Oakland Raiders: Why Matt Schaub Only Needs To Be Average

Contrary to popular belief, winning teams don’t need lights out play from the quarterback.  The same will be true for the Oakland Raiders with Matt Schaub.

Houston Texans debacle about efficiency more than production

Fans continue to try to forget what happened in 2013 with the Houston Texans offense.  The problem is it was so ugly that it’s indelibly marked in so many minds and Matt Schaub was at the center of it.  His sudden rash of interceptions was bad enough, but it was the fact that so many of those interceptions went back for touchdowns that ultimately ended what had been such a productive marriage between team and player.

Now Schaub is stuck in that terrible purgatory where the questions keep getting asked?  Is that 2013 season the player he is now or was it just an aberration brought about by a down year?  Sometimes those circumstances can force a player to over try, to work so hard and be great on the field that they stop playing.  In regards to the Oakland Raiders, Schaub has to realize it wasn’t not playing great that sank him in Houston, it was not playing efficient.  It was turning the football over, not getting first downs and never finding a rhythm.

Dennis Allen will be about ball control and strong defense

Throughout NFL history it’s been proven that football teams don’t need outstanding quarterbacks to contend.  What they need is quarterbacks who understand their responsibilities.  Above anything else that is protecting the football and having productive drives.

Oakland Raiders head coach Dennis Allen is a defensive-minded guy.  That is how he has built his team over the past off-season.  The Raiders are going to be about defense, which means the offense will think less about scoring and more about ball control and clock management.  That requires a quarterback who can run a balanced attack and knows how to get first downs.

More than anything that is why they traded for Schaub in the first place.  He ran a run-first system in Houston with great success and knew where and when to take his shots.  Looking back, that method was proven two out of three seasons when the Texans made the playoffs in 2011 and 2012.

Oakland is all about making the playoffs this year.  To do that they’ll need a complete team effort.  Matt Schaub is just one part of that team regardless of the position he plays.  Asking him to do more than assist won’t help their cause.