Keep Carr Clean
This goes without saying. Obviously. Nobody can win if their quarterback is either running for his life, or peeling himself up off the ground on every play.
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The good news is that they won’t be facing that elite Rams defensive front. Hard to contain a line that featuresNdamukong Suh,Michael Brockers,andAaron Donald. It’s almost to ask of any offensive line.
But, the path isn’t a whole lot easier in Denver, as they’re squaring off with a front that includesVon Miller,Bradley Chubb,Derek Wolfe, andBrandon Marshall. It’s a fierce, fast, top-notch defensive front, and Oakland’s line is going to have their hands full.
Which means that rookieKolton Milleris going to need to continue playing at a high level. He fared pretty well against the Rams, allowing just a pair of pressures on his 70 snaps played. And on the other side,Donald Pennheld his own fairly well.
Where the big problem was, shockingly enough, came from the interior of the line – long thought to be the absolutely cream of the crop in the NFL. In particular, it was guardKelechi Osemelewho had the worst night, getting beat on several plays, drawing dumb flags on others. It was easily Osemele’sworstgame in Silver and Black. By far.
Oakland’s line, from Miller and Penn, to Jackson, Hudson, and Osemele, are going to need to step up, and play a clean, solid game. They need to be solid in pass protection, and they need to blow open some holes for Lynch and the backs.
Most importantly, Osemele really needs to play big, and show his rough outing against LA was a one-game aberration, and nothing more.
The backs need holes, and Carr needs time – and the line desperately needs to handle both better than they did against LA.
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