THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS

NFL 2016 Preseason Week 3 Raiders Recap

After one well played road game followed by a badly played road game, the Raiders held their first home preseason game of the 2016 NFL season. The third preseason game is the closest one to resembling real football. Starters often play into the third quarter, as was the case in this game.

The offense looked good in the first game and not so good in the second game. Hosting the Tennessee Titans, the Raiders looked very good on the offensive side of the ball. Derek Carr is clearly ready for the regular season. He threw a pair of deep balls that were as perfect as can be. The first, a 41 yard bomb to Michael Crabtree, set up a touchdown. The second one, a 29 yard lob to Amari Cooper went for another touchdown.

At the end of the half, on 3rd and 2 from inside the 10, Carr did miss a wide open Clive Walford. Jack Del Rio decided to go for it on 4th and 2 even though in the regular season the field goal try would be the only option. Carr again misfired and kicked himself at the missed opportunity.

In the third quarter Carr quickly bounced back, leading the Raiders from their own 18 to the Tennessee 35. Trailing 20-14, Carr had the Raiders ready to go back in front. After completing a 17 strike, Del Rio then benched Carr for the night and brought in Matt McGloin. Carr laughed, and McGloin himself was surprised. It is one thing to bring in a backup quarterback in a preseason game in the middle of a quarter, but in the middle of a drive is far more strange. Carr finished an impressive 12 of 18 for 169 yards and 2 touchdowns with 0 interceptions. As for McGloin, he was clearly not ready and neither was the team.

On his first play from scrimmage, offensive holding pushed the Raiders out of long field goal range. On the third play, a short dump off to Washington saw Washington get absolutely blasted. The resulting fumble was returned by Bass 47 yards for a touchdown. Although most of the second half remained, scoring was nil after that. McGloin and Connor Cook each threw an interception.

Another bright spot on offense continues to be running back George Atkinson III, who rushed for 35 yards on 4 carries, including a 23 yarder.

As for defense, the Raiders had none. On the first series, Sean Smith gambled and lost as a near interception on a crossing route turned into a 60 yard gain down to the Oakland 5 yard line. DeMarco Murray pounded the Raiders, gaining 40 yards on 8 carries including a 17 yard run early on. Marcus Mariota carve up the Raiders, going 9 of 16 for 170 yards without an interception or touchdown.

The Titans scored the first four times they had the ball, and Mariota’s last scoring drive took 14 plays and bled 8 1/2 minutes off the clock. The Raiders defense gave up zero points in the second half, but Mariota was on the bench.

The offense is ready for the regular season and the defense is not. The fourth and final preseason game usually has most of the starters sitting, but the Raiders have to be concerned about the defense. 27-14 Titans

eric

NFL 2016 Preseason Week 2 Raiders Recap

After a very impressive 31-10 win at the Arizona Cardinals in the opening 2016 preseason game, the Silver and Black took a giant step back. They were at the Green Bay Packers, and there was more cause for concern than comfort.

Aaron Rodgers did not play. This did not matter, as a backup quarterback punched through the Raiders starting defense on a 14 play, 74 yard drive. Eddie Lacy ran the Raiders into the ground. The Packers took a 7-0 lead. Lacy rushed for 45 yards on 9 carries, and on 3rd and goal at the one, the defense could not stop him. The Raiders responded with a field goal on their opening drive.

While it is true that the starting defense did not give up any points the rest of the half, the opening drive was awful. Making matters worse, the starting offense was listless. Derek Carr and his receivers were out of synch.

The Raiders only trailed 7-3 at halftime, but anemic offense is what has plagued the Raiders in recent seasons and prevented them from getting to the next level. Carr completed 9 of 13 passes, but for only 38 yards. That is way too much sinking and dunking. Latavius Murray had 6 carries for only 19 yards, and that was against a Packers defense playing without Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews.

Matt McGloin had success last week, but was only 2 of 5 for 2 total yards in this game. Connor Cook saw extensive playing time and finished 6 of 9 for 101 yards. Yet the offense could only muster 2 field goals the entire game.

The only Raiders touchdown came late in the game on special teams, when they blocked a punt and recovered in the end zone.

The Raiders starters lost to the Packers backups. It is only preseason, but it is not good. 20-12 Packers

NFL 2016 Preseason Week 1 Raiders Recap

After 6 long months, the NFL is finally back. As much as we leatherheads love football, we hate preseason. It tells us nothing. We watch it because the olympics and baseball are mind-numbingly boring. The Oakland Raiders kicked off the 2016 preseason against the Arizona Cardinals.

With pre-season games, the final score is unimportant. The goal is to evaluate players, see if you have depth, and get everybody out of their healthy. The Cardinals are a Super Bowl contender. The Raiders are an improved team, but most likely still a year away from being elite. However, it seems the years of frustration are in the past. This team has potential. This game was a measuring stick on what the Raiders could be and what they are.

Starting from their own 26 after a 31 yard kickoff return, Derek Carr immediately threw a 16 yard completion to Michael Crabtree. However, the drive stalled along with 2 dumb penalties. Keliche Osemele committed a false start and Carr took a delay of game. Carr and Jack Del Rio said they wanted crisp and clean football. This was not it.

The Cardinals soon faced 3rd and 10 at their own 20. Carson Palmer then brought the reality check. An 11 yard completion to JJ Nelson was followed by a 30 yard completion to Michael Floyd. Dave Johnson had runs of 8 and 23 yards. The Cardinals reached the Oakland 4 yard line before the defense finally stiffened. Chandler Catanzaro hit a 25 yard field goal. The Cardinals led 3-0.

So early indications were not positive. The Arizona first stringers won on both sides of the ball. Palmer was done for the night.

Carr played one more series. A 22 yard completion to Crabtree moved the ball to the Arizona 36, where the drive immediately died. However, Sebastian Janikowski drilled a 53 yard field goal that would have been good from 63. In his 17th season, seeing Seabass hit the long ones is still cause for optimism in close games. With the game tied 3-3, Carr was done for the night.

Carr was only 3 of 7 for 44 yards, but a gorgeous deep ball to Amari Cooper was incomplete only because Cooper did not get his feet inbounds. Carr has had his shackles removed. He is not drinking and dunking. He throws it down the field.

Now it was time for the backups. Drew Stanton and Matt McGloin both saw their teams go 3 and out on their first series. Then came the turnovers. Nelson fumbled a punt and the Raiders recovered at the Arizona 19. Jack Del Rio decided to be aggressive. McGloin quickly fired to Clive Walford in the end zone for the touchdown and the 10-3 Raiders lead. One play later from the Arizona 12, Stanton threw deep middle and was intercepted by Nate Allen. Allen returned it 27 yards to the Arizona 12. One play after that, McGloin threw the touchdown to Andre Holmes. The Raiders had a 17-3 lead after the first quarter.

McGloin plays very well in preseason against backups, but has struggled in regular season games as a starter. While both his touchdown throws were solid, the Raiders began both drives in the red zone. McGloin was not able to lead a scoring drive when the Raiders had more realistic field position. He completed 3 of his other 9 throws for a total of 10 yards.

In the second quarter the Cardinals finally got going with help from a 35 yard run by Andre Ellington. Ellington’s 5 yard touchdown run had the Cardinals within 17-10. Stanton was done for the night, finishing 2 of 6 for 42 yards. McGloin played the rest of the half, but both teams gave away scoring opportunities as Matt Barkley took over for the Cardinals. He would play for much of the game.

After an exchange of punts, a 25 yard run had the Raiders at the Arizona 35. A West Coast Offense dink and dunk pass lost 3 yards and then saw Holmes fumble the ball away. The Cardinals moved to the Oakland 23 but Catanzaro missed a 41 yard field goal. Oakland then faced 3rd and 3 at their own 38. McGloin completed a short pass for the first down, but illegal use of hands on the offense meant 3rd and 13 followed by an incompletion and a punt. The Raiders led 17-10 at halftime.

In the third quarter Barkley moved the Cardinals all the way from the Arizona 22 to the Oakland 15. However, Barkley was then intercepted by Nikeo Thorpe. Thorpe would bail the Raiders out later on by recovering a fumble of his teammate to prevent a turnover.

Although Arizona did not score on their next drive, Raider fans should still be concerned. On 3rd and 7 from the Arizona 34, Barkley threw incomplete but roughing the passer kept the drive going. From the Oakland 45, Barkley was intercepted but defensive pass interference gave Arizona another chance from the Oakland 39. Give the defense credit. They stopped the drive and forced a punt.

The rest of the scoring belonged to running back George Atkinson III, son of the legendary hard hitting Raiders secondary star of the 1970s. Atkinson is not succeeding on nepotism. He can play. Yes, he was playing against backups, but he still played well. Atkinson ran for touchdown runs of 53 yards in the third quarter and 35 yards late in the game to complete the scoring.

Barkley finished a terrible 8 of 24 for 121 yards and an interception. With 3 minutes left in the third quarter, rookie 4th round draft pick Conor Cook came in for the Raiders. Given that Carr is firmly entrenched as the starter, the drafting of Cook made little sense. However, now it was time to see what he could do. He finished 7 of 11 for 71 yards.

Cook began his first drive at the Oakland 9 yard line. On 3rd and 4, a short pass to Washington went for a 32 yard gain. The next play saw Atkinson do the rest. So a 4 play, 91 yard touchdown drive is a nice welcome to the NFL for Cook. On the next 2 drives Cook faced critical 3rd and 3. The first time Cook could not convert, but the second time he did. On the next drive Cook threw a 33 yard completion to the Arizona 28, but offensive pass interference ruined that moment.

With 10 minutes left, Arizona’s fourth string quarterback Coker came in. With 3 1/2 minutes left and the Cardinals down by 21, Bruce Arians reminded the football world that preseason is about staying healthy. He called 6 straight runs up the middle and ran out the clock.

The Raiders did some things right. In a regular season game, beating Arizona by 21 in Arizona would be miraculous. This is preseason, so the celebration should be significantly tempered.

The Raiders rushed for 166 yards, which is good. However, they gave up 172 rushing yards, which is not good. The Raiders were outgunned in total yards 383 to 322. They were only 3 for 12 on third down. They lost the time of possession battle badly 35 1/2 minutes to 24 1/2 minutes. The number of penalties was totally unacceptable, 11 for 86 yards lost. Arizona only had 3 penalties for 20 yards.

A positive note was the offense not giving up a sack or an interception. They turned the ball over once while taking it away from Arizona three times. They had 69 return yards to only 23 for Arizona, a big field position special teams differential. The Raiders scored touchdowns in the red zone rather than field goals. Staying aggressive worked for Del Rio.

Overall it is hard to find fault with a 21 point win, even in preseason. However, the penalties must be reduced. For the very first game, it was a good start to the season. 31-10 Raiders

NFL 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame Recap

http://www.commdiginews.com/sports/nfl/nfl-2016-pro-football-hall-of-fame-induction-weekend-69106/

eric