Oakland Raiders: Receiving Group Needs To Help Their QB Out

The Oakland Raiders have had one of the most dynamic offenses in the league this season – but the receiving group needs to step up their game and help their quarterback out even more.

After the Oakland Raiders dropped a tough one to longtime nemesis Kansas City, much of the postmortem discussion has centered around a defense that got blistered in the first half and the poor performance of Derek Carr. But there is another element to Oakland’s stumble that hasn’t been scrutinized near enough – a receiving group that can’t seem to hang on to the ball.

Most are focused on the fact that Carr struggled in a big time game against Kansas City. And that view isn’t entirely invalid. After struggling against the Chiefs earlier this season, Carr struggled yet again last week. For the game, he went 17 of 41 for just 117 yards. He didn’t throw an interception, but he didn’t throw a touchdown, either. Carr posted a QB rating of just 49.1.

Not the best showing by somebody thought to be a potential MVP candidate. But to his credit, Carr didn’t back away from his bad day, make excuses for it – though he could have, given his mutilated pinky finger – and owned his poor performance.

But the thing that isn’t being talked about nearly enough is the fact that Oakland’s dynamic receiving group has had some problems with dropping the ball yet again this season. We’ve seen the problem crop up in a couple of games earlier in the year. But on the biggest, brightest stage they’ve played on yet this season, the problem was even more glaringly obvious.

A year after finishing second in the league in the rather dubious category of most team dropped passes, recording a healthy 31 drops for the year, the Raiders are taking it a step further in 2016. This year, the Raiders are second in the league in dropped passes with 24 drops to this point in the season – behind only Indianapolis and Detroit who have 25. And there are still three regular season games to go.

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After leading the team in drops last season with 10, Amari Cooper has cleaned up his act and has just two drops this year. Michael Crabtree though, was second on the team last season with eight drops and has another seven this season. Seth Roberts has also chipped in with five drops of his own in 2016 – up from four in 2015. Even Clive Walford has added a few drops of his own.

Now, drops happen. Nobody is going to catch everything thrown their way. It’s part of the game. But some of the drops the Raiders have had this season – in particular, against Kansas City last week – have come at some terrible, terrible times.

Some of their drops have come at times when the Raiders might have turned the momentum of a game in their favor.

Against the Chiefs, both Roberts and Crabtree had a couple of key drops that kept the Raiders from sustaining drives or scoring. Making matters worse, it isn’t as if they had to perform acrobatics to make the catch – in some cases, all they had to do was hold on to the ball.

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Oakland has one of the league’s most powerful, dynamic offenses. With a running game that has proven to be very effective, it’s helped take Carr and the passing game to new heights. Oakland has a stable of receivers capable of breaking a big play, blowing a game open – or snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

But even this receiving corps, as dynamic as they are, needs to step it up and improve their game. They need to be able to hold on to the ball in critical situations, lest they let opportunities slip through their fingers – such as they did on a cold night in Kansas City.