Oakland Raiders: Six things we’ve learned through six weeks of play

Jon Gruden Looks Lost

Many were concerned that in his ten years away from the sidelines, the game may have passed Gruden by. Based on the first six weeks of play, it’s kind of hard to refute that sentiment any longer.

In his first stint with the Raiders, Gruden was known as an offensive mind, and a quarterback whisperer. He helped turn quarterback Rich Gannon, who was a journeyman, and primarily a backup throughout his career, into the league MVP.

Las Vegas Raiders

Six games into the 2018 campaign, that mystique Gruden once carried has pretty much evaporated.

In Gruden’s offense, the Raiders have shown an ability to move the ball – they were the league’s second ranked unit just a couple of weeks ago. But, they’ve not shown the ability to actually put points on the board.

After putting up a grand total of 13 points these last two weeks, the Raiders rank twenty-eight in scoring offense, putting up just 18.6 points per game. That figure actually looks worse when you consider that almost half of Oakland’s 110 total points on the year, came in one game (45) against the Cleveland Browns a few weeks back.

Gruden has a beast in Marshawn Lynch who can move the chains, and punish defenses – and yet, he doesn’t use him very often. Be it Tyrone Wheatley in Oakland, or Mike Alstott in Tampa Bay, Gruden’s offenses were always predicated on a strong running game – running to open up the pass.

And yet, for whatever reason, Gruden is not utilizing his stable of running backs to their full potential. Oakland’s run game has shown that it can be capable, and at times, even electric – look no further than Lynch’s 20-carry, 130-yard performance against Cleveland as evidence of that.

The running game has the ability to soften up a defense, and make things a little bit easier for Carr and the passing game. And yet, Gruden is choosing to not utilize it to its maximum efficacy.

Perhaps the game has passed him by. Perhaps he doesn’t have the personnel he prefers for his schemes. Perhaps he’s just killing time until he can clear space under the cap, and bring in more of “his guys.” Who knows?

All we know for certain is that, at this point, Gruden looks completely lost on the sidelines.