Quick Hits: Notes, analysis of Raiders week 8 win in Tampa

Offense

Derek Carr

• In just 2nd year with WRs, he's showing great timing and chemistry
• On the other side, Jameis / Mike Evans showing some timing and chemistry but also some problems.
• RaiderNation is spoiled with DC/AC/MC combo so far
• Importance of Cooper/Crabtree combo cannot be understated.
• After slow start, Derek's accuracy, especially on deep ball, was en pointe.
• Gameplan was to attack CBs and to give Jump Ball /50-50 chances to the WRs.
• On the other side, Jameis' deep ball was off and Tampa Bay left a few big plays on the field
• Derek had a few painful misses late in the game
• Major bailout Def Holding call on missed throw to Crabtree, reminiscent of 2015 W2 v BAL and 2015 W12 v TEN
  • (If the Atlanta-Seattle refs were calling it, they would have let it go)

Michael Crabtree

• Personal Foul penalty on 2nd play of the game set the tone for the game early.
• Probably wouldn't have been called if he did not use the ball. Shoving the defender off him would probably have gotten a pass, but using the ball is an automatic penalty
• Put the offense in a funk for that drive
• Took a backseat to Amari for much of the day
• Exploded when called upon
• Finished with 8 rec/108 yards. Not bad for a "backseat"-day

Amari Cooper

• Home Cooking did him good (Florida is his home state)
• Was a showcase game for Amari.
• Could have/should have had 200+ yards.
• He used that same Shake and Swat move on Vernon Hargreaves about 4 times before the Personal Foul.
• Ridiculous in the open field
• Will not be the only time he challenges 200 yards in a game this year

Running game

• 23 rushes for 115 yards, 5.0 avg
• 2 rushes, 18 yards negated by Penalty
• Boom/Bust type running again. 11 rushing of 2 yards or less (3 for negative yardage). 3 rushes of 10+ yards (19, 20, 28)
• Average rush yardage was 5.0, but Median rush yardage was 3
• As expected, Latatavius is less explosive but more reliable/uniform in yardage. DeAndre/Jalen get big chunks but also many much shorter gains. Compared here :

	Lats	De/J
Att	11	12
Yards	48	67
Avg	4.4	5.6
Median	4	2.5
Stdev	5.3	8.7

Mychal Rivera

• Seems thicker this year
• Made a strong bid for more playing time by making key receptions
• Intermediate and middle of the field may prove important in upcoming games
• Blocking has always been his shortcoming. Need to study if that has improved (though Clive's blocking is not particularly good either)
• On the TD rec, he made the same type of catch that eluded Clive last week

2nd Half Explosion

• 3rd Q has been the Dormant Quarter most of this season
• This time, outscored Tampa Bay 14-0
• Dominated OT statistically and finally came thru with the score
• After halftime, outgained TB by over 4-to-1 margin : 438 yards to 106 yards

3rd Quarter

	OAK	TB
Yards	122	47
Plays	18	10
Points	14	0

OT

	OAK	TB
Yards	183	12
Plays	21	6
Points	7	0

Other

• TB defense seemed just outmatched for the day
• OAK Pass Pro held up and WR got open
• TB secondary was roasted. Felt like TB was playing without safeties and the CBs were beaten often.
• Gerald McCoy was non-factor. Either KO-Rodney-Gabe did a great job on him or he was not 100% (or both)

Defense

Run D

• TB grew less commited to the run as the game wore on
• Run/Pass Ratio was 24 : 35 (41%)
• By quarters: 9, 5, 3, 5, 2
• 24 rush attempts
• 6 runs of 6+ yards (25%)
• 11 runs of 2 yards or less (46%)
• Edge defense was improved
• Dan and Jelly were doing good work inside against TB's C and Gs
• Ran at Denico a few times with predictable results
• TJ Carrie played Cloud Force with more aggression than Sean Smith did
• 11 Personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR personnel group) was primary Run grouping
  • 15 of 24 runs (63%) were from 11 Personnel
  • 15 rushes for 67 yards, 4.5 avg from 11 Personnel
  • 9 rushes for 19 yards, 2.1 avg from Non-11 Personnel
  • Interesting because Raiders have struggled against 13 Personnel, but were increasingly effective v 11
  • Also, Tampa Bay appeared to be a viable 13 or 22 Personnel run team
  • Jacquizz Rodgers may have been more comfortable / effective in 11 Personnel
• Many improvements, but still much more work to do
• Mack was wrecking the run game

Pass Defense

• Left some deep plays open (Reggie Nelson)
• Jameis struggled to make the deep throws accurately
• Jameis seemed more comfortable throwing on the move rather than sitting in the pocket
• Exception was that dime to Evans for the TD over DJ Hayden. Beautiful throw against excellent coverage.
• Malcolm coverage on the TE in the flat was very good on a couple occassions. Maybe finally getting this cleaned up
• Screen D getting a little better but still needs to be quicker reads and LB/CBs breaking thru blocks, eg., how Lavonte David broke up the perfect screen the Raiders' had set up

DJ Hayden

• Well, hello, DJ "Jazzy" Hayden
• Seems to be getting more comfortable each game this year. Has been playing well
• Not panicking. In the past, when the player was on top of him or past him, DJ would grab. Not doing that (so much) now
• Getting his head around more often and is resulting in him making some plays on the ball

• Most comfortable when the play is in front of him, but is getting better at trusting himself with his back to the ball
• Starting to attack the receiver's catch hands, swatting at the ball or the split-and-rake. This is a big deal and may make a big difference in his play.
• Plus-coverage forces perfect throws and is now making plays on the ball.
• As he makes more plays on the ball, scouting reports on him will change and QB may not throw at him when he has good coverage
• Next step is to make INT's on some of these balls
• Is he on a Nnamdi-style development path? It took a while for Nnamdi to develop and early on, he would have good coverage but would still give up plays. It wasn't until a few years down the road that he learned to make a play on the ball.
• Had very good+ coverage (with no safety help) on the touchdown, but Jameis' great throw beat the coverage

Evans shut down

• Partly because of coverage, partly because of pass rush, partly because of Jameis' off-target throws
• Amerson followed Evans around the field, a nice scheme change
• Good physical matchup, Evans 6'5" v Amerson 6'3"
• Amerson had quickness advantage and was close in coverage or closing in on him on many pass plays
• Many Jameis throws were high to Evans. In retrospect, seems like part of the game plan was to throw Jump Balls to Evans. In review, some of these throws were not as far off as it seemed in real-time video.

Karl Joseph

• Visibly improving each week
• Nice to see : When Karl struggles or makes a mistake in a game, the following week it is improved or corrected.
• Each week, Ken Norton gives Karl some more responsibilities in the game. Karl's development seems to be part of a well-planned program.
• Seemed like Karl was used to bracket Mike Evans several times. Part of scheme to take away Evans from the offense?
• Karl's getting more comfortable man covering WRs in the slot and TEs.
• Gave up a rec, but had good coverage and had the backhand wrapped so he made the tackle.

• Big part of coverage is going to be recognizing routes and he's starting to play like he's seeing it
• Because of his size, Karl may get away with a little more bumping and bodying on TEs in the open field.
• Karl closes on ball carriers like he's wearing a jet-pack.
• Karl was finally able to close and lay a hit on a receiver (twice)
• Big hit on Evans to break up a pass
• We still haven't seen the best of Karl.

Khalil Mack was doing some work

• Every other team has schemed pass pro v Mack with Chips, Doubles, and TEs releasing in front of him.
• Tampa Bay did not. Instead, they left their OTs Donovan Smith and Demar Dotson with 1-on-1s.
• 2 sacks and lots of pressure on Jameis
• Often had a presence and disruption of the pocket. Other pass rushers were "Me, too"s as they followed on Mack's plays.
• Most other teams schemed run blocking v Mack with double teams and misdirections.
• Tampa Bay used single TE (Luke Stocker) against Mack to predictable results

• Very strong v the run game.
• The repeated QB bootlegs so far may have been very good training for him to recognize it and play it
• Sack #2 came when he "stayed at home" on the QB Boot

Other

• Ken Norton is in his 2nd year as DC
• Still learning to be a DC and while game is slowing down for him, it still is fast
• Game prep was improved
• His player development has been fantastic. That in and of itself may pay large dividends in the near future
• Ken Norton was always a "developmental" DC; he was not being groomed to be a DC in Seattle at all. Presumably Jack Del Rio chose him to develop into a DC. So expect patience from Coach Jack and GM Reggie.
• Is it a coincidence that DJ Hayden has improved so much this year under Ken Nortn?

Misc and S/T

Penalties

• 23 penalties and 200 yards will be the quoted number
• 4 more penalties committed
• Hidden yardage : 98 yards negated by offensive and S/T penalties
• I don't want to talk about it anymore.

Attitude

• The positive and team-first attitude is contagious

• "Clutch" players. Now players expect to be clutch, starting from the QB and going down
• Second Chances. If a player makes a mistake, this team rallies around him and often gives him a chance for Redemption.
• This "make good next time"-attitude is the core of the team and keeps players from dropping their heads or getting down for too long
• It starts from the top. Hat tip to Mark Davis, Reggie McKenzie, and Jack Del Rio for creating an atmosphere where this can thrive.
• The difference between the two teams' play style in OT :
  • TB : A tie is just as good as a win
  • OAK : A tie is like a loss
• In the past, teams have let down after a big win
• This team has grown accustomed to emotional big wins and expects to continue winning
• Do not expect emotional letdown
• Coach gets the team focused on the next week very well
• The most important game is the Next Game