Oakland Raiders: 5 takeaways from Week 1 victory over the Denver Broncos
By Nico Di Fede
3. The offensive line was night and day from last year
We talked about Josh Jacobs’ big game in the last slide and the offensive line deserves a lot of credit for that. Many questioned the Tom Cable hire and the change to a zone scheme, and those were good questions as the line struggled heavily last year.
Well, on Monday night, the line looked night and day from last year, not letting Carr get sacked or hit once while clearing the way for Jacobs to run for 85 yards and punch it in for two touchdowns.
And this was without former Pro Bowler Richie Incognito and the Raiders highest-rated lineman last year Gabe Jackson starting at the two guard positions.
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I noticed the line did do a lot of power blocking — most teams do not solely run zone or power schemes and mix it up and you saw that Monday night.
Kolton Miller was a big question mark this offseason as he struggled a lot of last year while going through the injury gauntlet after starting off the season solid. His rookie season started solid and that was against the Broncos where he gave up no sacks to Von Miller or Bradley Chubb.
Well, he topped that performance on Monday night doing the same thing when it comes to pass blocking while also making a huge downfield block on a screen play late in the fourth quarter that sealed the game.
Trent Brown also played his part, earning the contract that made him the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history, despite being on the right side, handling one of the best pass rushers in Von Miller who typically lines up over the right tackle instead of the blindside.
Jordan Devey and Denzelle Good filled in admirably at the guard positions themselves, and when Jackson and Incognito come back the depth will be a lot more attractive than we thought it was previously.
Their performances may have transformed the offensive line from a position that was looked at as having questionable depth to a unit that may be one of the strengths of the offense if they continue to have performances like this.