Oakland Raiders: Five Things That Must Happen Against New England

Unshackle and Power Up The Offense

When Todd Downing assumed control of the offense, many believed it was going to be a good thing that resulted in an even more explosive unit. After all, last season’s offense ranked sixth in the league and was the seventh-ranked scoring unit.

And then this offseason, they went out and nabbed Cordarrelle Patterson, Jared Cook, and Marshawn Lynch in free agency. This, in addition to already having a roster inhabited by the likes of Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree, DeAndre Washington, Seth Roberts, and Jalen Richard.

Needless to say, quarterback Derek Carr an embarrassment of riches in terms of offensive weaponry to work with. A group most thought was the deepest, most high-powered unit this side of New England. And a group capable of standing toe-to-toe with Brady and the Patriots.

How could you possibly screw that up, right?

Well, Downing managed to do just that. He took last season’s sixth-ranked offense and magically turned them into the league’s twenty-second ranked unit. Yards per game are down. Points per game are down – they’re scoring more than four points less per game this year than last year, making them the league’s seventeenth-ranked unit, if you’re scoring at home.

Obviously wanting to put his own stamp on the team as he stepped out from Bill Musgrave‘s shadow, Downing managed to strip the offense of what made it so explosive – not to mention one of the league’s best – last season.

The biggest problem is that Downing moved from Musgrave’s power blocking scheme to a zone blocking scheme. GM Reggie McKenzie and Jack Del Rio put this line together specifically because they simply wanted them to line up and maul people.

In running Musgrave’s scheme, Donald Penn, Gabe Jackson, Rodney Hudson, Kelechi Osemele did just that. They got off the ball and punched people in the mouth. And in doing so, they became one of the league’s elite offensive lines.

Downing’s offense has also limited the number of deep strikes, relying more on shallow routes and quick strikes. Downing’s offense seems to want to be similar to New England’s, but to this point, it seems like little more than a pale, far less effective, imitation.

Last season, you genuinely got the feeling that this offense could score from anywhere on the field at any time. There was no game this team was completely out of. This season though? You have to pray this offense doesn’t fall behind because Downing’s schemes and play calling don’t seem very well suited to mounting a comeback.

To get this offense rolling again, Downing needs to go back to basics. He needs to stop worry about being less like Musgrave and just let this offense do what it does best – make plays.

We saw flashes of that potent, explosive offense in the game against the Jets. And against Kansas City. And to some extent, even against Miami. But, in the team’s other six games? Not so much.

Is it any coincidence that in the games where the offense seemed to be unshackled, where they mixed the run and pass well, and took plenty of shots deep, the Raiders came out of it with a win? And on the flip side of that is it any coincidence when those things did not happen, that Oakland was slapped with a humiliating loss?

Downing needs to reset this offense. He needs to dial it back to 2016 and tell this offense to simply let it rip. Pound the ball with a heavy dose of Lynch, toss it out to Richard and Washington, and go deeper with Cook, Crabtree, and Cooper.

This offense needs to get back to doing what it did best in becoming one of the best in the league last year. Downing simply needs to make that happen and then get out of the way.