Oakland Raiders v. LA Chargers: Six Things That Must Happen

Get Cooper Involved

It’s hard to say that wideout Amari Cooper is a missing man in Oakland’s offense. Not when he leads the team in targets with 33. No, the biggest problem with Cooper is that he’s returned to his rookie form – and by rookie form, we mean he’s dropping passes left and right.

Cooper currently leads the league in dropped passes with seven. Couple that with an abysmal 39 percent catch percentage (13 receptions on those 33 targets), and it’s not hard to see why Cooper hasn’t been nearly as electrifying as he’s been in season’s past.

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Heck, even in his rookie season, when he was among the league leaders in drops, he was still hauling in catches at a 55 percent clip. That year, he wound up with 72 receptions. He’s on a pace this year that would see him make just 42 receptions for about 378 yards.

That is quite a drop in production from a player who averaged 78 receptions for 1,112 yards over his first two seasons in the league.

There’s no question that this offense is better when Cooper is involved, active, and making plays. And maybe, because of the drops and overall ineffectiveness, there’s a lack of confidence in Cooper by Carr that’s in play. For, after being targeted 13 times in the season opener (making just five receptions for 62 yards), Cooper has seen his targets – and receptions – drop as quickly as some of the balls that have hit his hands.

Against the Jets, he saw five targets and made four receptions – for just 33 yards. Against Washington, he caught one ball on five targets. Against Denver, he was targeted eight times and made just two grabs. And last week against Baltimore, he saw two targets and made one reception.

The good news is that if there ever was a game tailor made for Cooper to get back on track, it’s this week against the Chargers. In four career games against the Bolts, Cooper has posted the best numbers he has against any other team in the league – 14 receptions for 309 yards (a sparkling average of 22 yards per reception and a pair of touchdowns)

Whatever the problem is, whether it’s Cooper’s confidence or Carr’s confidence in Cooper waning, this team needs to figure it out – and fast. Without Cooper making plays, this offense looks stuck in the mud – and maybe even going in reverse.

Cooper needs to get involved, needs to see more targets – and he needs to catch them.