Oakland Raiders: Notes & Observations From The Week That Was
By Kevin Saito
Sep 20, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders receiver Amari Cooper (89) scores on a 68-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter against the Baltimore Ravens as at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Musgrave’s Offense Was in High Gear — Finally
With Carr out for the majority of week one’s game against the Bengals, the Raiders ran a relatively vanilla, conservative offense with Matt McGloin under center. The result was pretty underwhelming.
With Carr healthy and ready for action against the Ravens though, Musgrave opened up his playbook and seemed to go wild with it. The Raiders offense correspondingly, went just as wild. From the opening snap until the final whistle, Oakland’s offense was clicking and running some incredible – and incredibly effective – plays.
As vanilla as they were the previous week, the Raiders were just as dynamic in week two. Whether it was short catch and runs, long balls, quarterback bootlegs, or play action, Oakland’s offense was a multi-dimensional, incredibly faceted unit against Baltimore.
The exotic and creative play calling kept the Ravens on their heels for most of the game. They looked like the didn’t know where the attack would be coming from next on some plays. With so many different weapons deployed – and Carr making the right reads and good throws to back them up – the Raiders offense was dynamic and more potent than they’ve been since Rich Gannon was running the show all those years ago.
Carr led the team on seven scoring drives out of ten possessions. That’s not a bad scoring ratio. If it had not been for the defensive lapses the Raiders suffered, this game could have been as big of a laugher as Oakland’s game against the Bengals had been.
But as it was, the Raiders offense answered every challenge, did not back down, made big plays when they were needed, and come out of the dogfight with a win. A very important win.
Now, Oakland just needs to sustain – and build on – that offensive momentum.