Oakland Raiders Drop Opener To Jets

The Oakland Raiders fell in their opener to the New York Jets by the final of 19-14 this afternoon in New York.

Things started pretty well offensively for Oakland, but in the second half the Jets dialed up the pressure. Derek Carr, who finished with 20 completions on 32 attempts and two touchdown passes, was a much better quarterback in the first half of the game. He even started off by completing seven straight passes before a dropped pass broke that streak up.

His first NFL touchdown pass came on a well-executed wide receiver screen to Rod Streater where he scampered in after a 12 yard catch and run.

By the end of things this game was lost (or won in New York’s case) in the trenches. The Raiders failed to supplant any type of run-game and in the end it hurt them. After a while the offense became too one-dimensional, which is when the Jets dialed up the pressure on Carr and brought all kinds of blitzes.

By the end of the game Oakland only had 25 yards rushing on 15 attempts. Maurice Jones-Drew led the team in carries with nine though he only managed 11 yards. Darren McFadden was the more efficient back gaining 15 yards on four carries.

On the other side of things the Jets rushed the ball 34 times and gained 212 yards in the process. Chris Ivory led the way with 102 yards and a touchdown while speedster Chris Johnson had 68 yards on 13 carries. Johnson also caught five passes, one of which was for a touchdown on a perfectly called shovel pass against an Oakland blitz. That touchdown ended up being the game-winner.

Also, what Carr was in the first half Geno Smith was in the second half looking like the much more composed quarterback. The second-year player for the Jets ended with a pretty solid game going 23 of 28 for 221 yards and score. He also threw an interception that was picked off by Charles Woodson on a great athletic play while jumping a route.

Overall a tough loss for the Raiders who definitely had a shot at winning this game. Unfortunately, while the defense held it’s own well into the latter stages of the game, the offense could not get anything going and eventually they were outlasted by the New York offense. You can only stop an offense so many times when you are only able to defend half the length of the field.

Still, many positives to take away from the game, including Carr’s poise early on. The defense was also pretty good, and they were pretty timely with their stops as well when they needed to be.