raiders are still struggling with ‘learning curve’ of zone blocking scheme

You’d hope the kinks of a new blocking scheme would have been worked out by the start of an NFL season. With a full offseason to work in the new system, this is something the coaches are responsible for ensuring their players are adept at handling before putting it on the field live when the games count.

It’s painfully obvious that the Raiders offensive players are either not getting it or the coaching staff is not coaching it properly. Perhaps some of both. Their historically bad run game is living proof of that.

“We’re watching it firsthand. You guys have seen it. There’s a learning curve and we’re still going through the process,” Pierce said of the transition from power blocking to zone blocking.

Ted Nguyen broke down a few poor run plays the Raiders had in Sunday’s brutal loss to the Panthers that were indicative of the disconnect happening on the field.

https://twitter.com/FB_FilmAnalysis/status/1838970081625375147

As Ted points out, the problem isn’t just on the offensive line. Which also suggests it’s not primarily on the players. They can’t all just be not getting it. There are some proven smart players out there who are clearly trying to just ‘do their job’ on a given play. But either the job they were given is severely flawed or the manner in which they were coached was confusing.

Pierce said Monday that there is going to need to be a lot of changes on the Raiders offense to fix the run game. He seemed to hint on Wednesday that the immediate change could be in play calling. At least until the offense can start executing the new scheme.

“At the end of the day you get the scheme team, you can be a player driven team, you can be a ‘what works’ team,” Pierce continued. “And we need to become what works. What works for the Raiders.”

Ballers for Raiders Week 3 loss to Panthers

Singling out the performances in Raiders Week 3 loss to Panthers

There wasn’t much to sing about if you’re the Raiders in their loss to the Panthers. The 36-22 final score didn’t tell the story at all. The real score was 33-7 which sealed it early in the fourth quarter.

A lopsided score like that suggests a complete collapse on both sides of the ball. They couldn’t run the ball, they couldn’t stop the run. They couldn’t pass the ball, they couldn’t stop the pass.

Andy Dalton was picking them apart through the air and Chuba Hubbard (who?) ran all over them on the ground. Gardner Minshew completed one deep pass and the Raiders still have the worst rushing attack in the NFL dating back like 25 years at least.

Anyway, let’s see about them Ballers, eh?

Baller

WR Tre Tucker

That one deep completion went to Tucker. He got behind the defense and made the long catch 54 yards downfield. It set up the Raiders only touchdown that actually mattered. It tied the game at 7-7 in the first quarter.

When the game essentially was over, he had three catches for 64 yards. But he didn’t just pack it in, he added four more catches to finish with 98 yards and a touchdown.

That’s it. That’s the list.

Continue to the Busters…

Busters for Raiders Week 3 loss to Panthers

Singling out the many poor performances in the Raiders Week 3 loss to Panthers

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.

See the Baller

Antonio Pierce plans ‘a lot of changes’ to try and get Raiders NFL-worst run game going

With by the league’s worth run game, there are ‘A lot of changes’ in the works for the Raiders

You simply won’t see a worse run game than the one the Raiders are attempting to deploy this season. What they’re doing in just not working. So, what’s the problem? Is it scheme? Personnel? Both?

It could be both, sure. But if you look back at the line last year and this year, it wasn’t that much different personnel wise. And they were running the ball really well late last season with Zamir White. Now? Abysmal.

White averaged nearly 100 yards per game over the final four games last season behind much of the same offensive line (only one guard and one tackle have changed). He has 102 yards in the first the weeks combined this season and he had just 14 yards in Sunday’s loss to the Panthers.

“Last year is last year. We are where we are now. Worst running team in football,” said Pierce. “That’s not something I’m proud of, our staff’s proud of and I’m sure our team is not. And again, we’re going to get in here and chip away after we make the corrections from today and be honest with one another.”

Pierce would not rule out a change is blocking scheme, saying “I think there’s going to be a lot of changes.”

As far as personnel, rookie tackle DJ Glaze most of game at right tackle after the injury to Thayer Munford. That didn’t seem to change anything in terms of the run game issues. They put rookie guard Jackson Powers-Johnson in for a time and that didn’t seem to make a difference either.

They had a total of three first downs on the ground in the game Sunday and didn’t have a single first down in the second half.

And then there’s this:

https://twitter.com/austingayle_/status/1838004575678476584

At this point either they need to change back to the scheme that works with these guys or just stop running it.

Something’s got to give: Raiders and Panthers biggest weaknesses face off

If there was ever a game the Raiders could get their run game going, it’s this one.

How the Raiders were able to win last week confounded quite a few NFL people. Mainly because the Raiders were expected to rely on their run game this season and that’s the one thing that’s been historically bad over the first two games.

That seems like a recipe for disaster. And yet they were able to shift gears in the second half last week and pull out a win.

Even as terrible as the Panthers have been through the air, they’ve been even worse on the ground. Leading to a situation where each team’s biggest weakness will face off against each other.

Raiders run game vs Panthers run defense

Or, in this case, the lack of both.

The Raiders have run for 98 yards this season. Not per game. Total. They average 2.5 yards per carry.

Meanwhile the Panthers run defense has surrendered 200 yards per game and 4.9 yards per carry with three touchdowns. So, basically double what the Raiders have put up.

The problem is simple for each team, really. It’s the Raiders offensive line that’s been bad and the Panthers defensive line.

Run stops have been coming from across the line for the Raiders. No one is immune. While the Panthers’ defensive line hasn’t been stopping anything. Mainly because Derrick Brown is lost for the season.

So, either the Raiders are going to get their run game going in this game, or they never will.