The Raiders began a two week stretch in Florida on Sunday when they headed to Jacksonville to play the Jaguars who were coming off two straight wins. But due to a productive first half, the Raiders were able to win the game 33-16. How did the offense contribute to the victory?
Pass Offense
After a rough start. Derek Carr settled in and returned to season form. His best drive of the game came on the Raiders final possession in the first half when on third down, Carr declined to run for the first down and delivered a beautiful 56-yard throw on the run to Michael Crabtree. Three plays later, Carr and Crabtree connected again for a touchdown which iced the game for the Raiders. The third year quarterback finished with 200 passing yards and a touchdown. It was nice to see Carr bounce back after struggling mightily against the Chiefs last week.
Michael Crabtree had himself a game with 96 receiving yards and a touchdown. Aside from one drop, Crabtree is continued to show why Derek Carr trusts him so much. Speaking of drops, Amari Cooper only has two on the season after finishing 2015 with 18. Cooper was silent the majority of the game due to Jalen Ramsey shadowing him and Michael Crabtree eating Prince Akumara for lunch on the opposite side.
After a promising year last season, Seth Roberts is really struggling and is dropping passes left and right. If he can't turn it around, the addition of another receiver in the offseason would not come as a surprise.
While there were a couple times Carr felt pressure, the offensive line did not allow a sack and did an admirable job overall protecting their quarterback.
Grade: B+
Run Offense
Latavius Murray returned, and likewise so did the Raiders rushing attack to relevance. Murray led the team with 59 yards and two touchdowns showing the ability to make the first defender miss. The unit as a whole totaled 117 yards on the ground (3.4 avg).
One of the reasons the yards per carry was so low is because the Raiders continually ran out the clock in the second half and the Jaguars were able to stack the box predicting the run. This number was much better the first half when the Raiders scored a majority of their points.
Grade: A-
Coaching
Bill Musgrave did an excellent job during the first half of balancing both the rushing attack and the pass offense. The Raiders were able to control the clock, yet also push the ball down the field when needed. The second half was a completely different story.
Musgrave's entire second half script was playing not to lose and calling short passes and runs. As a result, the Raiders offense was stagnant most of the half. This is a horrible way to play because if the Jaguars offense was even decent, the Raiders would have let them back into the game instead of keeping their foot on the ground and finishing them.
It should be noted Musgrave did a great job taking advantage of Michael Crabtree's matchup as it was much more favorable than was Amari Cooper's vs Jalen Ramsey.
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