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Oakland Raiders: Top 4 takeaways from Week 3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings

By James Carroll

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - SEPTEMBER 22: Head coach Jon Gruden of the Oakland Raiders looks on during the fourth quarter of the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on September 22, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings defeated the Raiders 34-14. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - SEPTEMBER 22: Head coach Jon Gruden of the Oakland Raiders looks on during the fourth quarter of the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on September 22, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings defeated the Raiders 34-14. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – SEPTEMBER 22: Head coach Jon Gruden of the Oakland Raiders looks on before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on September 22, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Oakland Raiders (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

4. Jon Gruden was not prepared

The flea-flicker idea was cute, but the rest of the game was pretty embarrassing. Most of Raider Nation could probably agree with that.

Frustration will slowly continue to mount when it comes to head coach Jon Gruden so long as the Oakland Raiders continue scuffling. Games like these where there are so few silver linings speak less about the talent on the field and more about the preparation.

In weeks past, the Raiders have enjoyed at least starting out with a good game plan before having the adjustments pick them apart.

Last week, Gruden showed excellent preparation against a legitimate contender before eventually getting out-coached. But that initial strategy to go along with rallying his team proved to pay dividends in the eyes of the Raider faithful.

This week, the Raiders were blindsided. They couldn’t get anything going out of the gate. The morale seemed to drop as the team played flatly for almost the entirety of the game.

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Gruden seemed visibly incredulous by what unfolded as he stood on the sideline.

Derek Carr might not be the lone issue. The defense might not be the lone issue. But when the blame is spread on the entire team, then it either comes down to a worthless batch of guys on the field or a coach that didn’t know how to utilize them.

We’ve seen the individual talent in spurts so far this season. We know that players on this team can be capable.

We’ve even seen the growing list of former Raiders who have excelled once they’ve packed their backs and gone elsewhere. Everyone outside of Antonio Brown seems to be doing pretty well for themselves.

Jon Gruden isn’t going to ever live up to his monstrous contract because he’s not being paid for what he’s able to do, but for what he invokes — entertainment, a call back to nostalgia of some somewhat recent glory days that shouldn’t be reminisced so fondly.

But the expectation has to be that Gruden comes in prepared — that he comes in with his team prepared — to at least put up a fight in the beginning.

Without that initial burst out of the gate, the Raiders are going to have an extremely tough time making anything out of this season.

Next. Oakland Raiders: Antonio Brown Saga — the clown show became the joker. dark

Nothing comes easy when the rebuild is still a work in progress.

But it can’t get much uglier than this week.

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