Tag: Zamir White

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.

Ravens vs. Raiders: Top photos from Week 2 matchup at M&T Bank Stadium

The Ravens have gone from a Super Bowl hopeful, to a team searching for answers after a shocking 26-23 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday.

The loss dropped Baltimore to 0-2 on the season, while creating more discourse centered on the offensive line, secondary, run-pass ratios, and Lamar Jackson. The disappointing loss also creates something of a hotseat for head coach John Harbaugh with a difficult matchup against the Cowboys looming.

Here are the top photos from Week 2.

***

Busters for Raiders Week 1 loss to Chargers

Those responsible for the Raiders’ collapse in LA.

The good news is that the Raiders held a one point lead at the half of this game. The bad news — aside from the fact that they lost that lead — is that they only scored once to get that early lead.

The second half brought very little scoring from the Raiders while the Chargers eventually found the cracks in the defense to run away with this one. Let’s look at why.

Busters

T Kolton Miller

I can’t recall Miller ever having a game this bad. Not even as a rookie. He simply had a horrendous outing.

Even starting the game with a nine-yard completion, the Raiders went three-and-out. That’s because on the next two plays, Miller got beat to give up run stuffs for no gain. The next drive, the Raiders were in fourth and one and opted to go for it. And Miller was beaten again to give up a tackle for loss.

Another three-and-out to begin the second quarter because Miller gave up a pressure that flushed Gardner Minshew from the pocket and his scramble was stopped at one yard. Next drive he gave up a sack. The drive after that he gave up a pressure for an incompletion.

The Raiders needed to answer after the Chargers got their first touchdown of the day to take a 16-7 lead. They had a nice looking drive going, but it was upended when Miller gave up a sack. They settled for a field goal and didn’t come any closer after that.

HC Antonio Pierce

When to be aggressive and when to live to play another down was something Pierce seemed to struggle with in this game.

They found themselves in 4th and one from their own 41 midway through the first quarter and no score. This would seem like one of those times you just punt it away. But no, Pierce thought this was the time to show his aggressive nature. He called for the Raiders to go for it, handed it to Zamir White and he was stuffed for a loss. The Chargers only needed a few yards to get into field goal range and took the 3-0 lead.

With the game still 9-7 in the third quarter, the Raiders lined up in third and seven at the 32. It was clear the moment they lined up that they were playing for the field goal. Gardner Minshew scanned the field for a moment and then ditched it, just as he was told he should rather than risk anything. Then Daniel Carlson came out and missed the 49-yard field goal. Wasted drive.

The big one, however, came with 7:15 left in the fourth quarter with the Raiders down 16-10. They had added a field goal on their previous drive to make it a one-score game. Then the defense stopped the Chargers for a three-and-out, and a 21-yard punt return gave the Raiders great field position at their own 48. Three plays later they were in 4th and one from the LA 41. That screams go for it. And Pierce thought about it, but opted for the pooch punt instead.

The Chargers got the ball and drove for the touchdown. But even without hindsight, this was a no-brainer mistake by Pierce. After all the shifting in momentum and field position advantage, you simply DO NOT give up the ball without a fight. Even worse is the fact he was given several opportunities to admit he made a mistake, but still insisted he had good reason for his decision. None of those reasons held water.

QB Gardner Minshew

The only touchdown in the game was entirely because of Alexander Mattison made an amazing play to elude two tacklers, hurdling one to go the score. It was a whole lotta bad otherwise.

The poor offense directly led to the Chargers’ first two scores. The first was failing on 4th and one in the first quarter. The second was because Minshew had the ball slip out of his hand, causing a backward pass (which is a fumble) that was recovered by the Chargers in scoring range.

The Raiders managed just three points in the second half and the game ended with Minshew’s short pass attempt getting batted and intercepted.

LB Divine Deablo

Three big runs for the Chargers in the second half are what broke this game open. The first one, Diablo was blocked out of the way and it went for 46 yards, leading to a go-ahead field goal. The next was the first play of the fourth quarter. Deablo mistimed his blitz and was caught up on the outside while he was supposed to be inside the tackle. Without him there, JK Dobbins had an easy run for the touchdown. The final run, Deablo shot the inside gap and Dobbins jump cut through the outside gap and was gone for 61 yards. That one clinched it.

RB Zamir White

He had five carries for five yards in the first half. This included a stuff on third and one and a stuff for a loss on fourth and one. Leading the team to go with Alexander Mattison for a while. Then on his second carry of the third quarter, he went for eight yards and fumbled it away. His struggles are part of what had Antonio Pierce opt to punt late instead of take the aggressive approach.

C Andre James

Not helping in the run department was the play of James who was getting absolutely owned by Poona Ford. He and Kolton Miller both got beaten badly on that failed fourth down play. He would also give up another run stuff on the next drive and a sack on third down to end a drive in the second quarter after the Raiders had driven to the Chargers 43.

S Tre’Von Moehrig

The first big run of the game went for 46 yards but had several chances to be stopped before it got that far. Moehrig was the last line of defense and he missed the tackle. If not for Nate Hobbs chasing down the play, it would have been a touchdown.

The final touchdown of the game was given up by Moehrig who then also missed the tackle.

K Daniel Carlson

Kickers should not be missing field goals inside the 50. Carlson missed one from 49 yards out that would have given the Raiders the lead in the third quarter.

See the Ballers

Raiders Week 1 snap counts vs Chargers: Who stepped up at defensive end?

Who stepped up at defensive end to replace Malcolm Koonce?

With a new coaching staff comes questions about who will see the most playing time at each position. And, of course, it’s also opponent dependent as well.

There are a few interesting observations with regard to how many snaps each player had in the team’s season opener against the Chargers.

First up is how the receiving corps shook out. And that includes the tight ends.

Despite the prevailing thinking being the Brock Bowers would be basically the team’s third receiver, it was Tre Tucker who had more snaps behind Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers.

Zamir White started at running back, but it was Alexander Mattison who had more snaps as he was more effective.

On defense, Adam Butler had more snaps than John Jenkins. Both got the start as the Raiders often lined up with five defensive linemen.

Malcolm Koonce went down with a knee injury this week and was placed on IR. Leaving the Raiders to find a replacement. Tyree Wilson was lost after just six snaps. And it was practice squad call up Charles Snowden who got the start and led the way, even ahead of Janarius Robinson.

Offense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Cody Whitehair G 60 100% 3 11%
Dylan Parham G 60 100% 3 11%
Thayer Munford T 60 100% 3 11%
Kolton Miller T 60 100% 3 11%
Gardner Minshew II QB 60 100% 0 0%
Andre James C 60 100% 0 0%
Davante Adams WR 58 97% 0 0%
Jakobi Meyers WR 52 87% 0 0%
Tre Tucker WR 47 78% 7 25%
Brock Bowers TE 41 68% 0 0%
Alexander Mattison RB 36 60% 0 0%
Michael Mayer TE 34 57% 0 0%
Zamir White RB 23 38% 0 0%
DJ Turner WR 5 8% 23 82%
Harrison Bryant TE 4 7% 11 39%
Defense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Maxx Crosby DE 57 100% 4 14%
Marcus Epps SS 57 100% 0 0%
Tre’von Moehrig FS 57 100% 0 0%
Nate Hobbs CB 57 100% 0 0%
Robert Spillane LB 57 100% 0 0%
Christian Wilkins DT 54 95% 7 25%
Adam Butler DT 53 93% 0 0%
Jack Jones CB 53 93% 0 0%
Divine Deablo LB 42 74% 0 0%
John Jenkins DT 34 60% 6 21%
Charles Snowden DE 30 53% 21 75%
Jakorian Bennett CB 30 53% 0 0%
Janarius Robinson DE 24 42% 4 14%
Nesta Jade Silvera DT 10 18% 6 21%
Tyree Wilson DE 6 11% 2 7%
Luke Masterson LB 4 7% 25 89%
Isaiah Pola-Mao FS 2 4% 23 82%
Special Teams Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Kana’i Mauga LB 0 0% 25 89%
Christopher Smith SS 0 0% 23 82%
Amari Burney LB 0 0% 21 75%
Amari Gainer LB 0 0% 19 68%
Ameer Abdullah RB 0 0% 14 50%
Tyreik McAllister WR 0 0% 8 29%
Jacob Bobenmoyer LS 0 0% 8 29%
AJ Cole III P 0 0% 8 29%
Sam Webb CB 0 0% 8 29%
Darnay Holmes CB 0 0% 7 25%
Daniel Carlson K 0 0% 6 21%
Andrus Peat G 0 0% 3 11%
Jordan Meredith G 0 0% 3 11%
Delmar Glaze T 0 0% 3 11%
Jonah Laulu DT 0 0% 1 4%

Everything to know from Chargers’ win over Raiders in season opener

Here’s our recap of the Chargers’ 22-10 win over the Raiders.

The Chargers kicked off the Jim Harbaugh era in the win column, defeating the Raiders by the score of 22-10.

Here’s our recap of the Bolts’ victory in the season opener.

It was over when…

Ladd McConkey found the end zone to put the Chargers up two scores with less than four minutes remaining in the game.

Highlight of the game

The Chargers’ first touchdown of the season

https://twitter.com/chargers/status/1832905940326322325?s=46

Notable number

Jim Harbaugh improved to 5-0 as a head coach in season openers.

3 stars of the game

  1. RB J.K. Dobbins: After battling injuries throughout his NFL career, Dobbins dispelled those concerns with a monstrous performance in his first game as a Charger. He finished the game with 135 yards and a touchdown on ten carries, with long runs of 46 and 61 yards.
  2. EDGE Joey Bosa: Bosa’s past two seasons were shortened by injuries. But as we know, he is a force to be reckoned with when he’s on the field. And that he was, as Bosa made a few high-effort plays, including a forced fumble and a sack.
  3. EDGE Khalil Mack: Mack had a career year in 2023, and the veteran picked up where he left off. He amassed two sacks, a fumble recovery and a pass deflection that led to an interception by Poona Ford that sealed the game.

Quick hits

  • The offense experienced growing pains in the first half of the game. They failed to surpass 100 yards of total offense, averaging just 3.6 yards per play. Five penalties were committed. J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards combined for 12 rushing yards on eight carries. The offensive line wasn’t gelling. Wide receivers weren’t getting open.
  • In the second half, things changed as the unit started to find a rhythm. The offensive line improved in pass protection and run blocking, eventually leading to their success on the ground. The Chargers finished with 158 rushing yards in the final two quarters.
  • The lack of talent in the wide receiver room was evident as players struggled to separate. McConkey led the group with five catches for 39 yards and his first NFL touchdown. Quentin Johnston showed some juice after the catch but had a dropped pass. Joshua Palmer only had two receptions for 15 yards. Palmer was eventually ejected after getting into a scuffle with Marcus Epps.
  • The offense only converted on third down four times on 15 attempts.
  • Justin Herbert finished the game 17-of-26 passing for 144 yards and a touchdown. Herbert was sacked just once.
  • Jesse Minter’s defense was tremendous. His group forced three turnovers and had four sacks. They also limited the Raiders to 3.2 yards per carry. The interior defensive line owned the line of scrimmage, the pass rush consistently got to Gardner Minshew, and defenders rallied to the football and made plays in the open field.
  • Cameron Dicker made all three field-goal attempts, with a long of 53 yards.
  • JK Scott did not have his best day. On seven punts, Scott only got one inside the Raiders’ 20-yard line and two went for touchbacks.

What’s next?

The Chargers are on the road to take on the Panthers (0-1) next Sunday, Sept. 15, at 10:00 a.m. PT.

Chargers Highlight: Joey Bosa punches the ball out for second takeaway

Joey Bosa forced a fumble on Raiders running back Zamir White, resulting in the Chargers’ second takeaway of the game.

It’s been an incredible day for the tandem of Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa.

In the first half, Mack and Bosa had sacks of Gardner Minshew on back-to-back plays to force a Raiders punt. Minshew then fumbled a ball on an unforced error inside two minutes to go in the first half, which was recovered by Mack and returned 22 yards inside the Raiders’ 15-yard line.

In the third quarter, it was Bosa’s turn to make an impact on the turnover battle. Minshew handed the ball to running back Zamir White on a 1st and 14 play. White burst through the left side of the line and gained ten yards, but Bosa made a tackle pursuing from the backside. He punched at the ball, knocking it free and nearly recovering it himself before the ball careened to the turf.

Ja’Sir Taylor, who was flagged for unnecessary roughness earlier on the drive, was the man on the bottom of the pile for the Chargers, turning the Raiders over for the second time of the game.

Los Angeles was not able to convert the opportunity into points, however, maintaining a 9-7 lead over the Raiders.

https://twitter.com/chargers/status/1832900381829173681