Broncos Gameday Thread
Incredibly, there is still a playoff chance! Time to seize the day. Go raiders!
posted by Raider Take at 1:33 PM
Incredibly, there is still a playoff chance! Time to seize the day. Go raiders!
posted by Raider Take at 1:33 PM
39 Comments:
You wanted a running game, you got it. You wanted a stout Defense, you got it.
Now, if only Derek Carr can stop turning the ball over at crucial times.
This win should not have been that hard. Just win, baby.
This team is not throwing in the towel, the last 2 games looked as though it would be the classic Raiders lose a close one. But they have pulled out 2 in a row when it looked like it wasn't going to happen.
Team of destiny? Not talking a SB win, but playoffs would be fine after a season like this one. The fat lady still hasn't sang yet.
2 more wins and they are in. Colts is going to be a very hard game, but the Colts are due for a let down, their wave is starting to curl.
Another unnecessary nailbiter. I think if the Raiders had lost, it would fall on Carr. The pick six at the end of the first half was ridiculous.
But let's give props when they're due.
Raiders found a run game. Blocking was decent and all three backs contributed.
Play calling was still vanilla but they came out more aggressive than usual. Nonetheless, another scoreless first quarter. The pass at the end of the game instead of a predictable run capped the win. Moreau got open and secured the ball.
The defense played really well. The D-line was in the backfield all day.
The competition steps up the next two weeks. We'll see if the Raiders can handle it. But, for now, it's good win and a clean sweep of the Broncos.
RT Brandon Parker 85.8
LT Kolton Miller 79.2
RG Alex Leatherwood 70.8
C Andre James 70.1
LG John Simpson 57.8
What is that? Overall scores? run blocking? pass blocking?
Brandon Parker grading higher than the rest of the line is a bit hard to believe. On the other hand, Simpson grading the lowest is very believable. He was called for holding and looked like he struggled at times during the game.
That's not to take away from what we all saw. Raiders' O-line looked like played one of their best games on Sunday... against a very good defense.
Something about the matchup. Raiders seem to matchup well against the Broncos lines, on both sides of the ball. Raiders D was in the Broncos backfield all day.
FYI, Raiders blitz less than any defense in the NFL. Personally, that's not a good stat for my liking. IMO, that's a huge mistake. Don't need to be the top blitzing team either but blitzing can lead to mistakes by the offense. I would guess the lack of blitzing is one reason why the Raiders don't have more takeaways.
The Raiders D does not blitz because they get there with 4. They play a bend but don't break style and Bradley has had a very good year. Sunday was an amazing defensive perfromance especially considering they were missing three starters and the offense had three turnovers. Being 13th in total yards this year is a big turnaround from previous years. In fact the losses that are haunting the Raiders now (Bears, Washington, Giants) it was the O that let them down.
Before the season I predicted 10 wins if Incognito played 15 games. The fact that they are at 8 wins after the Gruden and Ruggs situations is incredible. Most teams would have completely gone in the tank. It is a testatment to the character and talent on the team. Love the young tallent on D of Hobbs, Crosby, Moehrig, Deablo, and Mullen. On offense Leatherwood and James looked great blocking for the run on Sunday, Renfrow, Kolton are studs. Waller is a superstar and Jacobs as we saw is capable of playing at a pro bowl level. Get another o linemen, a healthy Goode re sign Carr and break the bank for Devonte Adams and the playoffs will be a shoe in.
Winning out will be tough against a very good Indy team and the Chargers. Looks like they will get Waller back which will help. They need to score more than 17 in those games.
I am thankful that the Raiders have come this far in a really fucked up year.
Sandy
Until this past week, the Raiders had given up the second most points in the NFL. So that's more of a "bend and break" version of the bend but don't break model.
Raiders were fortunate to play against backup QBs the last two weeks (3rd stringer in Cleveland), which allowed them to lower their avg pts per game allowed to about 26.
Not blitzing and playing soft coverage is not a winning formula. I agree the Raiders have talent on defense, and I think it's been underutilized.
IMO, regardless of the job you think Gus Bradley did this year, I don't see him surviving the probable carnage of this off-season. If he's fired, that will speak for itself.
Ironically, the Chargers - where Bradley came from - have given up more points than the Raiders. So they haven't figured it out either. But their offense is almost 100 pts better than the Raiders.
NY
They have given up the 26th most points in the NFL after last game. Regardless, not a good look but that needs some context given blow out to the Chiefs and late run up of the score against Cinnci. I go with yards because I think it is a more accurate indication of a teams rank. I agree Raiders are below average on defense but I also think they have improved significantly from previous years and kept the team in the game only to be let down by the offense in a couple of key games such as Washington, Giants and Chicago.
In terms of philosphy growing up a Raider fan I have long been a proponent of man to man but given the way the NFL rule changes have favored offensive football a zone bend but don't break is probably the way to go now.
You have always wrote about the Raiders needing to develop their young talent and put them in position to succeed through superior coaching. I think the current defensive stafff have done that. Examples are Crosby, Deablo, Perryman, Hobbs, Abram, Moehrig etc. That is why I give Bradley and his staff another year.
Sandy
True. Thanks for remembering that. I think the Raiders have talent now. IMO, more aggressive scheme could provide better results. That's all.
I would guess that being a team that blitzes the most, or the least, is not going to produce the best possible results.
I don't dislike Bradley. I think he's done pretty well, and certainly has his players playing hard. Even the best D-lines in NFL history had to blitz. Coaches always talk about "effecting the QB." That's tough to do consistently with a 4-man rush and the defensive backfield always backpedaling into position. I think the Raiders give up way too much underneath and lack takeaways that separate the playoff teams from all the others.
The talent has improved but the Raiders still need next level coaching... on both sides of the ball.
I hope all of you had a tremendous Christmas with family and friends. I saw bits and pieces of the Raiders game this weekend, glad they got the W. Raiders placed CB Casey Hayward, LB Cory Littleton, LB Patrick Onwuasor, LB Denzel Perryman, DT Darius Philon and LB K.J. Wright on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.
Bryan Edwards and Mariota are also in COVID protocols. Overall the Raiders have 11 players on the COVID list or in protocol, while the Colts have 12. This 2 weeks after having 0 players and playing the Browns.
Early rumor has Todd Bowles as the leading candidate to coach the Raiders.
Guys Wentz just tested positive and is unvaccinated. I can almost guarantee the league will delay the game or pull some other shady shit to let him play.
Nate they could do a lot worse than Bowles.
Sandy
RIP to the great John Madden where would the Raiders or the NFL be without him.
Sad Sandy
The words legend and icon is so often overused. Not with Madden
https://theathletic.com/1917703/2021/12/28/john-madden-iconic-raiders-coach-nfl-video-game-namesake-and-tv-commentator-dies-at-85/?source=emp_shared_article
So sad, Sandy
This one hurts, much like when Al went. I just saw the special put on tv just a few days ago. Go meet your maker, John.
Time never really stops for the great ones,” Al Davis said during Madden’s induction ceremony. “We wrap them in a cloak of immortality and remember what great people they were.”
Get tested for Cornavirus make sure if you DO test positive to:
go to the hospital or get everything possible to help fight the virus at home. Family needs to be careful around you and you should avoid contact with visitors and walking around the house too much; you need to stay in your bedroom and get things that fight the flu and colds. Be walking but stay in room to get treatments.
Talk to a nurse on the phone about a person/ you with Coronavirus when at home to better treat the problem before either going to hospital or deciding to stay home.
There are things you can do at home but you should go on the internet or talk to a nurse about treating a person/ yourself at home.
Be very careful to learn about warning signs for Coronavirus in seniors and others and check you internet notes or call a nurse for help or call an ambulance before a problems gets worse.
I am at a total loss tonight with the news of John Madden passing. There are only two people that can carry the title of "Raider of all Raiders" and that is Al Davis and John Madden. I knew he had struggled the last few years health wise, but this is still a huge punch in the gut for me.
Hug your loved ones close, cherish the moments we have. John, thanks for passing on your love of the game. Thanks for making the Raiders our beloved Champions. You are already missed. Just Won, Baby!
Madden embodied what was great about the Raiders, i.e., a bygone era of tough guys, misfits and rebels who knew how to win. As a football analyst, Madden was the guy who could make the most complex football idea sound like common sense. A storied football career as coach and broadcaster. Video game icon too, though I don't know much about the game.
RIP!
Waller, ready for return to action after his knee injury, was just placed on COVID list. So I guess the Raiders about to get a taste of what other teams are dealing with. Who knows who will be added to that list before Sunday. Wentz is on COVID list for Colts but he could be eligible to play by Sunday. As of Tuesday, the window for clearing COVID protocol is 5 days, and no longer 10 days. That's convenient for Colts, and perhaps the Raiders too because 8 Raiders including Perryman were placed on COVID list earlier and may be able to play... if they test negative.
I honestly don't know anything about the method or tests the NFL uses, but is it possible the tests are flawed? Lots of false positives, right?
FYI on
@Raiders
TE Darren Waller: As a vaccinated player he is eligible to test out of COVID protocols before the five day quarantine period is over.
Wentz is unjabbed so he has to go through longer protocol.
Research PCR test.
Players are tired of this, most aren't even showing symptoms, as you will see, the PCR test is fraudulent. But don't worry, they just want to take care of you.
I learned that players DO NOT have to be tested to return to the field, they only need to report no symptoms. Huh? Does that mean they no longer care or were they lying all along?
That's a stark contrast to making the Raiders entire offensive line miss a game and forcing the Browns 1st and 2nd string QBs out of their game against the Raiders, etc.
Who's running this clown show?
Already thin at LB, Raiders just lost Javin White to the Jets, who signed him to their practice squad.
White was a standout in camp/pre-season and fits the mold of a hybrid LB that the Raiders have coveted since Gruden arrived... mostly to cover backs and TEs.
How did they let that happen? Or, perhaps a better question, why?
Raider Alerts
@RaiderAlerts
· 18h
PFF Grade this season:
Andre James (62.6)
Rodney Hudson (55.9)
The #Raiders haven't made a lot of great personnel decisions in my lifetime, but it seems they made the right decision in letting Rodney go in the off-season. #RaiderNation
Nate Hobbs and Casey Hayward have been two HUGE additions this season 👏
Hobbs: 78.6 PFF Grade (11th)
Hayward: 76.0 (15th)
Only one of two CB duos to each have a 76.0 or higher ☠
I liked Javin White, he showed some good potential. Would be nice to see Morrow back or is he gone for the year? Perryman has been a complete stud.That was an excellent pick up by Mayock.
Have some real building blocks on the Defense now. These last 2 games, are going to need the D playing at their best, if they can shut down the other teams, the Raiders can run the ball more. Ball control is what works late in the season, combined with a stout Defense.
With all that has happened to the Raiders this year, they have showed themselves well and should be proud of each other. Now they have to win 2 more, will be fun to watch.
Hayward is a free agent next year. Hobbs was an outstanding find in the draft. And Perryman is probably the best trade I can remember the Raiders making. They finally had one go their way. He's under contract next year, so he's a Raider for at least another season.
Re-signing Hayward would be smart, no matter who the DC is next year.
Worth mention: Renfrow has 92 receptions so far this year. Like Hobbs, Raiders found a real gem in Renfrow. He's the only true starting caliber WR the Raiders have. Edwards has been a huge disappointment, and Jones just never broke the barrier to starter.
Much to my surprise, Ruggs looked legit this year, i.e., much better than Jackson. That situation was tragic on many levels.
Raiders once again are likely use a high-round draft pick at WR. They still need a RT too, after so many attempts.
Beyond Hobbs seem to do better than the majority of teams in the middle rounds. Koonce, Moehrig, Diablo, I mean if Leatherwood improves over the next few years 2021 was a really haul. 2020 was generally crap, 2019 besides Renfrow, you got, Moureau Crosby and Mullen, Jacobs and Abrham showed this year.
Mayocks first round picks bring his grade down but by measuring him in totality and accounting for all the Raiders picks he has persided over he is strangely effiecient.
Sandy
IMO, Koonce and Deablo are still speculative. They simply haven't played enough. Both are decent situational players. Moehrig is interesting because he's been serviceable as a deep safety in that he hasn't made any glaring mistakes, but nothing great jumps out either. In Gus Bradely's defense, the guy is instructed to line up in Siberia. So while he's protecting the end zone (or the parking lot), Raiders were regularly getting burned underneath. This has been a headscratcher for me all season.
Abram has improved tremendously at the LOS but he's still a liability in coverage. That's a problem, worsened by the fact Moehrig plays so deep. There is an entire middle area of the defense that opposing teams can expect little to no safety coverage by the Raiders, at least not to defend a pass, only to make a tackle after the catch.
Leatherwood is a significant draft failure even if he eventually figures out playing RG. He was drafted with a high 1st round pick to play RT. The Raiders whiffed, and now need a RT, again.
We really don't know how much Mayock was involved in Raiders drafts. He probably scouted these players but then it became a guessing game on how coaches wanted to fit players into a narrowly defined system. It's a process that continues to fail the Raiders.
Maybe it's time to start drafting the best player, particularly, in the first round.
That's something the Raiders have avoided for many years. The list speaks for itself.
Ferrell
Abram
Arnette
Ruggs
Leatherwood
These guys were not the best players on anyone's board when the Raiders drafted them. Just think where the Raiders might be if each one of these picks were a consensus best player available and the Raiders drew from their roster and free agency to fill in other positions.
2nd and 3rd rounds haven't been much better. 3rd round is usually when the Raiders go completely into left field with a project player (high failure rate).
It's not until the 4th or 5th rounds we hit paydirt with Crosby, Renfrow, and Hobbs. It begs the question: how can the Raiders be so bad early in the draft (with so much scouting info available) and be so good late in the draft? Luck?
Ferrell was a mistake as was Arnette. Abram was misused under different coaching. Abram also missed his 1st season with injury. He has played well this year but does need to improve in coverage. Abram can still become a player who can live up to his billing.
Ruggs was going to turn into the Raiders version of Tyreek Hill. He was showing he could do it.
Leatherwood can still be that RT, once Good comes back to play G. Calling him a bust already was like saying Kolton Miller was a bust after his 1st year. Some guys take a year or 2 to find their game. Leatherwood has shown very well on the run game and he had never played RT before.
Jacobs, another 1st, has bee a stud at times. He has been battling injuries too.
Clearly, Jacobs has been the exception. Although he's struggled this year, it's been more the O-line struggling.
I will concede Ruggs. He was a pleasant surprise this year, i.e., until he wasn't.
Ruggs and Arnette are history.
Leatherwood and Abram could be serviceable, but all these guys represent opportunity cost and lost draft capital.
Jacobs will be part of that lost opportunity group if the Raiders don't (A) win something before his rookie contract expires, and/or (B) re-sign him to another deal. He will be expensive!
Arnette was at least replaced by Casey Heyward, which has been a tremendous signing.
Abram is already serviceable, he needs some fine tuning and to stay healthy.
Looking around the league, there are many hits and misses in the early rounds. Mayock has made up for it with some late round gems. Crosby should have been a 1st round pick, Hobbs too. Renfrow has turned into a so-called top pick as well. These are players that are playing as high end picks.
Sometimes it doesn't work the way it's supposed to, but all that matters is getting enough talent that can take the team go where it needs to go.
Gruden tore it all down and rebuilt it again, it's close, but needs a couple more game changers to truly compete. Aaron Rodgers keeps coming into my head, can dream can't we?
A 50% hit ratio on total draft picks is above average in the NFL.
Leatherwood has a long way to go before you can say bust. Moehrig is the 6th rated FS saftey in the NFL from anumber of services including PFF. Deablo is starting
Sandy
Suggesting a 50% success rate in the draft is a bit generous, don't you think? Raiders barely have a 50% retention rate from drafts prior to this year. If you remove a few good players drafted in 2019, Raiders drafts have been nothing more than bad.
Also concerning, the Raiders only have 5 INTs this year. That's worst in the league. Where's Gus Bradley?
Colts have 17 INTs and 16 forced fumbles. Clearly, there's an imbalance headed into tomorrow's game.
Quote from Derek Carr.
"If it was up to me, I’d want to go no huddle every single snap and just go as fast as I can. That’s what I did in college."
The closest Carr has come in his NFL career to matching his college style and performance was with Bill Musgrave. Not saying Musgrave is the answer now, but no coach in Carr's pro career has drawn more from Carr's true strengths as a QB.
Greg Olsen is the antithesis of this, slowing down play on the field and calling bad plays. If somehow Olsen is retained next year, expect more of the same. He's not a good OC.
I firmly believe, win or lose, the entire coaching staff needs to be replaced. These guys were Gruden lackeys who can barely think for themselves.
Carr will be in the last year of his contract priced under $20M a year, with a market value over $30M per year. That should be interesting.
Glad to see you're starting off the new year on a positive note NY. You are also wrong. Since Mayock came on board the Raiders have drafted 23 players of which 16 are still on the roster and 11 are starters. If you weren't so obsessed with hating on the Raiders and took some time to study other teams draft record over the last three years you'd see that's a pretty great result.
Sandy
Sandy, I don't need to study other teams to see the obvious miscalculations by the Raiders. You have been very critical of Raiders drafts in past takes, but now you're defending much of the same actions.
The professional standard is wins, playoffs and ultimately, SB, all of which the Raiders have fallen short over the past 18 years and counting. The Raiders haven't just failed during that period, they have circled the drain in epic fashion.
It's a performance business. There are few moral victories, which you regularly include in your takes... as is your prerogative.
Some of the "starters" you refer to are by default, e.g., injury, covid or other, or simply demonstrate weakness on the roster. You are merely counting numbers, not quality.
Today's game is the most important game in 18+ years. Forget the playoff which Connor Cook was QB in a game few Raiders fans thought was winnable.
The O-line has improved over the course of the season. They will need a breakthrough game today to protect Derek Carr and open lanes for Jacobs. The line has finally found a running game, which they desperately need over the next two weeks to keep pressure off Carr, who has not played well since the bye.
The defense will need to stop the NFL's #1 RB. No small task. Bradley will continue to play his soft coverage base D, which performed admirably the past two weeks against 2nd and 3rd string QBs. Wentz is off covid list and he has played well enough to get the Colts within one win of securing the playoffs.
East coast, early start time, cold weather, no Daren Waller... all problems for the Raiders... which have resulted in making them underdogs by about a TD.
This is a defining game!
If Gruden made the kind of progress Sandy thinks he did, and assuming he hired competent assistants and drafted at a 50% success rate (with as many as 11 drafted starters hitting the field today), the Raiders should be in this game to win it.
VEGAS, BABY!
Cold weather, don't they play in a dome? Raiders practice real early to avoid the high temps in Vegas, they are more used to early starts now, imo.
The Raiders will play to win, of course.
This team is the best team since the 2016 team. And it is trending up if a good HC hire happens in the off season. We all know the history, we all know it's win or go home. Even if the Raiders don't make it, still proud of them and how they handled all the adversity.
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